illegal, and she emphasized that the lake was not a coastal dune lake.Walton County doesnot list the small lake as one of the county's coastal dune lakes.Harris said the retaining wall project was constructed in order to prevent the collapse of the condominium’s cooling towers.She said that before entering into a contract for the project in January, she had approached the county to ask about permitting.
Harris said she was initially told that a county permit would be required, then that no county permit was necessary.Plans for the project were drawn up by an engineer, she said.Harris said that just to be on the safe side she had had Edgewater’s contractor file paperwork with the Walton County Building Department and provide the county with project plansHarris said she was later to1d that a permit had been issued for the project. However the permit was not provided to her, she said.
Svehla said it was his understandingthat Edgewater’s agent had come in and applied for a building permit. “The building department does not issue permits for retaining walls nor does planning. I assume that the building department clerks accepted information, but in actuality it wasn’t necessary,” he said.Harris said the sand specified in the initial project contract was white beach quality sand. However, she said she was later told by Walton County Public Works staff that Edgewater would not be required to use white sand except for the top two foot, since the sand would be encapsulated in the project. Harris said language outlining an exemption from the White Sand Ordinance was provided to her at the time of these conversations.
The ordinance sets forth exemptions allowing the use of darker sand if the material is placed under concrete or asphalt. Based on the public works staff advice, Harris said, in March she revised the contract with regard to fill material. However, she said, she did not contract for yellow sand but instead “good bay sand” that would bleach out to white once exposed to sunlight.
Harris said that a number of county staff and commissioners had come to Edgewater to view the project while it was under construction and had not brought up any problems with it.
She also explained that Edgewater had used all white sand to repair the condominium’s parking lot after it was inundated and undermined with water from the lake during the heavy rains in late April.
“We hope this can all be resolved regardless of the motivation for the filing of the complaint;”
commented Michelle Anchors, an attorney representing Edgewater. Edgewater has always been a promoter of beautiful white sand beaches, and we hope to do everything we can to keep them that way.”
Responding to an inquiry from the Herald Breeze on Sept. 12, Mara Burger, DEP spokeswoman, said that DEP had informed the Edgewater Condominium Association of noncompliance in connection with the retaining wall project due to failure to obtain a DEP permit.
“A DEP permit would have been required for the wall as constructed. However, a permit was not obtained,” Burger stated.She said DEP intended to "resolve the noncompliance through an enforcement action.”
As of the morning of Sept. 16, the county stop work order in connection with the fill sand for the project was still in force.
