20141063 Ver 1_More Info Received_20141124

November 19, 2013
Water ollallty Regional Operations
Asheville fiegional Office
401 and Buffer Permitting Unit
1617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699 -1617
Mr. Ed Williams
Water Quality Programs
2090 US Hwy 70
Swannanoa, NC 28778
Re: Responses to Information Request
To Whom It May Concern:
On October 30, 2014, the Town of Lake Lure received a request for additional information regarding our
proposed shoreline stabilization project. The following responses will hopefully provide the necessary
information needed to complete the permitting process.
1. Please provide delegation form (attached) from all property owners giving permission for shoreline
work on their property.
The Town of Lake Lure owns Lake Lure. The Town holds title to the land and water that is
impounded by the Lake Lure Dam, according to the Law of Lake Lure by George William Sherk
(University of Denver Water Law Review, Vol. 8, Issue 2, Spring 2005). As such, the Town has the
right to allow or restrict any type of use or development in or above the waters of the lake up to the
shoreline of the lake. Thus, all seawalls, bulkheads, rip rap, etc. are being placed on Town property
as opposed to the property of the upland property owner. The upland property owners are responsible
for paying for the work; but the Town essentially gives them permission to do this work on Town
property. The Town is the applicant, with permission being given to adjacent property owners to do
shoreline stabilization on the Town's property. Therefore, the Town insists that it is not necessary to
provide written permission of each landowner since it is the Town that is giving permission to the
landowners to do work on Town property.
Since being placed under the GP30, in order to make things easier on the Town, property owners, and
the State and to make sure that enough time is given to gain approval, the Town has offered the option
to lakefront property owners to participate in the Town's shoreline stabilization effort by submitting
plans and shoreline stabilization permit applications at no cost to property owners. This allows the
Town to submit a single application for multiple projects on Town property and makes sure that
projects get applied for and permitted in a reasonable time before the lake goes down for the winter
and guarantees that those projects will be completed before the water comes back up. Property owners
failing to meet our due date for submittal have the option of applying and paying for their own
application submittal to NCDWR, but they are encouraged to participate in ours: They are also made
P. 0. Box 255, Lake Lure, NC 28746 + Phone 828 - 625 -9983, Ext. 502, Fax [phone]

aware that independent submittals for seawalls that receive approval from NCDWR, if they have not
been received by the Town by January 31", will not be allowed to proceed because of the risk of the
project not being completed in time for the lake to come up on March 1 s This has been the case since
being placed on the GP30 and this has never come up as an issue in the past with respect to prior
permit approvals:
2. Poured concrete shoreline stabilization walls do not provide for good aquatic species habitat. Dry
stacked boulders are the preferred method. Please explain why dry- stacked boulders will not be
utilized:
Historically, the Town has allowed the construction of lake structures, including
bulkheads and seawalls, to be constructed along the lake shoreline. Historical practices have led to a
mixture of wall construction styles, the vast majority being stone and mortar. Many of the older
seawalls have failed over time, so as reconstruction occurs, seawalls are being designed to last for
much longer. For a long time, poured in place walls were commonplace as were cinder block walls
filled with concrete.
In 2006, after adoption of the local sediment and erosion control program, the Town had a meeting
with Kevin Barnett (NC DWQ) to discuss permitting of shoreline stabilization methods and our current
methods for constructing seawalls. We discussed, in depth, the issues with concrete walls, particularly
the issues with undermining of footers from wave action, and the need to have more energy dissipation
structure such as rip rap.
Because most of the property around Lake Lure was developed many years ago and many of those
property owners constructed seawalls, a large number of those walls have required replacement.. Due
to the narrowness and steepness of lots, dry - stacked boulder walls in most locations are not practical
due to the difficulty of getting materials to the sites. All rock has to be barged in to sites and hand
stacked because there are so few lots where equipment can access the shoreline. There are no large
barges on the lake for moving heavy equipment around, so everything is being done from small barges
on pontoons. In some instances, pre - engineered keystone walls have been constructed (which also
does not technically meet the definition of dry - stack). Such walls require large amounts of excavation
to install geogrid to prevent wall failure which destroys the buffer zone along the lake shore and
increases the amount of impact from upland erosion to the water quality. Many of the engineered
concrete seawalls, because of the steepness of the upland lots and the problems with land slippage that
is prevalent here, are designed as retaining walls as much as they are as a seawall.
After coming to an understanding of some of the difficulties we are faced with at Lake Lure, Kevin
said that he could live with the concrete walls, provided we were allowing 28 days for cure time before
the walls came into contact with the water, all concrete walls are faced with stone and deep gap mortar
to create habitat, and that rip rap be placed at the toe of all seawalls and bulkheads anytime new
construction, major repair or reconstruction occurs._ The Town agreed to this and even wrote it into
our regulations that shoreline stabilization, unless natural stabilization was sufficient, would require
rip rap and that any seawall construction would require engineering and must be approved by the
Town with the understanding that the Town may refuse to allow someone to construct a new seawall if
rip rap is sufficient to stabilize the shoreline.
This has been our policy since 2006 and the Town has been through three draw down periods and we
have had no issues with permitting from the respective agencies In follow -up conversations with
Chuck Cranford, that took place before we started the permitting process and prior to his departure
from NC DWR, we asked appropriate questions and were told that our methods are suitable for our
lake and that permitting should not bean issue. Our practices are designed to reduce water quality
impacts by restricting methods that would otherwise require major amounts of land disturbance that is
unnecessary. We are finding that the use of rip rap at the toe of seawalls is having a positive impact by
reducing the amount of maintenance required for older seawalls. Our educational efforts are also
P. O. Box 255, Lake Lure, NC 28746 + Phone 828 - 625 -9983, Ext. 502, Fax [phone]

