Collins, Lake Hartwell Association Speak Out on New Permit Process

Ninth District Congressman Doug Collins, along with the Lake Lanier Association and the Lake Hartwell Association, is challenging the recent Army Corps of Engineers policy change involving the application process for shoreline use permits and licenses.

In early January, Corps spokesman Billy Birdwell said a minor administrative change regarding permit paperwork went into effect the first of the year.

The change splits the permit application from one document into two separate documents.

Birdwell said however, lakeshore land owners will continue to work with their local area ranger regarding all shoreline management activities.

But last week, Collins and the lake associations sent a letter to Commanding General and Chief of Engineers Thomas Bostick saying the change actually complicated the permit process by turning it into a complicated bureaucratic maze.

In that letter, Collins said the change from one form to two imposes a huge burden on homeowners on the affected lakes, including multiple lakes in the Ninth District.k

“The Corps insists that this change is minor, but it imposes a huge burden on homeowners on the affected lakes, including multiple lakes in the Ninth District,” said Congressman Collins. “Describing a change that will alter a decades-long policy as ‘administrative’ is flippant, and dismissive of the thousands of property owners who have put down roots in these communities.”

“Additionally, residents received little, if any, notice of the changed policy, despite the fact that it is likely to increase fees and significantly slow down the permit process. Changing a process that used to be simple into a bureaucratic maze, and forcing applicants to submit personal information that has little to do with the situation, is unnecessary and only serves to further weaken the relationship between the community and the Corps. I hope that this can be resolved in the same manner as the sudden policy changes that prohibited residents from drawing water from the lakes, when public opinion was enough to get the Corps to reconsider,” he concluded.

Collins went on to say residents affected received little or no notice to the additional increase in fees and what Collins called the slow down of the permit process.

Herb Burnham, executive director of the Lake Hartwell Association said he believes the change will lead to higher fees for permit holders.

Burnham said there are 11,000 permit holders on Lake Hartwell alone.

“On behalf of the more than 11,000 permit holders on Lake Hartwell, we are extremely disappointed in the Corps’ decision to create a less efficient and more bureaucratic system,” said Herb Burnham, Executive Director of the Lake Hartwell Association. “This will certainly lead to higher fees for permit holders. At a time when government should aim for higher efficiency, this accomplishes the exact opposite.”

“We are disappointed to see this policy change and are concerned about the impact this will have on Lake Lanier property owners”, said Joanna Cloud, the Executive Director of the Lake Lanier Association. “In general, for most government processes, we prefer a more efficient, streamlined approach. This policy change seems to create, at a minimum, an entirely new administrative burden, without even having the technology support systems in place to accommodate this change. The Buford Project Management Office is already resource constrained and this policy change will compound that problem with no clear benefits to the taxpayers funding the system.”

The letter also asks for more information on the policy change, including how much permit and license fees will increase, why the change was deemed minor and the legality of the policy change.