Agenda - 05-22-1989 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • 2 • The Orange County Water and Sewer Policy, adopted April 3 , 1919 , states that : • "Watershed protection should be given a high priority in any activity related' to 'land use planning in Orange County. Orange County will, in' those areas for which it has . planning and zoning jurisdiction and authority, use this authority. to designate protected watersheds in the Land Use Element of the Comprehensive' Plan for the purpose of protecting. those areas from environmental impacts adverse to water supply sources ." _ I believe that both the Planning Board and Board of Commissioners are seriously , concerned with protecting University Lake and other water supply sources . The Camp Dresser & McKee report , conducted specifically ' for the University Lake watershed, recommends that development be permitted in the watershed - but under rather strict criteria. Their favored recommendation is for low density residential development , not greater than one dwelling unit per five acres, with a maximum impervious surface limit of four percent . • CDM' s second choice is clustered development , with a half-acre minimum lot size , but an .overall density of five acres per lot , and with the same four percent impervious limit . The third approach would be two-acre ' lots , , limited to six percent impervious coverage , but with publicly maintained stormwater ponds . The McLennan' s Farm project meets none of these criteria. ' Both reports highlight the need for public management' of community wastewater systems . The County' s Water & Sewer Policy explicitly commits "to explore alternative institutional arrangements for shifting the operation and maintenance of such * systeuts into the public dditi-ain." - - - The McLennan' s Farm proposal has similarities with earlier plans submitted for the controversial Amberly subdivision near - - Carrboro. Both projects would rely on unproven, innovative community low-pressure systems with no oversight by local public agencies . Both projects would exceed by a wide margin the density and impervious surface limits recommended by Camp Dresser & McKee . And, neither McLennan' s Farm nor Amberly would include publicly operated and, maintained stormwater devices . As. . recently as May 11 , the . North Carolina Environmental Management Commission directed its staff to stop issuing discharge or non-discharge wastewater permits in WS-I watersheds until the Commission, could better define an appropriate level of development for such protected areas . • . . •