Why land adjacent to shopping center is “protected”

Oconee County now has in writing why a department of the federal government won’t budge on a request to allow boat slips and pedestrian access to Lake Hartwell from the back of the Hartwell Village shopping center.  A letter to Amanda Brock, the county administrator, from Aaron Wahus, operations project manager for the Savannah District Corps of Engineers reaffirms the corps’ position that public land adjacent to Lakeside Lodge remains “protected.”  For it to be reclassified “public recreation” would require a comprehensive review of all shoreline allocations to ensure a balance between permitted private uses and resource protection.  Wahus writes that a comprehensive review of shoreline allocation was not funded as part of the recent Shoreline Management Plan review.  Officials of Lakeside Lodge appealed to Oconee County last year for help to persuade the Army Corps of Engineers to relent so that its guests could have boats and recreation access to the nearby lake waters.