News

Corps decision delays Seven Falls work

By Bill Moss, Published: February 11, 2015

ETOWAH — In the long term, a decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could mean that Henderson County can get more work done at the failed Seven Falls development. In the short term, the decision means delay in roadwork that county officials hoped would start by summer.
County officials last week called off a bid opening for paving five miles of subdivision roads and construction of a new road a quarter mile long. County officials pulled the bid opening after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers notified them that it would now require a new permit for the development, not a reissue of the previous permit, because "the scope of the work is different (that is, less) than the original project," County Attorney Russ Burrell said in a motion filed in Henderson County Superior Court. The court is guiding the county's use of $6 million to try to rescue as much as it can of the riverside development.
The Corps of Engineers said in a letter last week that a permit application review could take longer than the average time frame of four to six months because of the "uniqueness and history of the Seven Falls property," Burrell said. Based on the federal regulators' latest decision, work could not start "for a minimum of six months and possibly 12 months after the bids were returned."
Burrell said a revised permit could cost less than reissuing the old permit, meaning more money for construction.
After the county received a $6 million bond the developer took out to ensure infrastructure work, the county began plans to complete as much road work and utility construction as possible. Burrell has said that he wants Superior Court Judge Mark Powell to approve the county's decision very step of the way because the situation is unguided by state law. In fact, the circumstances are so novel that he has spoken with state Rep. Chuck McGrady about a state statute that could set out guidelines in the future.
The biggest subdivision ever approved in the county, Seven Falls was to feature an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course surrounded by 700 single-family lots, 164 townhomes, 24 lodge and inn rooms and 36 condominiums.