Local cove “destroyed” by erosion from new housing development

By James Kmosko

Images of sediment that filled the cove. Prior to Laurelbrook’s construction, the islands of sediment did not exist.

Molly’s Backbone – A Lake Norman cove has been partially filled in by uncontrolled erosion stemming from a new housing development, according to Duke Energy and government agencies.

The cove lies at the mouth of Terrapin Creek, about a mile north of the Sherrills Ford Optimist Club.

According to residents, the erosion began when Prestige, a Charlotte-based development company with ties to the Bank of Japan, broke ground on Laurelbrook, a 1700-unit housing development located less than a mile up the creek from the affected cove.

Tristan Taylor, a homeowner who lives on the cove, is the president of the Save Molly’s Backbone Association. Named for the nearby Mollys Backbone Road, the community organization is dedicated to stopping the erosion and holding those responsible accountable.

“There’s a bunch of us in here, and we’re all pretty upset about it,” Tristan said. “This is normal development coming into the area. We’re not looking to stop that. But whatever is coming, we want them to be considerate and do what’s right.”

Satellite images of the cove show no major changes to the shoreline between 1993 and 2018.

“The area was pretty stable,” Tristan said. “[About 2018] is where it starts to change. [That was when Prestige] clear-cut it, prepping it for construction, putting the development in.”

When Prestige cleared the Laurelbrook property, sediment began to flow down Terrapin Creek and make its way into the cove. Now, an island of sediment sits in the middle of the cove.

“Then from 2022 the cove is just filled in,” Tristan said. “Just stable like that. It’s just constantly Brown … and [there’s] an island there. There were no islands before this.”

Tristan provided the Chronicle with images and videos that he says prove that Prestige was not in compliance with Catawba County and federal requirements for erosion control.

Among other stipulations, county regulations require silt fences to be installed at the edges of cleared lots to prevent eroded soil from entering waterways.

“We’ve done aerial flyovers,” Tristan said. “[We have] this aerial footage, so you can actually fly over the entire thing, and you can see how no silt fence is there.”

Prestige did eventually install silt fences in some areas, but Tristan’s photos and videos indicate that the majority of the property went without the barriers. Other images depict ruts caused by erosion, broken silt fences, and trucks being driven across the creek.

“It’s like nobody’s watching them,” Tristan said. “Local [officials are] just not paying attention at all. Honestly, it seems like they’re on [Prestige’s] side.”

Without support from Catawba County, Tristan turned to other authorities.

“It’s [ultimately] a hundred-billion-dollar company,” Tristan said. “We don’t stand a chance against these guys. The only leverage that we have is the Army Corps.”

Under United States federal law, a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers “is required for work or structures in, over, or under navigable waters of the United States,” per the Corps’ website. This includes streams like Terrapin Creek.

With hundreds of houses yet to be built, the development requires more permits for clearing and building. According to Tristan, engineers at the Army Corps have been working with his organization to withhold federal permits for Laurelbrook.

“I showed [the Army Corps engineer] our documentation, and she’s been the only one that was quite honestly helpful,” Tristan said “There were one or two permits that they needed, and she was able to say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to issue your permit.’ This is the first and the only power we have over this company.”

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) has also been corresponding with Tristan and the Army Corps. In a letter to Prestige, the NCDEQ wrote, “the site is not currently in compliance with … water quality certification requirements.”

Duke Energy, the entity responsible for the maintenance of Lake Norman, performed its own investigation into the erosion and found Prestige to be responsible. Jeff Lineberger, a representative of Duke Energy, sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers on July 22nd.

“From a review of all elements related to the development site, it is the opinion of Duke Energy that the Laurelbrook development has had a direct and undeniable negative impact on the scenic, recreational, and environmental resources … of Lake Norman,” the letter reads.

The letter lays out examples of violations observed by Duke Energy, noting that the violations continued even with increased Army Corps and NCDEQ scrutiny.

“There also appears to be a general lack of concern among those responsible for the Laurelbrook development for the impacts they are having on streams traversing the site and on Lake Norman, and that lack of concern is particularly troubling,” Lineberger wrote.

