Randy Stow (right), chairman of TLAC’s navigation committee, speaks to the crowd at the July 19 public hearing.

Smith Mountain Lake’s first no-wakesurfing zone took one step closer to becoming a reality on July 19. The Tri-County Lake Administrative Commission voted in favor of the zone following a packed public hearing.

The room at TLAC’s office building set up for the navigation committee meeting was filled to capacity well before the 6 p.m. start time of the meeting. An overflow area was set up within the office due to many being unable to find a seat.

Those in attendance wanted an opportunity to speak their mind on the wakesurfing issue and on the proposal by CPT Buoys to place two no-wakesurfing buoys on a section of lake within Merriman Run. CPT Buoys was created by neighbors in the section of lake with the intention of applying for the no-wakesurfing zone.

With the cramped spaces and heated debate that has raged between the two sides of the wakesurfing issue for the past two years, Randy Stow, chairman of the navigation committee, called for civility at the start of the meeting. “Let’s remember, for the most part we are all neighbors here,” he said.

Dawn Saunders, representing CPT Buoys, was the first to speak at the July 19 public hearing. She said her home, located on a point within Merriman Run, has taken a beating by wakesurfers in recent years.

Saunders said damage from wakes to her dock has steadily increased since 2014 as wakesurfing popularity increased. She claimed the section of lake near her dock is popular for wakesurfers who make repetitive passes in front of her dock.

Since 2014, Saunders said she has paid $53,000 in repairs to her dock due to damage from wakes. She also has called the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources due to wakesurfers creating dangerous wakes, she said.

“Creating a no-wakesurfing zone in the narrow cove will eliminate the cause and the damage and ultimately solve the problem for my neighbors and me,” Saunders said.

A majority of the speakers at the two-hour public hearing were against the no-wakesurfing zone. In all, 20 people spoke out against the proposal with many urging TLAC to continue efforts to educate the public about wakesurfing courtesy before creating no-wakesurfing zones.

“The reality is what we have is an education issue, a courtesy issue and frankly we’ve got a lot of stupid boaters,” Alan Hasty said. He said more education is needed to correct the actions of bad boaters.

Lynette Webb representing the Smith Mountain Lake Boaters Association said she was in favor of education over legislation. She said the SMLBA is willing to work with any group to help educate wakesurfers. Ryan Waters, a managing partner at Bridgewater Marina, also called for more education efforts.

“I do think we can do a lot better at getting that message out,” Waters said.

Other wakesurfing advocates feared that this first no-wakesurfing zone will be the start of many around the lake which will push the activity into the busier main channel where it is less safe. Ken Hayes, owner of Smith Mountain Wake Company, said the creation of several no-wake zones could also lead to less tourism for the community which could hurt businesses and eventually impact lake residents.

“Property values will decrease in the event that this gets out of control,” Hayes said.

Several in attendance July 19 also spoke out in favor of the no-wakesurfing zone. Toni Seidelman said the issue wasn’t as big as what many of the wakesurfers made it out to be. “This application is not about taking away wakeboarding and surfing,” she said.

The application is only for a small area of the lake that has been severely impacted by wakesurfing, according to Seidelman. She said TLAC has an obligation to do something about it.

Lake resident Chris Hancock said wakesurfing is causing more havoc on the lake in recent years. “The only way to deal with these situations is to have no-wakesurfing zones,” he said.

After a public hearing that included nearly 30 people who spoke for three to five minutes each, TLAC’s navigation committee took up the issue. Members began discussions on the no-wakesurfing application shortly after 8 p.m.

While there was some debate during the public hearing that the applicant didn’t have the required 75% of neighbors in the impacted area agree to the zone, attorney Carl Boggess representing TLAC said the application did meet the criteria.

Boggess said the applicant had the 75% of neighbors agree to the zone when the application was filed. He said owners had changed at one residence after that time, but the applicant shouldn’t be expected to go back to the neighbor once the application was filed.

“As far as I can tell, there was only one landowner that was opposed,” Boggess said. “She met the threshold test of 75%.”

After some discussion between members, committee member Eric Cheney said the application was valid and deserved a vote from the committee. He moved to approve the application.

The navigation committee voted 4-0 with one member absent to recommend the no-wakesurfing zone. The recommendation will now move to the TLAC board for a vote on Aug. 9.

The recommendation from the TLAC board will then be sent to DWR for a final vote.

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Randy Stow (right), chairman of TLAC’s navigation committee, speaks to the crowd at the July 19 public hearing.