The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, held three information meetings introducing proposed policy changes to the Shoreline Management Plan concerning community docks on Lake Sidney Lanier for public review.
“The results of these meetings have been received, the decision has been made and approved by the district commander, and the decision is now being made available to the public,” Lisa Parker, Deputy Public Affairs Officer said.
“The decision sets a deadline for community dock permittees of undeveloped communities owners to provide required documentation to maintain their dock permits. All community docks with existing permits or permits that expired in 2009 through 2013 will be given a grace period. These permittees will have until December 1, 2014 to obtain and submit a Local Issuing Authority (LIA) approved final plat,” Parker said.
“For new developments seeking a community dock, an approved LIA preliminary plat or a letter from the LIA attached to the plat stating that is meets the LIA requirements must be provided, then a conditional community dock permit will be issued. Community dock construction and installation must not take place until the final plat has been approved and USACE has completed the required permit reconciliation and issued a non-conditional community dock permit,” Parker said.
It also gives guidance as to how the Lake Lanier Project Management Office will handle new permit requests once the lottery process has been completed. “If permits become available after the lottery process is completed or after the permit cap of 10,615 is met USACE will publicly announce their availability and issue new permits based on a first come first serve basis until the maximum number is reached,” Parker said.
USACE is charged with protecting and managing Lake Lanier within its scope of authority while serving the needs of the general public. It is the intent of this plan to provide the most benefits to the public and to balance needs against the physical limitations and natural qualities of the project. In formulating the plan present and future needs were considered.
The Operations Manager will continually monitor the needs of lake users and recommend revisions that will minimize conflicts between various interests. Minor changes in shoreline
allocations will continue to be approved by the District Commander and reported to the Division Commander on an annual basis.
In advance of recommending a major revision to this plan the public process will be repeated, and changes will be publicly announced for review and comment prior to implementation. To reduce the amount of time to recommend, review, evaluate, and update minor portions of the plan, individual segments may be evaluated rather than the entire document.
For more details go to http://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Recreation/LakeSidneyLanier/ShorelineManagement