ONE WAY TO MEASURE HOW THE SHORELAND PROTECTION ACT IS WORKING IS TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE SHORELINE OF THE STATE?S LARGEST LAKE.
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DAVID SCHAARSMITH IS STAFF LOBBYIST FOR THE NEW HAMPSHIRE LAKES ASSOCIATION. RECENTLY HE CONDUCTED A TOUR OF SHORE-FRONT PROPERTIES ON LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE THAT COMPLY WITH THE SHORELAND PROTECTION ACT.
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THE FIRST STOP WAS A LARGE, BEIGE HOME IN SOUTH WOLFEBORO THAT PREDATES THE ACT.
TAPE SCHAARSMITH From the water we see this house with a lawn down to the water and a retaining wall.
DOUG 126 we see a fairly expansive green lawn with a couple of white birch trees, and a pretty high retaining wall ? it must be 7 or 8 feet, that borders right on the water. And the green water rolls right down to the retaining wall. What?s wrong with this picture?
DAVID 136 The S.P.A. is meant to reduce the amount of runoff into the lake, and by reducing the runoff ? reducing the amount of nutrients. /// And by having a lawn rather than a natural buffer, we increase that runoff, and often carried with that runoff will be fertilizers which carry phosphates and nitrogen, which are some of those nutrients which are important to the lake but can also be a problem in larger quantities.
DOUG 154 so nutrients or phosphates running down hill on this green lawn have nothing between them and the lake, right?
DAVID 156 nothing but a retaining wall and that?s not going to slow down the nutrients from entering the lake.
DOUG 157 they?re going to go right over the top of that wall and into the lake.
DAVID 158 right. 1:10 [FADE SFX AFTER :03]
THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE ACT IS PREVENT RUN-OFF -- FOR TWO REASONS. FIRST IS THAT EXCESS NUTRIENTS LEADS TO EXCESSIVE PLANT AND ALGAE GROWTH, WHICH CAN EVENTUALLY STARVE A LAKE OF OXYGEN AND KILL-OFF IT?S FISH. SECOND, NUTRIENTS AND SEDIMENTS SPEED UP THE AGING OF A LAKE, SLOWLY FILLING IT IN. BECAUSE OF RUN-OFF FROM MAN-MADE DEVELOPMENT, SCIENTISTS SAY THAT NEW HAMPSHIRE?S LAKES HAVE AGED MORE IN THE LAST THREE-DECADES THAN THEY DID IN THE PREVIOUS 10-THOUSAND YEARS. TREES AND PLANTS AT THE EDGE OF THE LAKE CAN FILTER SEDIMENTS AND SOAK UP NUTRIENTS. THE SHORELAND PROTECTION ACT RESTRICTS THE NUMBER OF TREES THAT CAN BE CUT WITHIN 150-FEET OF THE SHORELINE.
SCHAARSMITH SAYS IT?S NOT WORKING.
TAPE SCHAARSMITH 100 the statute is vague in this area and says you can cut 50% but you must maintain a well distributed stand. And the definition of well distributed stand and the application of that are not clear. :12
[SFX: SNEAK UP BOAT NOISE HERE]
OFFICIALS AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES SAY ENFORCING THIS PROVISION OF THE ACT IS ONE OF THEIR BIGGEST FRUSTRATIONS. SCHAARSMITH?S SECOND STOP IS IN FRONT OF TWO ENORMOUS NEW HOMES UNDER CONSTRUCTION. BOTH HOMES ARE LARGER THAN TWENTY-THOUSAND SQUARE FEET.
TAPE SCHAARSMITH 249 to you and I looking at this, it looks like there?s certainly a violation of the SPA. We see wide areas that are devoid of trees. They have maintained a small buffer next to the shoreline which is great, but still it appears that they?ve cleared an awful lot of trees. Surprisingly, it?s not a violation of the SPA. And that?s mainly b/c the houses are so large and they?ve needed that space to construct these houses, and therefore, the cutting that went on was exempt from the SPA. :31
THE LACK OF RESTRICTIONS ON BUILDING SIZE LEADS TO ONE OF THE ACT?S BIGGEST LOOPHOLES.
TAPE SCHAARSMITH 259 it?s called the building envelope. And you have 15 feet on any side of the house to remove the vegetation so you can allow construction equipment to enter into that area. And we see here many more trees cut than 15 feet from the house, but there are probably going to be what?s called accessory structures or driveways. :20
AN ACCESSORY STRUCTURE COULD BE A GAZEBO, A PATIO, OR A WALKWAY. THERE?S NO LIMIT TO THE NUMBER OF ACCESSORIES -- EACH CAN OCCUPY 150-SQUARE FEET ? AND EACH ENJOYS A 10-FOOT ENVELOPE. D.E.S. OFFICIALS SAY IN A SENSE, THE ACT ACTUALLY ENCOURAGES PEOPLE WHO WANT TO CUT ALL THE TREES IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSE TO SIMPLY KEEP BUILDING ACCESSORIES.
ANOTHER LARGE GREY AREA IN THE ACT INVOLVES BOATHOUSES. SCHAARSMITH STOPS BEFORE A STRUCTURE THAT CAN HOLD FIVE BOATS.
