Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' moratorium on issuing new boat dock permits for Lake Lanier, in effect since April 2007, is over.

On Monday, the Corps said in a news release that it has 174 boat dock permits available out of a possible 10,615. It also said it will require a little luck to get one of the available permits.

"Since we are nearing the maximum capacity for boat dock permits and don't know exactly how many additional requests for permits we will receive, we will conduct a lottery-style drawing to give all applicants an equal opportunity and to determine the order of precedence for reviewing the remaining permit requests," Corps' spokesman E. Patrick Robbins said.

Robbins also said that the 90-day period for accepting those permit requests begins July 15 and concludes Oct. 13.

Beginning Friday, if you own property adjacent to Lake Lanier and would like to have your property reviewed for a new dock permit, visit www.lakelaniersupl.com to obtain the proper form and instructions for submitting your request. Permit requests will only be accepted by mail and should be sent to Lake Lanier Permits, P.O. Box 9, Gonzalez, FL, 32560.

After July 15, each week a list of the permit requests received will be posted on lakelaniersupl.com so applicants can insure their request was received. About one week after the 90-day period concludes, a final list will be published representing those requests confirmed for the lottery drawing.

On Oct. 28, a random drawing will be held to determine the order that the requests will be reviewed. This drawing will be webcast and shown by video feed to a site in the local Lanier area.

Request letters for a new permit will then be evaluated in the order they were randomly selected to determine if they meet the complete site and eligibility requirements as outlined in the Shoreline Management Plan, which is available on Lake Lanier's Web site. Final decisions will then be furnished in writing.

For more information, call the Corps at 770-945-9531 or visit lanier.sam.usace.army.mil on the Web.