Agenda - 11-01-1993 - VIII-A - Laserfiche WebLink

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119 Mary Willis August 23, 1993 Page Two on the 1:24,000 scale map that is required in addition to your ordinance. Please note that public lands upon which you do not exercise land use controls (e.g., National Forests and State Parks) are not allowed to be calculated in your acreage tabulation. The amount of land you have available to use for the 5%-70%provision is equal to five percent(5%) of the amount of land within your jurisdiction of a WS-II or WS-III watershed as of July 1, 1993 minus critical area and minus state or federally owned land. • Agricultural Activities: The required 10 foot vegetated buffer for agricultural activities conducted after July 1, 1993 and the implementation by July 1, 1994 of Best Management Practices (BMPs) which are recommended by the Soil and Water Conservation Commission for animal operations greater than 100 animal units are required only within the critical areas of WS-I, WS-II, WS-ill and WS-IV watersheds. The Water Supply Watershed Protection Act (NCGS 143-214.5) prohibits enforcement of more stringent regulations pertaining to agricultural uses. Therefore, you can not require the buffer or BMP provisions of the Water Supply Watershed Protection Rules outside of the critical area; however, the statewide nondischarge rules will apply and are implemented at the state level. Since the Rules went into effect in August 1992, the state has adopted a set of statewide nondischarge rules to control the discharge of waste from animal operations(15A NCAC 2H .0200). These rules have similar requirements to the Water Supply Watershed Protection Rules, but a different deadline for the implementation of BMPs. • Variances: Variance procedures seem to cause the most confusion. The Model Ordinance suggests a definition of major variance as the complete waiver of a management requirement;the relaxation of any management requirement by more than 10%; or the relaxation of any management requirement under the high density option. The Model Ordinance also states that this definition is included as an example and that local governments will be given latitude in defining a major variance. However, it is not the intent of the Model Ordinance definition, nor is it the intent of the variance (exemption) provisions in the Rules, to allow local governments to categorically approve increases in density or built-upon area by virtue of a minor variance. Therefore, I suggest that you add a provision to your definition of a major variance which states that all requests for increased density or built-upon area constitute a major variance. Also, all major variances require approval by the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) prior to a watershed protection permit being issued at the local level. When a variance is requested, the Watershed Administrator should notify and allow comment from all local governments with land use jurisdiction within the watershed and any entity using the water supply for consumption. If the variance qualifies as a minor variance, the local Watershed Review Board reviews the case and makes a decision based on variance procedures delineated under North Carolina zoning law. If the variance qualifies as a major variance,the local Watershed Review Board reviews the case and makes a decision. If the Board approves the major variance, a record of the decision is forwarded to the EMC for review prior to the issuance of a watershed protection permit. Please note that the EMC does not act as an appeals board, nor do they review a major variance request prior to local government board review. Any appeal from a local government board decision must be filed with the Superior Court. Finally, a record of all variances (major and minor) granted by the local board must be submitted to DEM on or before January 1st of each year. Please refer to Model Ordinance Sections 501 and 507, as well as the attached variance procedure diagram, for more specific information on variance requirements and procedures.