Failure to comply with state and county erosion laws landed a Haywood County developer in court this week after racking up dozens of violations and $147,000 in fines over the past 18 months.

The 50-acre subdivision known as Tranquil Trace is located on Beaverdam Road several miles north of Canton. The once-rural, pastoral area known as Beaverdam has experienced a building boom in recent years, largely due to its proximity to Asheville.

The lawsuit cites “flagrant violations” and “severe erosion” and “sedimentation of streams and other serious environmental damage.”

The developer, Jeff Broyles, launched the development in spring 2002 without applying for grading permits or submitting the required erosion control plans and without installing erosion control measures. Broyles was apparently unfazed by numerous cease and desist orders and violations issued by county erosion control officer Marc Pruett. Pruett described the developer as unresponsive and uncooperative.

Pruett’s site inspections and violation notices read like a stuck record.

“Again...,” Pruett wrote in a May 2002 report on his second visit to the site, “submit an approvable erosion and sediment control plan for the land disturbing activities on your property and immediately install adequate measures to retain sediment on site and to protect the springs and streams.”

But to no avail.

“A fifth inspection shows no evidence of any efforts to correct persistent violations,” Pruett states in a report in June 2003.

“The sixth inspection finds 10 violations and no attempt to repair the ongoing problems,” Pruett states in a report in October 2003. “Erosion has continued unabated. Ditches are not stabilized. Slopes are bare. Ground cover has not been established.”

Reed Hollander, an attorney hired by the county to take the developer to court, said a lawsuit was the county’s only option.

“Marc and the county tried for many months to work through the violations and get them corrected, but was unable to get any cooperation,” Hollander said.

The lawsuit worked. The week leading up to the court hearing, the developer installed the long overdue erosion control measures. When the case came to trial, the developer’s attorney, Ed Hensley, said his client would be filing a subdivision plan and erosion and sediment control plan shortly in hopes of being able to resume work. In the meantime, the court ordered an injunction against any further work on the property.

“It forced them to do what they should have done already, which is correct erosion problems and install suitable erosion control measures,” said Chip Killian, the county attorney. Despite the developer’s track record of ignoring violations, Killian believes this time will be different as the lawsuit cost the developer a bundle of money. The developer will likely seek some relief in the outstanding fines of $147,000. Discretion on whether to lower the fines lies in the hands of the county sediment and erosion control board.