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WATR to hold educational forum on proposed sediment control ordinance
The Jackson County Board of Commissioners has accepted a draft sedimentation ordinance from the county planning board and set a date for a public hearing for June 15 at 6 p.m. to take comments on the proposal.

To help prepare county citizens for this hearing, the Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River will hold an educational forum to explain the provisions of the proposed ordinance and what it would mean for county residents. This event will be held Thursday, June 8, at 7 p.m. in Room 215 of the Jackson County Justice and Administration Center.

At the forum, Tamera Crisp, Jackson County's director of planning and economic development, will summarize the main points of the proposed sedimentation ordinance. Kayla Hudson of the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service will give some background information about sedimentation problems in the Tuckasegee Valley that led to the ordinance proposal. Members of the planning board will also be present to answer questions.

"(The proposed ordinance) is the culmination of a process that started two years ago," said Crisp. "We now have a proposal that offers a reasonable process to manage sedimentation in the county and allows for a local administrator to work with citizens as they develop their property."

County Manager Jay Denton said at a recent planning board meeting that the county already had plans to hire an ordinance officer to cover all the county ordinances. If a sedimentation ordinance is passed, it would be one of that person's top priorities, he said.

To find out more about the June 8 educational forum, call David Wheeler at 586-3146.

Some key provisions of the sedimentation control ordinance

  • Persons planning to do grading, roadbuilding or other land-disturbing activities that will cover more than one acre in total area are required to file an erosion control plan with the county. If the plan is approved, a permit to conduct land-disturbing activities will be issued.
  • Persons planning to build a single-family or two-family residence that will disturb less than one acre of land must still notify the county of their intentions before beginning work. However, no permit is required.
  • Erosion control plans need to accurately describe the area to be worked, but they do not have to be prepared by a professional engineer or surveyor.
  • The county will have 30 calendar days in which to review submitted erosion control plans. If the county does not reply within 30 days, the plan shall be considered approved.
  • Agricultural activities are excluded from the ordinance.
  • Logging operations that follow the state Department of the Environment and Natural Resources' "Forest Practice Guidelines Related to Water Quality" are excluded from the ordinance.
  • Persons doing land-disturbing work are still subject to all state sedimentation control laws as well as county ordinances.

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