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A series of voter registration challenges could mean big trouble in little Lake Santeetlah. Cory Vaillancourt photo
Smoky Mountain News
June 15-21, 2022
Substantial voter fraud alleged in Lake Santeetlah BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR t may look like any other rustic vacation community, but beneath the placid surface of Lake Santeetlah, division runs deep. As one of North Carolina’s smallest incorporated municipalities, voters are few but problems are many, pitting neighbor against neighbor, locals against seasonal residents and a town government acting as an entity unto itself plotting to subvert existing zoning regulations. Those divisions may grow deeper after explosive allegations of voter fraud were filed by a member of the town council — against another member of the town council and seven others — earlier this month. If the challenges are sustained, this tiny community’s governing board could see huge consequences. If they’re not, the beloved lakeside retreat could be rendered unrecognizable.
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eep within Western North Carolina’s Nantahala National Forest in rural Graham County lies scenic Lake Santeetlah, created in 1928 when aluminum giant Alcoa dammed the Cheoah River to produce hydroelectric power. 6
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The lake boasts almost 80 miles of coastline, snaking through isolated coves and lapping at the shore far below knobby mountain peaks blanketed by old-growth forests. During the 1960s, investors from Florida’s east coast began to develop homesites around the lake, marketing to residents of Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale a refreshing mountain getaway from the stifling seasonal heat. As summer vacation homes began to dot the hillsides — small campers or modest ranch-style homes, some with boat docks, crammed into every available cranny on the steeply sloping banks — it became increasingly clear that a certain sense of overriding order was needed to maintain the physical integrity of the settlement. In 1989, the Town of Santeetlah was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly, mostly to provide clean water and maintain the labyrinthine network of singlelane one-way roads winding around a halfmile long peninsula jutting out into the water. At that time, a simple zoning ordinance was enacted to ensure slapdash construction practices wouldn’t hamstring future development. In 1999, the town was renamed Lake Santeetlah and boasted a population of 67 permanent residents in 38 households. Today, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that
there are around 40 permanent residents and 192 homes. The town is governed by an elected board of five councilmembers who serve four-year terms and choose their own mayor by vote from among their ranks. The town’s most recent budget, passed on June 9, totals less than $380,000. Roger Carlton is a former city manager and assistant county manager in Dade County, Florida, where he helped prepare the county’s first billion-dollar budget. The Miami native has owned property at Lake Santeetlah for almost 20 years and became a permanent resident in 2013 after a five-decade career in local government administration. Some years back, Carlton was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Lake Santeetlah town council. “When I first got involved, and this is six years ago maybe,” Carlton said, “I read the code and I said, you know, this is outdated.” Carlton left the council for two years to work briefly in Florida. When he returned, he was reappointed to fill another council vacancy. “I had one goal when I went back on the council,” Carlton said, “and that was to get the zoning thing done.” At the time, Lake Santeetlah was the only
jurisdiction in Graham County that had zoning. “The people who moved here, who invested here, by and large 95% of them had that as a major factor in their decision to buy here,” he said. “They wanted the trees protected. They wanted the setbacks to be reasonable. They didn’t want to live on the side of a mountain and have somebody build a house below them, blocking their view of the lake. It was that kind of stuff, but it was an old-fashioned code.” In 2019, Carlton won election to the council and tied Jim Hager for the most votes with 15. “When I came back up and I got on the council, the work that was done [on zoning] became the basis for a fresh start, and it was done right this time,” Carlton said, noting the completion of a comprehensive plan and the appointment of a planning board. Through the summer and fall of 2021 the planning board and town council — Carlton, Mayor Hager, Vice Mayor Keith Predmore, Diana Simon and Kevin Haag — concentrated on passing the zoning update after completing more than two dozen public workshops. Throughout the zoning update process, Carlton said, Tina Emerson and Jack Gross