F
causing greater numbers of residents to add rip rap instead of tearing down existing seawalls and
constructing new ones. As the years go by, we see an increase in rip rap requests as opposed to
seawall requests so that indicates a major mindset change that will create a positive impact on water
quality for Lake Lure.
3. Please provide justification for using Class C rip rap. Duke Energy Shoreline Management Guidelines
http.s://www.duke-energy.com/pdfs/shoreline—mjzt—guide.pdf recommend using Class rip rap or
larger._ If Class C rip rap must be used, please provide a sheer strength analysis.
Our intention is to use Class B rip rap. Class C was mistakenly written into the plan. Our contractors
that do shoreline stabilization are all familiar with the requirement for Class B rip rap so that is what
we always install and will continue to do so as projects get permitted. We thank you for bringing this
to our attention.
4. Please outline plan for replanting disturbed vegetation. Refer to Duke Energy Shoreline Management
Guidelines: httos: / /www.duke- energy.com /pdfs /shoreline mat guide pdf
The majority of these projects will be done from the lake side. Class B rip rap will be brought to each
site by small barge and hand stacked. Where seawalls are being installed or replaced, most are
poured in place walls or poured block with stone facing. Again, all the labor gets done from the lake
side of the seawall. All wall forming is done from the lake side. Concrete, when used, is either
pumped from a truck located above the site either from a driveway or a Town road or mixed on -site.
In this manner, no upland vegetation gets disturbed. There are a couple of projects where some
upland disturbance will be required due to the scope of the project. These projects have applied for
and received Trout Variances from NC DEMLR, Land Quality Section and have submitted
landscape plans that have been approved by the State consisting of native species suitable for upland
and /or riparian habitats. Obviously any disturbed vegetation will be restored in order to reduce
erosion and in such a way as to maintain the property owner's current landscaping or where
necessary to restore native species that might be impacted as work is taking place.
I hope that you find these explanations suitable. Again, this has been our method of conducting shoreline
stabilization for some time and we have never had any issues or reluctance on the Part of NC DWR to
issue 401 certifications for our projects. The Town has and will continue to make every effort to protect
the water quality of Lake Lure and we pride ourselves in being open and willing to communicate with our
cooperating agencies when issues arise. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me at
(828)625 -9983 ext. 502 or by e-mail at eco@.townoflakelure.com.
Thanks,
Clint Calhoun, CFM, CLM
Environmental Management Officer
Town of Lake Lure
P. O. Box 255, Lake Lure, NC 28746 * Phone 828 - 625 -9983, Ext. 502, Fax [phone]