Coastal Dune Lakes are Under Siege

[Kurt]

Larry and LV2 are good lakefront owners. Unfortunately I'm afraid you guys are in the minority. I know there's a lot we can do to protect our lakes. Runoff is number one problem I suppose. I'd love to see each lake that has homes on it form a lake lovers club and work together to stop using chemicals, control runoff, eliminate septic tanks, din lights, etc.

Offenders should be dealt with by neighbors if possible.

 

[Jimmy T]

I think we're all on the same side here in this forum. We all want to preserve the coastal dune lakes.

If everybody else cared, the regulations would be minimal; if you're in a lake watershed, you do the right thing because you know it's the right thing to do. You don't clear your property to the lakeside, pave it, put in a lawn and spray it with all sorts of weird chemicals. But not all folks share the same respect and care for our environment, and that is where we need the protections.

I live in the western lake watershed. 3/4 of our property is a conservation easement. And it's beautiful. We can't touch it. If it wasn't a conservation easement, would we have put in a lawn and fertilized it and put pesticides on it? No way. We know where all that junk goes. And we know that every critter and plant that lives on our property is part of something bigger.

I can see LVT's point about the regulation preventing an existing dwelling to be rebuilt. I agree that's silly. If it's there, it's there. That's a reasonable change to the rules.

But I still believe that for the future, it's a good idea to protect the lakes and environment to the maximum extent possible. Sure, some of us will do this because we care. Others will not, and I think this is why we need strict laws and regulations.

 

[Matt J]

Actually what was removed was a procedure in the LDC that had not been enforced, when planning started enforcing it people got up in arms. They were told that their homes would be nonconforming and therefore would not be able to rebuild in the event of fire/disaster. This is not true as there are plenty of grand fathering provisions in the LDC for nonconforming buildings. Some specifically written for homes that fell into the CDLPZ.

Yes, there were vacant lots that became virtually unbuildable due to the LDC, but it was a very small minority, and should have been dealt with differently. This opens up the door for over development and ultimately that county will be on the hook for remediation.