Residents Testify at Hearing About Benka Access

Residents testified at an injunction hearing on Thursday afternoon about the fence blocking public access to Benka Lake on Lakeview Street. The fence brought together a group of residents to form the Friends of Benka Lake in response to the blocked access. The Friends and other Talkeetna residents packed the courtroom for the hearing.

In October of last year, the Friends officially filed a complaint against the landowners, the Brunzes, who built the fence in August 2022. In February of this year, the State submitted documents to the Courts in response to an amended complaint filed by the Brunzes. The documents showed that Lakeview Street was built by the State of Alaska to provide public access to Benka Lake. 

At the injunction hearing on Thursday, the Brunzes continued to claim through their surveyor that their plat and the survey markers show that Lakeview Street is on their land and is not a public road. The surveyor claimed that the plats were defective, but not ambiguous.

The State’s surveyor testified that the plats around Benka Lake were ambiguous. That means a judge would need to interpret the intent of the people who drafted the plat. The State’s surveyor showed documentation that Lakeview Street had been built all the way to the lake with a boat launch in 1965. 

Four residents testified at the hearing, two of whom live on the lake and two who live nearby and used the lake before the access was gated. Forrest Cook, Friends of Benka Lake Vice-President, testified at the hearing. He spoke about the time his children lost on Benka Lake with their grandfather who passed away last year. Another resident spoke about the boat launch being the sole access to her property since her walking trail is blocked by another property owner. Without boat access there is no way to transport materials to her land to build or make repairs.

Mike Kramer, the Friends of Benka Lake attorney, says he thought those residents did a good job showing the citizens of Talkeetna are being irreparably harmed by the loss of access. 

Chris Hall, Friends of Benka Lake Secretary says if the community is going to preserve access, it will take neighbors working together.

The judge has six months to decide on the temporary injunction to remove the fence, but Kramer hopes for a favorable decision as early as next week. Kramer says he hopes the judge will provide a temporary injunction that requires access to the lake return to the way it was before August 2022.