Meeting will shore up public access to Lake Cornelius

Published On: January 21, 2019

Jan. 21. There will be a 2-hour, drop-in community meeting Jan 23 to discuss how to provide kayaking and fishing on Lake Cornelius to the public. The project, which would be paid for by Duke Energy, would bring unfettered public access to Lake Cornelius. Of course, the YMCA on Davidson Street provides access, but the organization requires a membership.

There’s no formal presentation Wednesday, but there will be a public survey open to all Cornelius residents and business owners, which will remain open through Feb. 23. The Jan. 23 informational meeting at Town Hall runs from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

This is all part of Duke Energy’s 2015 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission re-licensing. Duke Energy most provide multiple public access points along the Catawba-Wateree River and Lake system.

Lake Cornelius, a 112-acre body of water with roughly 4.5 miles of shoreline, is east of I-77 between Cornelius and Davidson.

Access would provide passive use only, such as kayak, canoe, and paddleboard access, shoreline fishing, or nature watching. The site would include a pathway to the shoreline, a small gravel parking lot, benches, interpretive signage, and trash/recycling receptacles.

There are no plans for a motor boat launch, swim beach, camping, dock, fishing pier or boat storage.

10 Comments

Big john henderson January 22, 2019 at 12:58 pm

You can get to Lake Cornelius through a tunnel that goes underneath of Highway 77 right next to north harbor café
- Melissa February 3, 2021 at 12:06 pm
  
  That’s “our” spot babe.
Sharon January 24, 2019 at 8:28 pm

Do you have the link to the public comment survey? Thank you
- Newsroom February 10, 2019 at 8:22 am
  
  Does this help? (Call us anytime if it’s still unclear)
  https://www.cornelius.org/628/Lake-Cornelius-Recreation-Access-Area-Su
Jason September 13, 2019 at 3:58 pm

Can we get an update on this? It’s been months since I’ve heard anything. When/where will this ramp be built?
- Newsroom September 25, 2019 at 12:19 pm
  
  Update will appear in the October print edition!
Jason December 2, 2019 at 2:10 pm

Read the paper and have been excited to hear more. We’re in December now. Looking for any feedback on when/where they plan to move forward with this ramp.
- Newsroom December 9, 2019 at 3:45 pm
  
  We hope to hear back from the Town on this question.
Jason January 7, 2020 at 9:39 am

We’re starting to feel like it’s not going to happen. When I read this we were very excited, immediately canoe and kayak shopping. We’ve lived right down the road from the lake for a decade, but with no access, we can only look at it and say “I wish we lived on the water so we could put in a canoe”. The big lakes are too busy for small watercraft and we were very excited about a non-motorboat access, so we can get out and relax on the smaller water. Excitement is wearing off, and it’s starting to sound like the project to extend the light rail up here…never going to happen. Maybe they’ll have a overseas company put in a toll ramp instead :(
Jason April 24, 2020 at 1:24 pm

I’m done checking back on this. I can literally find no other news or information about this anywhere for a year-and-a-half. We have every reason to believe it’s never going to happen. If they build it, great, if they don’t, whatever, we’re pretty much just fed up with hoping it will happen and never hearing any news. At least they’re finally working on the Cookout and Chick-Fil-A, so at least I can clog my arteries while not canoe fishing.