Building dock on Elk River -- how difficult? (Killen: houses, purchase)

[convextech]

I am looking at property on the Elk River in Limestone county. It is riverfront, although it took me half a day to actually see the river after hiking through the woods to find it. If I had rappelled down the incline, I still would've been about 50 ft above the surface of the water as it is a sheer rocky drop straight down. The land itself is just beautiful but I didn't see where any of the neighboring properties were built up, and I went down to the nearby boat launch (not official, just at the end of a road) and looked up/down the river. There were people fishing, and it was deep enough to use a big outboard motor on the boats. I just didn't see any docks. What is the process to find out before I purchase it whether or not we could build at the riverfront?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by convextech

I am looking at property on the Elk River in Limestone county. It is riverfront, although it took me half a day to actually see the river after hiking through the woods to find it. If I had rappelled down the incline, I still would've been about 50 ft above the surface of the water as it is a sheer rocky drop straight down. The land itself is just beautiful but I didn't see where any of the neighboring properties were built up, and I went down to the nearby boat launch (not official, just at the end of a road) and looked up/down the river. There were people fishing, and it was deep enough to use a big outboard motor on the boats. I just didn't see any docks. What is the process to find out before I purchase it whether or not we could build at the riverfront?

I don't know a thing about the local rivers and such, but what about the county, the building department (the place where you get permits), a civil engineering company, etc.? Those might be good places to start.

[Southlander]

No other docks? I'd take that as a sign that getting a permit is impossible or extremely difficult and expensive. How about calling the neighbors and asking if anybody has ever tried?
In the meantime, start here, TVA: Shoreline Construction Permits and good luck!

[convextech]

To be honest, I have a feeling the reason there are no other docks is because the area is -- how shall I put this -- depressed. There are only five properties in this part "subdivision" that are on the river; the other lots across the road are 1 acre apiece and I have yet to see an actual home built. There are mostly singlewides and old cabins. The road itself is okay on my end, but when I decided to try to get to the property from the other end of Sugar Way, the road is all but impassable unless you have a truck (which I do). Thank you for the link. I still like the property despite its surroundings, and there are two other neighbors that are excavating and building that are on my side of the road, so I'm taking that as a positive sign. Is anyone familiar with the Sugar Creek Resort properties on Sugar Way? My end is off Grigsby Ferry Rd.

[Southlander]

I think that is a large farm that until recently was held by one person (or family). It was sold at auction at least a few years ago and thus the "resort" development.

Please don't take the fact that there are few houses as evidence that the area is depressed. Limestone County was, until recently, mostly a farming area. Parts still are. Much of the land was held by families who owned several thousand acres. If you look at the Google maps, you'll see very, very few river houses across the river in Lawrence County because this is still the case there. The old houses and trailers you see would have belonged to sharecroppers...and in some instances, holders of smaller amounts of land.

Plus, it has only been in the last couple of decades that there have been enough people with enough money to seek full-time homes on the river. Most of us needed to live closer to work and schools. That's why there aren't more and fancier houses.

If this property is basically a bluff on the river, you can enjoy the view without a dock, or build a long, long staircase down to a dock.

If you have children going to school, be aware that it may be a very long drive to get to the closest school, not to mention grocery stores etc. I do know some folks who live on the river full time, but most of the people who have houses on the river use them as vacation cabins/retreats. There is no zoning in the county. I think there is no building permit situation, but that may have changed recently.

Do your research, and good luck.

[convextech]

Thanks for your input! I have two grown children that won't be moving with us so schools aren't a problem. My husband was raised in Killen and he has "a dream" of living on the water again. We were in fact talking about building just a deck over the bluff and then a traversing staircase down to the water once we get a boat ;-)

[VMH2507]

I have a friend who owned a property similar to the one you described. They owned the land for a number of years before they built on it. The house was built approximately 1/3rd of the way down to the river so the house was not visible from the road. Might not have been that visible from the river side either since it was sort of tucked back in. They had a dock at river level with a long, long stairs down from the house. Obviously can be done since they did it.

[convextech]

I am so glad to hear this!