Tega Cay landowners lament stream damage, loss of value that comes with rain, runoff.
Residents along one of Tega Cay’s most familiar coves worry it’s quickly filling with sediment, and not enough is being done to stop it.
“That’s what I think ultimately is going to happen, if they don’t do anything,” said Ray Scardigno, a resident along Nivens Creek. “That cove is going to be gone.”
Scardigno lives on Placid Court. Mike Becker lives on Calming Way. A small stream runs between their homes, through the Serenity Point neighborhood into Nivens Creek, which leads to Lake Wylie. Follow that stream back far enough and it extends beneath Stonecrest Boulevard, toward the Trinity Point site, which is under construction.
Becker, who bought his waterfront property six years ago, said he noticed changes in the stream in late 2018. He said he believes sediment control measures have failed, sending muddy water through the stream into the cove.
“It rained within the first week,” he said. “You would not believe it. It breached (sediment controls).”
Sediment from a work site, which can contain anything from mud to construction debris, can be different from the soil that naturally washes through creeks and streams when it rains, or is stirred from the bottom of the lake during storms. Yet new sediment deposits can lead to shallower water.
The city has authority over stormwater prevention plans. That responsibility includes inspecting all grading activity and enforcing regulations.
Charlie Funderburk, Tega Cay’s city manager, said the city is aware of resident concerns in Serenity Point and has worked with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to address issues.
“The city is and has been inspecting the site on a frequent basis,” Funderburk said. “Upon receiving concerns from residents in the area, the city has had our engineers collect soil samples from the area to analyze to determine if the area is sediment from the construction site, silt from the lake that has collected in that area or natural erosion from the creek.”
Funderburk said prior city testing showed little sedimentation, and it couldn’t be determined if that material came from natural erosion or runoff from the nearby development site. The city returned after a heavy rain earlier this month to take additional soil samples for analysis.
“If it is determined that sediment from the (Trinity Point) development site has impacted the creek and/or the lake, the developer will be responsible for sediment removal in the affected area,” he said.
Becker has pictures he’s taken measuring sediment in the cove, and he’s walked the creek during storms to see where it runs clear and where it’s muddy.
“There’s no mystery about where it’s coming from,” he said.
‘Put a price on it’
Becker knew what he was buying. His lot, across Nivens Creek from the Tega Cay Beach & Swim Center, had waterfront but wasn’t deep enough to dock a boat.
“It was what we wanted,” he said. “We could get our kayaks in.”
Chris Karasch had a different experience. He bought the lot beside Becker in late 2018 and started building last summer. His home isn’t finished.
“When I bought there I was told I’d be able to keep the boat in most of the year,” Karasch said.
Now, neighbors say, sediment has the dock set in about two feet of water. Perhaps a foot or more of depth has been lost.
“Essentially now I have a canoe lot,” Kasach said.
The difference isn’t cheap.
Drew Choate has more than 20 years in real estate. The last decade he has focused on Lake Wylie as “The Lake Wylie Man”. He said last year the average price for a dockable lakefront lot, before house construction began, reached the high $200,000s. There are plenty of variables impacting the price, but Choate took a shot comparing two hypothetical, vacant lakefront lots — one with a dockable site, the other without.
“It depends on where it is in the lake,” Choate said. “I would say just real roughly, maybe a $100,000 difference.”
Lots with homes on them could see an even wider price gap.
“It’s hard to put a price on it, because a lot of things go into it,” said Andy Reynolds, also a long-time seller of real estate on Lake Wylie.
“I would say a good rule of thumb would be $200,000.”
Karasch has a dock on his property, put in prior to much of the sedimentation. The question is, by the time his home is ready, will he still be able to use it?
“If you’re paying for a lot with a dock and you have no water depth, that’s an issue,” Choate said.
Buried rods
Residents say the city has been receptive to their concerns. They’ve brought up sedimentation at council meetings and heard support. City staff came out several times, they say, including with a vacuum truck at one point to pump sediment out of a small area.
