[Durham INC] Timely PC meeting wrt sedimentation and erosion control -- tonight...

[Melissa Rooney]

After last night's disappointing BOCC decision, it is ironic that the Planning Commission is reviewing the sedimentation and erosion control amendments to the UDO tonight. Despite comments last night that the PC is ineffective, I still think their discussion tonight is important.

I was at the County Commissioner (watershed rezoning) public hearing last night 'till 11 PM with my kids, who didn't go to school today as a result.

I don't even have the motivation or time (with the kids home) to look at these suggested amendments to ensure that the language is not ambiguous (as appears to be rather typical of our UDO) and that there aren't stronger, more definitive protections we could/should be asking for.

I hope that some of you all can have a look at the requested amendments (at the link below) and submit your comments to the PC, if not in person than at least in an email.

* Revisions relating to sedimentation and erosion control are proposed in Text Change
TC0900007, which can be viewed at: www.durhamnc.gov/council/ord_changes. 

As for my comments -- 
There needs to be more follow-up and enforcements of violations, beyond the first year or so after development.

BMP's (best management practices) are the erosion/run-off control measures which every developer brags will reduce their sedimentation (run-off) to negligible levels (often going so far as to say they will actually IMPROVE run-off).

Long after the developers have left, the maintenance and upkeep of these BMP's is left to the property owner. The biggest problem with BMP's is that they work for a while after they are built/implemented, but then they are not properly maintained so that they become completely ineffective. Any filter or sieve can get clogged, particularly when you're passing NC clay through them. And if we don't ensure that these are being properly cleaned and maintained, then we may as well not even have them. 

Our UDO currently does not allow trees on residential lots to be included in developers' tree-save requirements, because we can't ensure the future owner won't chop them down...yet we leave it up to the future owners to ensure that their stormwater and sedimentation control measures are working long into the future.

Annual (if not bi-annual) inspections of all such BMP's should be done, at the taxpayers' expense, and fines levied if they are not operating properly. If we need to hire more staff to do this, then so be it. It is MORE than worth the taxpayers' money, considering that we are now paying hundreds of millions (if not billions) to clean up our lakes/water-sources, and to treat the water we drink from them.

--Melissa (Rooney)




      
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