"The Sublease Agreement shall automatically terminate on the date of closing in the event that SUBLESSEE sells his/her freehold property." That sentence is in the Lake Lemon Conservancy District's published surplus parcel sublease agreement. For many homes around the lake, it decides what the buyer is getting when a listing mentions a dock.
The next clause adds that the sublessee "may not assign or transfer the rights conferred herein." The seller's lake access doesn't go into the purchase agreement as something to hand over. It ends at closing, and the new owner applies for their own.
Who owns the water's edge
Lake Lemon belongs to the City of Bloomington. Under the city's lake ordinance, the city owns the land under the lake and the water itself. City of Bloomington Utilities leased the lake to the Lake Lemon Conservancy District in 1995, which handed over operation and maintenance but not ownership. The District calls it a 50-year lease. We couldn't find a published copy that gives the exact end date or any renewal terms.
The ordinance also says usable docks "can only be constructed in the lake area owned or controlled by the city or the LLCD." So every dock on the lake depends on public permission in some form. The kind of permission depends on one question about the parcel.
Riparian or not: the question that decides the rest
The ordinance divides lake properties into two groups. A landowner with riparian rights can put a dock in their own riparian zone. A landowner without riparian rights can sign a lake access lease with the city and the District covering the "marginal land" next to the shoreline, and the dock goes there under the terms of a sublease. The ordinance applies district-wide. It doesn't say which parcels fall in which group. You find that in the deed and survey for the specific property, not in the listing remarks.
| Riparian parcel | Non-riparian parcel with a sublease | |
|---|---|---|
| Source of the dock right | Ownership of shoreline | One-year agreement with the District and CBU |
| Number of docks | One for the first 50 feet of shoreline, one more for each additional 50 feet, up to three | One, unless the District approves otherwise in writing |
| Boats | Up to four per dock | Two total |
| Who picks the location | The owner's riparian zone | The District, which can set the actual dock location |
| At sale | Not addressed by the ordinance; confirm with the deed and survey | Ends on the closing date |
The ordinance grandfathers riparian dock setups that were already out of compliance when the rule was adopted. If a riparian property has more docks or boats than the current limits allow, ask how long that setup has been in place.
What the sublease actually grants
The agreement defines "Lake Access" as the right to go onto a surplus parcel to swim, boat and fish. That includes the right to build a dock for no more than two boats "in a manner and location as provided by the LLCD." The surplus parcel is land owned by CBU and leased to the District. The District designates it "in its sole discretion," and the agreement says it gives no rights beyond lake access and a place for the dock. The form also calls dock locations and access boundaries "approximate."
Each agreement runs one calendar year and ends December 31. Under the published 2025 form, the final payment deadline was May 31. After that date, "the Surplus Parcel may be offered to another freeholder for sublease." The District has set the 2026 private sublease fee at $290, or $250 with the $40 discount for paying by March 1. The proposed 2027 schedule raises it to $300, with the same $40 early-payment discount. That figure is still a proposal. The District's 2027 budget hearing is set for October 8, 2026, and adoption is scheduled for October 22.
The agreement is signed by CBU, the District and a named "freeholder of property within the Conservancy District." A buyer becomes a freeholder at closing, which is the same moment the seller's agreement ends. The published form doesn't say how a sale in the middle of the year is handled. That includes whether the same parcel is held for the new owner and how the fee is prorated. Get those answers from the District office in writing before you count on dock access in the offer price. The District's Forms page says the 2026 sublease application is available by emailing the office. The publicly posted 2025 form is the most recent text you can read without asking.
The dock itself is a separate question
A sublease ends at closing, but the dock is still a physical structure sitting on city-owned land. If the District terminates a sublease for a breach, the form requires the sublessee to remove all personal property, docks included, and the District can bill them for removal if they don't. When a sublease ends because of a sale, the form doesn't say what happens to the dock. Sellers and buyers should settle that in the purchase agreement: whether the dock conveys as personal property, stays in place for the buyer's new sublease, or gets removed.
Rental plans add their own paperwork. Tenants who use a dock on a sublease site have to sign their own sublease agreement and buy a nonresident annual boat permit. Short-term renters and houseguests staying up to two weeks during boating season need only the right boating permits. In December 2025, the board discussed unauthorized docking at private subleased docks. It confirmed that subleased docks must be tied to developed parcels and properly documented, and that a renter of a freeholder's parcel must sign their own copy of the sublease.
