Agenda - 11-30-94 - Ordinance - Laserfiche WebLink

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PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDMENT ORDINANCE: ZONING ORDINANCE REFERENCE: ARTICLE 6.23 Watershed Protection Overlay Districts (stream and reservoir buffers) ORIGIN OF AMENDMENT: _X Staff Planning Board BOCC Public Other: STAFF PRIORITY RECOMMENDATION: _X_High Middle Low Comment: PUBLIC HEARING DATE: November 30, 1994 PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT: To consider a proposed amendment which would allow for the reduction of setbacks adjacent to streams and reservoirs to the extent necessary to allow development of an existing lot of record. IMPACTS/ISSUES: Attached is a report concerning stream buffer provisions of the Zoning Ordinance,as applied to existing lots of record. There have been a number of complaints concerning the impact of stream and reservoir buffer requirements. In some cases, the required buffers may render an existing lot unbuildable without a variance, since the width of the buffer was not taken into account when the lot was created. This issue creates a particular problem for the existing lots surrounding Lake Orange. On September 6, 1994, the Planning Staff presented to the Board of Commissioners a proposed strategy to address situations which now require a variance of stream or reservoir buffer requirements. The Board of Commissioners referred the proposed strategy to the Planning Board and Ordinance Review Committee for development of an ordinance amendment for the November 28, 1994 public hearing. The proposed strategy included in the attached report would allow the Planning Staff,in consultation with Environmental Health and/or the County Engineer,to issue a zoning compliance permit for development which does not meet the minimum buffer requirements, when specified findings could be documented. In all other cases, a variance request would be presented to the Board of Adjustment according to current procedures. It was also recommended that wells be permitted in stream buffers and that consideration be given to providing greater flexibility in setback requirements in cases where use of a septic pump could be avoided. Planning Staff and the County Attorney met with a group of Lake Orange property owners on September 9 to discuss the proposed strategy. Two major concerns which were expressed involved the classification of existing structures as non-conforming, and the inability to locate a structure in close proximity to the lake, particularly when adjacent houses which existed prior to the regulations are close to the lake. Correspondence which has been received from affected property owners is attached. The proposed amendment is summai rzed as follows: 1) Wells would be allowed in stream buffers; and 2) Nitrification fields would continue to be located 300 feet from reservoirs and outside of stream buffers. Septic tanks and pumps could be located 150 feet from the reservoir or outside of the stream buffer. (The setback for structures is only 150 feet. It is often necessary or preferable to locate the tank in close proximity to the residence.); and 3