The biggest local issue raising major opposition to eminent domain since the SWEPCO high-voltage transmission line project was defeated in 2013, has been the proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to acquire waterfront property from about 500 property owners on Beaver Lake that floods at certain times of year. Many property owners were alarmed and infuriated about the proposal to take what they considered some of their most valuable land.
The Corps said the land acquisitions were important to operate and maintain the reservoir in order to retain its capacity to store floodwater and protect the lake’s water quality. USACE recently announced that instead of taking property by eminent domain, it will be holding a workshop from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Four Points by Sheraton Bentonville, 211 SE Walton Blvd., Bentonville, to consider the new alternative to obtain land from willing sellers only.
Dr. David Harper, an outspoken opponent of the proposal announced in March 2021 that would have taken his waterfront property, said he is glad the Corps has decided not to force any private landowner to unwillingly sell their property to the USACE.
Marcia Yearsley, who owns 1,200 feet of shoreline in Penitentiary Hollow, credited the huge amount of public opposition with the USACE changing directions.
“We had a large number of petitions and every neighbor got together to send letters opposing eminent domain against people’s shoreline,” Yearsley said. “They were targeting us on Penitentiary Hollow as the priority for acquisition. The properties here were first, second and third in priority. All of my neighbors hand-wrote letters, sent emails, and got our comments in by the deadline. We all did our due diligence.”
Yearsley said she has to give the USACE credit for being well organized with an online site for submitting comments that was user friendly and appreciates that the Corps gave people a chance.
“It wasn’t like the big hog farm in Mount Judea where people didn’t even know about it until it went in,” she said. “Citizens got to do something.”
Her lake neighbor Dan Runge, whose property is known as Penitentiary Point, said he partied down when he got the letter about the threat of eminent domain being lifted.
“This means a lot to me,” Runge said. “We were standing to lose two big pieces of property out there. We have never abused the property. That was out of line to think they could just come in and take people’s property. I’ve been here in the same location for almost forty years.
“I credit Sen. John Boozman for helping us. He called me back about six weeks ago and said he had talked to the Corps in Rogers and Little Rock. The Corps sent a general down from D.C. to visit with Boozman personally. He got an agreement with the Corps for no eminent domain. Boozman said if they give me any more problems, like coming out for a survey, call him and he will come out here personally.”
Runge spent a lot of time fighting the proposal. He said he called “a whole lot of people, big guys and little guys. The Corps has messed around with me for at least thirty years. I applied for a boat dock permit a long time ago. They said they have enough boat docks, and don’t want any more.”
Could this victory for lake landowners have negative environmental consequences? USACE spokesman Jay Townsend said development, including property owners clearing vegetation near the water and installing private boat launch sites, is threatening the flood storage capacity and water quality of the lake.
“Any time private property goes into the water and landowners begin putting in their own boat launch ramps, that makes it difficult for us to control the amount of impact to Beaver Lake,” Townsend said. “We have determined that Beaver Lake has reached its capacity for boat docks. That came out during shoreline and Master Plan updates a few years ago. What we did then was a survey looking at safe boating limits in Beaver Lake, which is one boat per 14.5 usable acres driving around. On a holiday weekend, it can exceed that.”
He said with private launch sites, it is hard to limit the number of boats on the reservoir.
“That development is what is threatening Beaver reservoir,” Townsend said. “The point of land acquisition is to limit development around the reservoir for the next fifty to sixty years looking at how boat capacity can affect water quality. When you have hundreds or even thousands of boats on the water at same time, it can do some shoreline damage leading to erosion that diminishes the amount of water that can be stored in the reservoir. When people cut down into the water, nothing is holding that shoreline from eroding. They think it is someone else’s fault their property is eroding, but they have cleared down to the water’s edge and there is nothing holding it together.”
Runge doesn’t buy the argument that private boat launches are causing a problem.
“Private boat launches into the lake are very rare,” Runge said. “No one allows anyone else to use their boat launch. Nobody is abusing anything. What they were proposing wouldn’t restrict the number of boats.”
Townsend said the number of boats is limited now by availability of parking at USACE boat launch areas. And he said boats aren’t the only issue. Some people will put cables across the water and restrict public access even though the waters are public.
“When you have development encroaching into water, people can get into disputes,” Townsend said. “There are coves where people stretch cables across and want people to stay off the water where their land is above. That is part of that development that is threatening Beaver reservoir.”
Townsend said the USACE listened to the comments opposing the eminent domain proposal and developed the new alternative which was for willing sellers only. He said the USACE hopes that scoping as required for the new proposal under the National Environmental Policy Act with willing sellers only will satisfy some of the need they have to operate the reservoir, and won’t be as contentious.
The drop-in public workshop will provide information regarding potentially impacted properties and the newly proposed willing sellers only acquisition alternative. Representatives from the Little Rock District will be present to answer questions on the acquisition process. Information regarding the revised acquisition process and comment instructions will be available beginning September 1 at the Little Rock District website, usace.army.mil/Missions/Real-Estate/BeaverLake-Land-Acquisition/. For questions, contact the Beaver Lake Project Office at (501) 340-1230 or the Little Rock District Office at (501) 324-5551. Written questions and comments can be submitted online at swl.usace.army.mil/Missions/RealEstate/Beaver-Lake-Land-Acquisition/Public-Comment-Form-BVL, mailed to Project Manager, PPMD, P.O. Box 867, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203, or emailed to CESWLBeaverLakeAcquisitionPublicComment@usace.army.mil.