Chautauqua Lake Pops Defense Fund

The Chautauqua Lake Pops needs your help.

It is very disappointing that three out-of-state home and property owners: Thomas & Marina Arko and William Kinney from Dewittville, located well over a mile away on the other side of Chautauqua Lake, have joined with a disgruntled resident of Mayville, Sharon Smead, who recently lost her election, in an effort to shut down the Chautauqua Lake Pops summer concert series, destroying a very unique waterfront activity that has been enjoyed by thousands and thousands of residents and visitors for over 20 years.

The Chautauqua Lake Pops floating stage  (a not for profit 501C3 organization) was unanimously approved a few years ago by the Mayville Planning Board as being consistent with all local zoning laws and Mayville’s Waterfront Consistency Law.  The Village of Mayville Board of Trustees also approved the floating stage.

The floating stage is strongly supported by the Chamber of Commerce, many local businesses, elected officials, the community at large and other community leaders. .  Indeed, a recent petition in support of the floating stage was signed by over 1000 people within just a few days!

Chautauqua Lake Pops recently submitted another permit application to the New York State Office of General Services, and is awaiting its approval.  The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers have already signed-off on the permit application. (note we were unable to file for a permit in 2020 when the entire country was shut down due to Covid) We recently received clearance to move forward. Everything is submitted and pending NYS approval.

Chautauqua Lake Pops is hopeful that it will again be able to provide a high quality summer concert series for the thousands of people who look forward to hearing great tribute bands playing favorite songs from Chicago, Journey, Bee Gees, Aerosmith, Doobie Brothers, Bob Seger, and Elvis.  A special Labor Day pops concert featuring top musicians from the Eastman School of Music and beyond with fireworks.

It would be a sad day in Chautauqua County if a few people could stop thousands of others from enjoying this great concert series on the beautiful floating stage. The Pops program has historically generated over $12 million dollars in economic development for the entire region.

In order to defend ourselves against this complaint, we need to raise money for a legal defense fund to ensure the Chautauqua Lake Pops can continue to offer entertainment to the residents of Chautauqua County. Please consider donating to our fund! Thank you for your generosity!

Sincerely,

Dan Dalpra

Founder

Chautauqua Lake Pops