Rebuilding Gatlingburg after Wildfire Proves Challenging

It is Gatlinburg's stated intention to make rebuilding burned homes as quick and easy as possible following the Nov. 28 wildfire that killed 14 people and damaged or destroyed, at last tally, $1 billion in property.

City commissioners passed resolutions in January to allow speedy reconstruction of houses just as they were, even if more than half-burnt, and to let owners live in campers on-site while their houses are rebuilt.

But that does not translate to construction with no oversight or additional approval, which some say means rebuilding isn't so easy.

As some victims of the late-November wildfire are learning, what passed muster decades ago may not pass today. That can add cost, for approvals that didn't exist when some older Gatlinburg houses were built.

Kenneth and Patsy Mason lost their house on Deerfoot Drive. They fled at 10:30 p.m. Nov. 28, escaping with only the clothes they wore, according to their son, Rodney.

"They exited their home as windows were breaking due to the high temperatures from the fire and the smoke was so thick they could hardly see the way to their car," Rodney Mason wrote to the News Sentinel.

The Masons want to rebuild on the same site, on the north side of town near Appalachian Lodge. Kenneth Mason took city planning officials the same drawings he'd used originally, expecting automatic approval since he wasn't asking for any changes.

That didn't happen.

When Kenneth Mason originally built, he knew he could only name one room as a bedroom and still meet septic requirements for his lot, he said. So on the plans he called others a "music room" and a "library," though they wound up being used as bedrooms, and the city didn't object, he said.

"They approved every bit of this, didn't have a bit of problem," Mason said. But this time around officials said nine plumbing fixtures -- two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a washer hookup -- were too many for the septic system on his lot, he said.

Mason said Jay Horner, Gatlinburg building official, told him: "We'll let you do what the environmentalists let you do" -- meaning the Sevier County Health Department, which approves septic systems.

Mason could enlarge his drain field onto an adjacent lot he owns, but doesn't want to essentially lose a valuable piece of property. He doesn't blame the health department for following its own rules, but rather the city for not accepting what had already existed.

"The city did not abide by the rules to start with," Mason said.

The city also wants an engineer to inspect the existing foundation, which wasn't required years ago, he said. Mason paid $1,500 for that, and a neighbor paid much more.

"Everybody I've talked to is having the same problem," Mason said.

If he's not approved to rebuild his house as it was, Mason threatened, he might just walk away from the site and leave it for the city to clean up. He predicted other property owners would do the same.

Rules for structures and septic

When Gatlinburg commissioners endorsed the rebuilding of mostly-burned homes, they stipulated reconstruction would still require a city building permit and would have to adhere to modern building codes.

City building officials referred News Sentinel questions to Marci Claude, public relations manager for the Gatlinburg Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"Property owners wishing to rebuild must comply with adopted building codes and flood regulations," Claude said via email.

That includes the 2012 International Building Code and International Residential Code. A list of requirements is posted on the city Planning Department's page at gatlinburgtn.gov, under the "Disaster Demolition Permit Information" heading.

It lists a demolition permit application, specifying full or partial tear-down, and including identification of licensed contractor and disposal information; application for a regular building permit; and minimum requirements on one- and two-family residences.

"The Building Official may waive the submission of documents for types of work where review is not necessary," the page says.

People rebuilding homes which burned in November's fire must submit:

"Where design is required, a registered architect or engineer in the State of Tennessee must prepare, stamp, and sign all plans," the page states. There is a separate list of requirements for commercial rebuilding.

The sewage disposal documentation -- meaning septic tank authorization in many areas -- comes from the Sevier County Health Department.

Mark Samples is the health department's director of Environmental Health. His office issues the inspection letters needed for septic system approval.

Samples said it's possible a septic system previously in use could be deemed too small, but most of the people he's talked to have just asked what paperwork they need.

"There's been talk of it, but I haven't really come across anything major yet," he said.

He can't guess how many homeowners are seeking to rebuild; most are in the initial phases, and some are still deciding, Samples said. But he's doing his best to allow people to rebuild, using rules already in place prior to the fire.

"It's the same as before. There's no change," Samples said.

So he's letting people tie back onto their preexisting septic systems unless he finds some system failure or tank damage.

He doesn't know what the Gatlinburg city building department is approving or denying, but the number of allowed bedrooms is based on septic system capacity -- and that's determined by soil composition, he said.

"Everyone's soil is different," Samples said.

Varied opinions

Charlie Miller, a neighbor of Kenneth and Patsy Mason on Deerfoot Drive who also lost his house to the fire, said he was dismayed by the list of documents he needed to rebuild. It took him several weeks to gather the information needed to apply for a permit.

"That came as a shock to us," Miller said. He had an "awful time" getting a septic permit, but finally retrieved a copy filed years ago.

"They weren't as much of a problem as the City Hall was here in Gatlinburg," Miller said.

At first he thought he could get a building permit with just a floor layout -- he's planning to rebuild one story less than his previous house. Then he was told he needs complete plans, a demolition permit, and an engineer's report on the foundation, Miller said.

"I said, 'Well that's not what you told us at the beginning,' and he (a city building official) said 'Well, that's what we're demanding,'" Miller said.

An engineer in particular is hard to find, though his foundation is just a slab on a flat-topped knoll, he said.

"Everybody's so busy, it's hard to come up with anybody just off the fly," Miller said. The added time and cost may make it impossible for some to rebuild, he said.

But not everyone is put out by the requirements. Charles Maples lost five of the 40 cabins he managed, though most of those were absentee-owned. Maples hasn't had any problem rebuilding the desired number of bathrooms and bedrooms, despite changes in regulations over the years.

"When we did it we had the right permits to start with," he said. "I think the problem -- if you might say it's a problem -- you might be running into a situation where things needed to be better where they were."

Maples has heard complaints from several people about Gatlinburg building and health officials, but he got quick responses from them; and engineers from Knoxville gave his plans approval Dec. 17.

In many cases, permits from long ago authorized one-bedroom cabins, but they actually housed a dozen people or more, Maples said.

"Some of this stuff built up here should have had somebody looking over it years ago," he said.

Rodney Mason said his parents have received wonderful help from people outside Gatlinburg, and have insurance funds to rebuild, but are still struggling to get permission.

City and health officials point at each other as the holdup, he said.

"They're fighting them tooth-and-nail, saying they can't build back on this lot," Rodney Mason said. "I can understand more stringent codes over the years, but some of these requirements are adding significant cost to rebuilding the home."

He thinks local agencies should further streamline the process to help people like his parents -- ages 80 and 78 -- who are stressed-out by the experience and just want to settle back into their old lives.

Some neighbors have already given up and sold their lots to contractors, Rodney Mason said.

The last week of January -- two months after the fire -- Kenneth Mason said he was still waiting on word from the now-required engineer and draftsman, but thought his building permit might come through soon.

"I guess everybody's busy," he said.

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