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Tuesday, 10 April 2007 18:28 |
By JIM GENARO
In the six months since the Buncombe County Commissioners passed a new stormwater-runoff ordinance, the agency charged with enforcing the ordinance has received 19 permit applications covering 116 acres of land, according to Stormwater Administrator Mike Goodson.
Goodson, who has served as the agencyís administrator since February, presented an update on the implementation of the new rules to the commissioners on April 3.
The regulations were passed in an effort to mitigate the damage caused by excess stormwater runoff that results from new development in the county.
Since passage of the rules in September, eight applications have been
approved and six have been rejected, Goodson said. An additional five
applications are currently pending.
Furthermore, he said he has worked on setting up the administration of
the new agencyís offices, created the permit applications and developed
a complaint system so that residents who think a developer has violated
the rules can request an investigation. Four such investigations have
been launched so far, he noted.
Chairman Nathan Ramsey expressed surprise that so few acres of land have been involved in the permit applications so far.
ìI would have thought thereíd be more acres to come under this,î he said.
Goodson replied that developers are investing more time into their stormwater-runoff plans now before submitting applications.
ìThe designers donít want to spin their wheels, so they donít want to send in a plan that might not even be approved,î he said.
The goal of his organization is to ìprovide a level of protection for
the citizens of Buncombe County,î Goodson told the board. This includes
improving the ìquality of runoff through low-impact development
measures.î
ìWhat have you seen are some of the big challenges?î Ramsey asked him.
Water detention is a major challenge from an engineering perspective, Goodson answered.
To prevent soil erosion, water sometimes has to be detained as long as
48 to 100 hours, he said. This can require drainage pipes as small as
one inch in diameter or less, he noted.
Addressing the low-impact development techniques Goodson had mentioned
eariler, Commissioner David Gantt asked, ìWhen youíre talking to
developers, do you see a lot of people who donít know about these
techniques ... or is it more, ëI donít want to do it because itís more
expensiveí?î
Goodson replied that it is ìmore of an education issue. Itís not a new
technology, but itís new to usî in Western North Carolina.
He also said that this area has unique challenges due to its
mountainous terrain. He noted that in drafting the ordinance, one of
the challenges had been trying to find a county with stormwater-runoff
rules that had similar terrain to Buncombe County.
ìI havenít quite found that yet,î he added.
Commissioner David Young asked, ìAs far as the ordinance goes, whatís your feeling about it?î
ìI think the Planning Board did a very good job putting the ordinance
together,î Goodson replied. ìI think some of the more technical things
need to be worked out.î
He added that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the
costs of implementing stormwater-runoff controls can account for
between 25 and 30 percent of the total costs of a new development.
In other actions, the board:
ï Unanimously approved a policy on Tax Increment Financing after
hearing a presentation about it from Finance Director Donna Clark.
This method of project financing is ìa financial tool used by local
governments to promote development within the county,î she told the
board.
The state-mandated program allows municipalities to fund development
through loans that are paid back using the increased tax revenues that
result from that development, she explained.
The new policy states that Buncombe County will only use TIF for
projects that ìpresent a public benefit ... in a blighted area,î Clark
noted.
So far, the county has approved only one such project ó the construction of a downtown district in Woodfin.
Clarifying what is meant by ìblighted areas,î Clark explained that the
county would only fund projects that could not happen without public
financing.
Ramsey praised the Woodfin initiative, noting that it was the second
TIF project in the state and ìthe first that was acclaimed universally,
statewide.î
ï Unanimously approved a new task force to assess the needs of the countyís judicial system.
The move came after some commissioners complained last month when their meeting room began being used as a courtroom.
The space was required after James Calvin Hill was appointed as the
countyís seventh District Court judge ó causing a shortage of courtroom
space in the county building.
Half of the new task force will comprise judicial officials ó a district attorney, a court clerk and one judge from each court.
The remainder of the task-force members will be public citizens. The
commissioners will seek applicants for the new board at their May
meeting.
County Manager Wanda Greene had initially requested that the task
force comprise 15 members, but the board scaled that back to 10 after
Young expressed concerns that too many members might diminish the new
panelís effectiveness.
However, the board agreed to revisit this question if it appeared
necessary to increase the numbers in order to accomodate officials from
each district court.
ï Issued a proclamation declaring April, 2007, to be ìChild Abuse Prevention Month.î
ï Made a number of appointments, including Jennifer Waite, Julie Strum
and Judy McDonough to the Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee;
and Sarah Foster, Ceasar Romero, Karen Gettinger, Joel Bender, Tim
Laughlin, Barbara Mayer and Brenda Crisp to the Adult Care Home
Community Advisory Committee.
Commissioners also appointed Lynn Hicks as the U.S. Forest Service
representative to the countyís Environmental Advisory Board.
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