Smith Mountain Lake Development and the Eco System
The rapid pace of Smith Mountain
Lake development has residents and three county governments
scrambling to protect the lakefront environment and to provide new
infrastructure. Hundreds of new residential housing units --
mostly condos and townhouses -- have been recently approved by
supervisors of the three counties that surround Smith Mountain
Lake. Many completed construction in 2007 despite the slower real
estate market.
The lake is approaching
development saturation with few decent waterfront lots left, and
in 2008 the real value is in purchasing an already established
waterfront home.
Lake water quality is threatened
as new home construction eliminates natural waterfront buffers of
native trees and vegetation that previously filtered lake
pollutants like lawn fertilizers and pesticides. For now, Smith
Mountain Lake water quality remains excellent, largely due to the
vigilance of organizations like SMLA
and TLAC.
In 2005, all three lakefront counties passed new regulations that
forbid the feeding of waterfowl within 500 feet of the lake, to
help control water quality. In 2007, Franklin County began a
program to enforce regular maintenance and pump-out of septic
systems near the lake. And for several years, boaters have been
forbidden to dump wastes of any kind into Smith Mountain Lake.
SMLA has recorded and publicized water quality test results
continuously since 1987 -- a database unmatched by any major lake
in the USA. In 2007, 47 volunteers tested Smith Mountain Lake;
many meaasurements of water quality were among the best ever
recorded.
Smith Mountain Lake is
Virginia's busiest recreational freshwater body for boaters, but
there are no boating horsepower or speed limits on the lake. In
2006, the Virginia Assembly increased funding for enforcement of
boating safety and noise laws; Virginia's Department of Game and
Inland Fisheries (DGIF) increased the number and visibility of
patrols on Smith Mountain Lake's 20,400 acres. In 2007, the
Virginia Assembly passed a law mandating safe boating education
for operators that will phase in over several years. SMLA
successfully lobbied for the education mandate and will continue
to lobby for for nighttime boating speed limits. Speed limits
failed to pass in 2007 but will be reintroduced in 2008.
Lakefront residential property
taxes in all three lakefront counties are about 1/2 of 1% of fair
market value, so a $500,000 property is taxed at about
$2,500/year. Properties are reassessed once every four years. The
latest county appraisals of lakefront homes were about 75% higher
than four years ago -- following another 50% increase just four
years earlier. There is no reduction of taxes for primary homes or
for low-income or retired homeowners, so everyone pays the same
property tax rates.
There is no local "town
level" of government at Smith Mountain Lake, so the three
lake-surrounding county governments face new demands for public
services like traffic safety enforcement, road improvements, and
trash removal, plus new infrastructure needs like public water and
sewage. The lake's first public water line was laid by Bedford
County in 2005; Franklin County became a partner and extended it
across the county line. Bedford County began construction of
sewage lines and a treatment facility in 2005; Franklin County is
exploring feasibility.
The three county governments and
Appalachian Power Company control lake development. Ferrum College
and volunteer organizations like SMLA and TLAC monitor water
quality. Some local residents and organizations want to establish
an additional local level of taxation and control -- a
"special tax district" or a "town of Smith Mountain
Lake" spanning all three lakefront counties, to support an
increase in tax-based services provided around the lake.
To better understand SML
development issues, you can:
If you have any additional
questions, please visit us on the web at: http://smithmountainlakefronthomes.com/
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