The letter details an incident in which Duke Energy inspected the property and found it in violation of erosion guidelines. Duke informed Prestige and, after two weeks, returned to reexamine the area.

Duke concluded that the extent of the erosion in the area had increased during that two week period, noting, “the site superintendent for Prestige Development confirmed that no [mitigating] action had taken place at this stream crossing site.”

As a result of these findings, Duke Energy recommended a solution to the Army Corps of Engineers.

“Duke Energy thinks the appropriate course of action is for Prestige Development and the Laurelbrook development to propose and execute a recovery plan to address accelerated impacts that have occurred … since development at Laurelbrook was initiated,” the letter reads.

The letter also takes aim at Prestige and local regulatory bodies for, according to Duke, not adequately ensuring Laurelbrook was in compliance with regulations.

“The lack of inspections and documentation of corrective actions, particularly during a time period in which the most intensive land-disturbing activities were occurring, points to a failure to adequately monitor the site and a likelihood that … impacts to the stream … went unnoticed and unaddressed,” the letter reads.

The responsibility to enforce most erosion control regulations ultimately falls to the Catawba County Erosion and Sedimentation Control Division. The division, led by Water Resource Engineer Antonia Norton, performs inspections and issues environmental permits for properties in Catawba County.

In a March correspondence with Duke Energy, Norton wrote, “Laurelbrook [has] been in compliance for a long time.”

It is not clear why Norton and Catawba County came to a different conclusion than the NCDEQ, Army Corps of Engineers, and Duke Energy. The Chronicle attempted twice to contact Antonia Norton but received no response.

According to Tristan Taylor, reaching county officials has been difficult. When he did make contact with Norton, her sentiments echoed those she sent in the letter to Duke Energy.

“‘They are in compliance’ is all she ever says,” Tristan said. “I don’t know what ‘in compliance’ means. But I can assure you, whatever ‘in compliance’ is, it’s not enough.”

Atlas Environmental, a Charlotte-based environmental consulting firm, conducted testing on behalf of Prestige in response to state and federal scrutiny. Atlas’ report concluded that Prestige was not at fault, instead implicating natural phenomena, such as “severe weather events” and sediment discharge from a beaver dam.

“The development activities at Laurelbrook have not substantially contributed to the sediment composition or volume in the Terrapin Creek cove,” the report reads.

The report also claims that the sediment that filled the cove is of a different composition than sediment from Laurelbrook. Tristan Taylor and other residents are skeptical.

“They’re already making a case that it wasn’t [their] fault,” Tristan said. “Talking about the beaver dam and talking about Hurricane Helene and how climate change has caused more rainstorms. It seems obvious to me that they could have done something, like put in a silt fence. They should do more.”

Before the cove was filled in by erosion, it was a popular recreation area for locals. Tristan recounted how kayaking is now more difficult since sediment created the island in the cove.

“When [my son] was probably about eight or nine, my little guy, we used to kayak up there, no problem,” Tristan said. “We could kayak under that bridge. Now here we are. Laurelbrook destroyed our cove.”

According to Rich Taylor, Tristan’s father, local wildlife has also been affected by the erosion. Rich has lived on the cove since the 1990s.

“In the springtime, by the water’s edge, there used to be hundreds of tadpoles,” Rich said. “None now. The bass used to come in here and spawn. That’s done. This cove was a hidden cove, people that knew about it knew how many fish were in here. Now, you’re lucky if you can catch a fish out of it.”

Despite increased awareness of the issue and support from various agencies, Tristan is not confident that Prestige will be held accountable.

“They’ve got lawyers, lots of them,” Tristan said. “The only way we’re gonna get some kind of restitution is to stop them with the permitting process, and hope that’s painful enough that they actually have to do something. Or, hope that somebody over at Prestige has some sort of conscience to do the right thing, [but] I’m skeptical that that exists.”

If you would like to learn more, view documentation related to this article, or donate to Tristan’s movement, visit www.savemollysbackbone.com.

Prestige was contacted for comment but did not reply.