TAPE SCHAARSMITH 313 the impact of the dev of this boathouse is fairly significant
314 the way boathouses are built on Winnipesaukee and on other the lakes throughout the state is that the shoreline is altered. The shoreline is dug out and is what is built is called a dug in boathouse. The shoreline is removed, the boathouse is constructed while a retaining wall holds back the water, and after the boathouse is constructed, the retaining wall is removed and then water enters the boathouse allowing boats to go in and out of the boathouse. :32
IN 1986, THE GOVERNOR AND EXECUTIVE COUNCIL VOTED TO STOP PERMITTING BOATHOUSES BUILT OVER THE WATER, BECAUSE THE WATER IS PUBLICLY OWNED. SINCE THAT TIME, THE GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL HAVE APPROVED DOZENS OF INDIVIDUAL APPLICATIONS FOR DUG-IN BOATHOUSES LIKE THIS ONE, WHICH SCHAARSMITH CALLS AN ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD.
TAPE SCHAARSMITH 286 you essentially created a micro ecosystem within that boathouse and the channel into the boathouse, where water temperatures, water clarity, water quality can all vary from the lake water around it. And in addition you can create some erosional problems. And often times dredging is needed to maintain these entrances to boathouses. :21
D.E.S. OFFICIALS SAY THEY WON?T GIVE PRELIMINARY APPROVAL TO ANY BOATHOUSE THEY BELIEVE WILL REQUIRE DREDGING MORE OFTEN THAN ONCE EVERY SIX YEARS. [LOSE SFX HERE]
ANOTHER PROBLEM IS THAT ALTHOUGH THE ACT CALLS FOR HOUSES TO BE 50-FEET FROM THE SHORELINE ? IT ALLOWS TOWNS TO SET SHORTER SETBACKS. 14-TOWNS HAVE DONE SO. NORTHWOOD AND HILL HAVE 20-FOOT SETBACKS.
CRITICS SAY THE ACT IS AN ENFORCEMENT NIGHTMARE. FAR FROM NEEDING TO GET A PERMIT, PROPERTY OWNERS DON?T HAVE TO PROVIDE D-E-S WITH A SITE PLAN, OR A TREE COUNT, OR EVEN A PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE THEY BEGIN CONSTRUCTION. VIOLATIONS COME TO LIGHT ONLY AFTER THE FACT. D-E-S RECEIVES MORE THAN A HUNDRED COMPLAINTS A YEAR.
OFFICIALS TRY TO GET OWNERS TO COMPLY VOLUNTARILY ? USUALLY BY PLANTING NEW TREES. D-E-S CAN ISSUE FINES, BUT THE ACT FUNDS ONLY ONE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. IN SEVEN YEARS, THE DEPARTMENT HAS ISSUED 17-FINES. THE AVERAGE FINE COLLECTED IS ABOUT TWO-THOUSAND DOLLARS.
TAPE JOHN ROBINSON 269 the fines are? are a joke. :03
THAT?S JOHN ROBINSON, PRESIDENT OF WOOD AND CLAY, A CUSTOM HOME BUILDING COMPANY IN MEREDITH.
TAPE JOHN ROBINSON 270 if somebody is fined two thousand dollars and they?re building a five million dollar house, they can pay two thousand dollars every day for 10-years, and it?s not going to matter to them. There needs to be much stronger action in severe violations. :15
MANY REALTORS AGREE. TOM HOWARD, A BROKER IN MOULTONBOROUGH, IS A MEMBER OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE REALTORS ASSOCIATION.
TAPE TOM HOWARD 260 it simply becomes a line item in the budget of the construction process. ///And of course all of us would like to play on a level playing field and there are those of us who would abide by the Shoreland protection act and there are those who would just as soon add it to the budget as I say. :14
A DECADE AGO, REALTORS AND DEVELOPERS OPPOSED THE CREATION OF A SHORELAND PROTECTION ACT. TODAY, MANY ARGUE THAT THEIR LIVELIHOODS DEPEND ON A STRONGER, CLEARER ACT, WITH ADEQUATE ENFORCEMENT.
STATE SENATOR CARL JOHNSON OF MEREDITH RECENTLY CHAIRED THE FIRST MEETING OF A COMMISSION OF LAWMAKERS WHO WILL STUDY THE SHORELAND PROTECTION ACT.
TAPE SEN CARL JOHNSON 087 I?d like to open the meeting by saying that some of us had the opportunity to go out onto the lake last week, we were on winni. /// 093 it certainly was an eye opening for me and I?m sure some of the committee members, and I think that the committee probably has a lot of work to do. :16 or :14
THE LEGISLATIVE STUDY COMMITTEE IS DUE TO PRESENT ITS FINDINGS NOVEMBER FIRST.
TAPE SFX: [BUCKET LOADER, :03, FADE AND HOLD UNDER]
MEANWHILE, ON LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE LAST MONTH, A BUCKET LOADER WORKED TO CREATE A NEW PERMANENT DOCK NEXT TO A DUG-IN BOATHOUSE. ASKED WHAT HE WAS DOING, THE OPERATOR REPLIED, WITH NO IRONY, THAT HE WAS BUILDING A NEW DOCK, AND A NEW SHORELINE. FOR N-H-P-R NEWS, I?M DOUG MACPHERSON.
[FADE BUCKET LOADER UP, HOLD :02, FADE OUT :03]
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