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Planning board presents draft sediment control ordinance

By Lynn Hotaling
County planners last week (April 6) presented a draft sediment control ordinance that would shift regulation of land-disturbing activity to county officials.

Though the proposed local ordinance would not be any stricter than state statutes already in place, it adds a notification component that would affect one- and two-family residential construction.

The draft ordinance would regulate land-disturbing activity of one acre or more. Agriculture, including both livestock-related activities and crop-growing, logging and mining, are exempt from the provisions of the proposed ordinance, which was drafted by a 20-member committee appointed by Jackson County's planning board.

Commissioners will discuss the draft ordinance with planning board members Thursday, May 4, at 5 p.m.

Members of the planning board were not unanimous in their support of the proposed sediment control ordinance, said Tamera Crisp, Jackson County's director of planning; however, it was that board's consensus to send the draft on to commissioners.

The proposed ordinance originally stipulated that land-disturbing activity of a half-acre or more would be regulated, Crisp said, but that was subsequently changed to one acre. Local control is the key feature of the proposed ordinance, Crisp said.

"(Jackson County) is experiencing so much sedimentation and erosion because of the vast amounts of development," Crisp said. "The state is doing all they can with the manpower they have."

The planning board's sedimentation committee included six members of the planning board and a cross section of other county residents, including developers, Crisp said. Of the 20 members, about a dozen actually participated in the development of the proposed ordinance, she said.

"We wanted a broad perspective to be sure all aspects were addressed," Crisp said. Phil Gibson, a member of both the sedimentation committee and the planning board, agreed with Crisp that local control is a key feature of the draft ordinance.

A local inspector, through frequent visits, would be able to closely monitor the site to be sure the erosion plan is being followed and is adequate to keep any sediment on site, Gibson said. If a site is found to be out of compliance, the inspector can then work with the developer and property owner to see that practices are improved.

One difference between the county's proposed ordinance and state law, Gibson said, is that the local ordinance holds the property owner, not the developer or contractor, liable in the event of violations.

"Ours is more comprehensive in terms of educating and working with individual property owners," he said.

The notification procedure for disturbances smaller than an acre is another important feature, Gibson said. While there is no fee to home builders, applicants for building permits for new single- and two-family residences will complete a form that states how erosion will be managed during construction.

"In the mountains, our development is in smaller chunks," Gibson said. "The biggest benefit (to the proposed ordinance) is that folks would have a local person to contact who can go on site, help them comply with the law and help keep the rivers clean."

The objective of the proposed ordinance, Gibson said, is to protect streams.

"Our rivers aren't supposed to be muddy when it rains," he said. "Dirt kills trout eggs and fills up the lakes that produce hydroelectric power."

If the draft ordinance is enacted, county Manager Jay Denton said he plans to include money for the salary of an enforcement officer in the next fiscal year's budget. Initial enforcement would be through the building permits office, Denton said.

"I'm highly supportive of the proposed soil sediment control ordinance," he said.

Sedimentation is the number one water pollutant in Western North Carolina, said Gibson, a community development specialist at Western North Carolina Tomorrow. To that end WNC Tomorrow plans workshops May 1-3 in Franklin, Fletcher and Boone to educate regional residents about the provisions of the Sedimentation Pollution Control Act of 1973.

For information on the sessions, call Gibson at 227-7492.

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