Any change at the shoreline needs written permission first
A buyer's improvement plans can run into the same public ownership. The city ordinance sets a flowage easement between 635 and 630 feet above mean sea level. No boathouse or permanent structure can go up within that band, and no one can alter the shoreline, fill, dredge or excavate, without written permission from the city or the District, plus any required federal and state permits. For subleased parcels, the agreement lists seawall construction and shoreline stabilization as alterations that need a permit. Planting trees or adding fixtures also requires prior written approval.
Docks are limited to 60 feet from the established shoreline. The city or District can approve a longer dock if 60 feet doesn't reach 4 feet of water, and finger docks can't be longer than 20 feet. The District's page for new freeholders says a completed shoreline permit has to be on file before any shoreline or dock work starts. A buyer planning to rebuild a dock or add a seawall the summer after closing should count the permit process in the timeline.
The ongoing costs of owning on the lake
Lake access is only part of what a District property owner pays for each year. For 2026, the District adopted an $850,000 general levy and a $74,225 cumulative improvement levy. The printed rates are $0.4446 for the general fund and $0.033 for cumulative improvement. The District's budget workbook describes the $0.033 rate as per $100 of assessed value, and staff explained at the August 27, 2026 meeting that the improvement-fund revenue moves with the district's total net assessed value. The 2027 draft lists maximum amounts to be raised of $850,000 and $74,592. In notes from its August 27, 2026 meeting, which lacked a quorum, the District said its special-benefits-tax request would not go up.
Boat permits come next. Freeholders inside District boundaries pay resident rates, and so do City of Bloomington Utilities water customers who show a water bill.
| 2026 adopted, unless noted | Resident | Nonresident |
|---|---|---|
| Annual permit, motor 10 HP and larger | $91 | $138 |
| Annual permit, motor under 10 HP | $62 | $98 |
| Personal watercraft, annual | $180 | $226 |
| Ballast boat environmental fee, annual | $300 | $300 |
| Ballast boat fee, proposed for 2027 | $310 | $310 |
The ballast fee went from $225 in 2025 to $300 in 2026. It comes with Resolution 05-25-02, adopted May 29, 2025. That resolution limits ballast tanks, wake-enhancing devices and wake surfing to a mapped Wake Sports Zone at least 400 feet from shore and at least 12 feet deep. A third documented violation in one calendar year means a one-year loss of the boating permit. If a buyer is bringing a wake boat, the lake the rules allow them to use is smaller than the lake they see from the dock.
Why a December showing looks different
On August 28, 2025, the board approved a three-foot drawdown after Thanksgiving. Chairman Les Wadzinski cast the only no vote. At its December 11 meeting, the District said the gate was fully open and the lake would reach three feet below normal pool around December 16. Sellers who list in late fall and buyers who tour in winter will be looking at a shoreline the District has lowered on purpose. Ask whether a drawdown is underway before you judge water depth at the end of a dock.
The District also runs a five-year sediment cycle. Dredge America removed 141,640 cubic yards in 2024. The plan is to build up funds in 2026, haul sediment from the South Shore Drive upland site in 2027, and plan the next large hydraulic dredge for 2029. For a property near a shallow cove, the date of the next dredge can matter as much as the dock.
Quick answers
Does a buyer keep the seller's sublease if the closing happens in June? No. Under the published form, the agreement ends on the closing date and can't be transferred. Ask the District how it handles a new freeholder in the middle of the season.
Can two neighbors share one subleased dock? Yes. Each one signs a sublease agreement, and only one fee is due per dock.
Can a family member who doesn't own property keep a boat at the dock? Yes, if the family member owns the boat, is named on the sublease application and buys a nonresident annual permit.
Can a seller charge someone else to use the dock? No. The sublease bars any compensation for use of the lake access facilities. The city ordinance makes one exception: when the dock is included in the rental of a home inside the District and the renter is the only one using it.
If you're selling a Lake Lemon home, or have an offer in mind on one, Amanda Sells Indiana can help you find out whether the parcel is riparian, put the dock's future in writing in the purchase agreement, and line up the District paperwork before closing. Schedule a Free Consultation and bring the deed, the survey and the current sublease.
