Lake Hancock boat ramp plan advances

Plans to develop a real boat ramp to provide access to Lake Hancock are moving forward.

Polk County parks officials will present a proposal to the Polk County Planning Commission March 2 to seek approval of a conditional use for a boat ramp that would be open 24 hours a day on a 103-acre tract owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District along Saddle Creek south of the lake.

The ramp is proposed to be located just north of the new control structure.

If the project wins approval, county officials will be able to move ahead with construction of the facility, which will include a parking lot.

It will replace the substandard launching area off Winter Lake Road known as “Buzzard Beach,” which has shrunk as a result of higher lake levels approved by Swiftmud for the lake to provide extra water to augment flow in the Peace River when necessary.

By the way, some vultures also roost along the creek south of the lake, so the new ramp will not be much different in that respect from the current one.