The problem, they say, is sediment comes too fast.
Several times Becker put small wooden stakes in the water at the mouth of the stream that flows into Nivens Creek. He uses them to measure how much sediment accumulates. Before a storm last July there were three small wooden rods sticking up several inches. After the storm, they were invisible.
“You can no longer see these rods,” Becker said. “They’re buried.”
Measuring off a longer stick following a heavy storm earlier this month, Becker found the lake bed at the mouth of the stream seven inches higher. He estimates there’s been a foot or more of sediment in some places since last summer.
“The only way they’ll be able to fix this is through dredging,” Kasach said.
Dredging, or removing material from the lake bed, gets complicated. There are numerous permits required and time constraints. It easily can cost in the five figures.
Contractors, developers and builders permitted by the city are responsible for installing and maintaining methods — like silt fences and retention ponds — to control storm water runoff. They also are responsible for cleanup if those measures fail.
There have been two instances where the city required a contractor to stop work until environmental issues were addressed.
Stop work orders are a common tool municipalities use to address building, clearing, grading or similar problems. A builder or contractor can’t continue work on the project until whatever outstanding violation is addressed. Tom Goebel, city development services director, said the Trinity Point project has had two stop work orders.
One on July 25, 2019 came from a lack of timely maintenance and repairs on erosion control measures. Another followed on Feb. 7 for a sediment control breach resulting in runoff.
Residents say stop work orders aren’t enough.
Karasch said his home site had one when in appeared a sediment fence might fail. A quick fix and projects typically are back to work, neighbors say.
“Stop work orders aren’t working,” Scardigno said.
‘Have to protect’
Gus Matchunis promised during his election campaign last November he’d continue monitoring the site. The city councilman says he shares the same concerns and belief as neighbors by the stream as to where the issue originates.
“It’s been incredibly frustrating,” Matchunis said. “From the moment they clear cut the property we noticed what appeared to be streams of water and dirt and sediment running down that creek.”
Matchunis said he understands it’s difficult proving where the sediment started. Especially to the point of proving liability and cleanup responsibility.
“A delta or an island has formed in the cove, at the mouth of that creek,” Matchunis said. “It’s pretty much common sense. The delta or the island wasn’t there when they started construction. It’s there now, and it’s getting bigger.”
Matchunis said the stop work orders limit anything on the project except work on storm water control. He said there have been “...failures of their containment process,” and state regulators are aware of sediment deposits at the mouth of the stream. When the question comes to state required dredging, though, answers from the health department aren’t as clear.
“The answer typically is, well, with about five question marks,” Matchunis said.
Matchunis said workers at Trinity Point have put in effort to fix storm water issues. Having walked the area during rain storms to see for himself what’s happening, Matchunis said he believes not enough has been done.
“We want to see remediation,” he said. “Lake Wylie is our most precious resource. We have to protect it. Developers have to protect it.”
‘Now it’s dirt’
Residents share several concerns. For one, even after Trinity Point is built there are other major construction projects in the area that are likely to follow.
Funderburk said the city’s stormwater ordinance meets state regulations. The city follows that ordinance, he said, and will do so as more development comes. Any significant changes to requirements on mass grading or other stormwater issues would have to come either from city council or a state-level stormwater rule change.
Then there’s the financial impact.
“We paid a premium,” Becker said of his and neighbors’ homes. “As a result we’re paying higher taxes. We paid for something that we no longer have the benefit of.”
Residents also share concern about the long-term loss of property that could come if more and more of the stream and cove fill in.
“It’s a raging river when we get heavy rain,” Scardigno said. “And it’s impacting the entire cove as well.”
Scardigno moved to the area in 2006. He and Becker say the alignment of the stream leading into the cove between them is different than it was even just a few years ago.
“I used to be able to fish there about five years ago,” Scardigno said. “Caught some great bass. It was a great little fishing spot. Now it’s dirt.”
This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 11:38 AM.
