Jim,
Some visuals of the yard would help me. Forgive me if I have missed them in the past. Is this a stub ended yard or doubled? How are you fouling a spur? Your constraints pose a problem that even real railroads face!...
Do what you can to save the lake. You may have to lengthen the overpass at one end. What car capacity for the yard are you aiming for?
I have used(operationally) compound ladders at a club layout. They allow for more tracks in a smaller space which is good for HO modeling. When it came to switching cars I found it a bit bothersome.
For me, flat switching has a more realistic feel with a straight ladder. Also, in my current case, compounding the tracks would have been overkill...2 tracks holding 3 or 4 cars a piece as opposed to 1 track holding 7. My layout is in a 10' x 12' space so I had to curve the leads on either end to get the most length out of my yard tracks without curving them as well.
1) right entrance to the yard...main to the far right, switching lead in the middle which ties into the main again 5' below the frame.
2) right entrance again showing the lead into the belly of the yard plus a connection to the passing siding. With confined spaces, I always try to have multi-purpose tracks(passing trains, classification or pick up/set off track)
3) the left entrance to the yard...main to the right...very small lead in the middle...industry spur to the left..VERY little switching will be done on this end...mostly block set offs and pick ups...so no need for a long lead.