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HomeMy WebLinkAboutACSA199100002 Staff Report 1991-06-12 STAFF REPORT: V. WAYNE CILIMBERG BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING: JUNE 12, 1991 WATTERSON FARMS - REQUEST FOR JURISDICTIONAL AREA DESIGNATION FOR FIRE SERVICE ONLY BACKGROUND In February, representatives of Watterson Farms (a Rural Area subdivision) requested that the Board of Supervisors amend the Albemarle County Service Authority (ACSA) Jurisdictional Area to provide public water. Staff recommended public water service not be made available due to inconsistency with the Comprehensive Plan objective and strategies for provision of public utilities and past actions of the Board of Supervisors to limit utility service outside designated growth areas. ' The Board of Supervisors denied the request for a public hearing, supporting staff recommendations. The applicant then requested consideration of designation to provide fire service only through fire hydrant(s) . The Board asked staff to investigate the possibility of installing a fire hydrant in this area (and the associated policy considerations) and report back. Two options appear to exist for providing fire service in this circumstance: 1. Locate one or more fire hydrants on road(s) where existing water lines currently cross the road(s) --this would potentially replace dry hydrant need or pond withdrawal need in the Rural Area where public water lines exist. 2. Extend new water line(s) along residential street(s) from existing lines and provide standard fire service (all residences within 400 ' of a hydrant) . Residential connections would be restricted--water line(s) would be for hydrant(s) only. Representatives of Watterson Farms are requesting this design. ISSUES Several issues arise regarding these fire service options. The first is the requirement and need for fire service. The applicant has stated that Virginia Code Section 56-261 establishes a legal requirement to provide fire protection service. The applicant feels their request will improve fire protection and reduce insurance rates for residents. 1 r _ Jay Schlothauer (Building Inspections Department) has indicated that hydrants should either be located to meet ISO standards (all residences within 400 ' of a hydrant) or not at all. Fire hydrant(s) at locations where existing water lines cross roads, but not meeting ISO standards,, would not likely result in an insurance break and could create a false sense of security for homeowners. John Jones (Building Inspections Department) says that hydrants will only make a real difference in firefighting if response time for the responding stations is within five minutes and firefighting personnel are adequately trained. Watterson Farms currently has a 15-20 minute response time from its responding station (Crozet) . County experience is that Rural Area subdivision fires are typically confined to one structure and do not spread to adjacent structures due to typical spacing of homes. Also worthy of consideration are areas of similar circumstance where water lines currently exist in the Rural Area. These include: 1. Ivy area (same water line as adjacent to Watterson Farms) . 2 . West side of Rt. 678 between Locust Hill and Meriwether Lewis School. 3. In Scottsville along Rt. 726 between filter plant and Town. 4. U.S. 29N--West of U.S. 29 between South Rivanna River and Hollymead and east of-U.S. 29, north of Hollymead. 5. In the future--250E (out to Village of Rivanna) . Existing and future development in these areas may be expected to request the fire service only jurisdictional area designation. Installation, maintenance and assessment also need to be addressed. The applicant proposes to pay for installation of the system and dedicate it to ACSA for their maintenance with a mutually agreed upon service charge (See Attachment A) . ACSA will need to develop a schedule of connection and service fees (See Attachment B) . Bill Brent (ACSA) indicates that fire service only provides no physical link with the customer for billing (as water service does through a residential meter) . There is no way to equitably cut off service to individual residences short of a lien on property if service is not paid for. Further, will situations arise where abutting properties may benefit from fire protection, but be unwilling to,pay for the protection? This may necessitate that the County assess properties or areas on ACSA's behalf to cover fire service. 2 Finally, policy implications of this service designation must be considered. The Comprehensive Plan, as previously stated, does not support public water service in the Rural Areas. Extension of water lines to provide standard fire service brings water lines to the frontage of many residences. This increases the potential for future jurisdictional area designation requests for full public water service. Is fire service a "foot in the door" to full service? Future Boards of Supervisors would have to deal with such requests. RECOMMENDATION Location of one or more fire hydrants on road(s) where existing water lines currently cross the road(s) seems to have limited benefit to insurance rating and general firefighting capability. Due to current firefighting response time, Watterson Farms may only marginally benefit from fire hydrants, even if provided to meet ISO standards. This, of course, could change with improved response time. Two primary concerns arise for fire service only -- (1) how to equitably and effectively assess for service, and (2) increased potential for future requests for full water service, which is in contrast to the Comprehensive Plan. For the above reasons, staff would not recommend establishing a fire service only jurisdictional area. 3 JATTACHMENT A, Page 1 p? Dennis S. Rooker, P.C. {; u ,.. wel A PROFESSIONAL LEGAL CORPORATION MAY 6 1991 115 SOUTH PANTOPS DRIVE CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA 22901 PLANNING DIVISION DENNIS S. ROOKER (804)977-7424 PRESIDENT FAX 977-7428 May 1, 1991 Mr. Wayne Cilimberg Director of Planning & Community Development County, of Albemarle 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, VA 22901 RE: Watterson Farms-Request to Amend the Albemarle County Service Authority Service Areas to Provide Public Water Dear Wayne: This letter is to clarify the pending request of Northlea Farms, Inc. concerning the above-referenced matter. The appli- cant is now requesting that the Board amend the ACSA jurisdic- tional area to include the Watterson Farms property, with a designation that water be available for the limited purpose of fire protection. With respect to its request, the applicant proposes the following: 1. The physical layout of the system will be substantially as set forth on the drawings provided to you and to Bill Brent by Chris Halstead. 2 . The total cost for construction of the system will be raid for by the applicant. 3 . The system will be maintained by the ACSA and a reason- able service charge will be established by the ACSA and paid by the applicant. In our meeting several weeks ago, the problem of stagnant water backwashing into the system was mentioned. I believe that this problem will be solved by the ACSA handling maintenance of the system and by proper engineering of the system. I have been informed that there are a number of such lines in existence pro- viding fire protection for industrial and commercial users and that the stagnant water problem has been adequately resolved in those cases. ATTACHMENT A, Page 2 I understand that this matter is scheduled for consideration by the Board at its meeting on May 8, 1991. If the applicant needs to provide you with any additional information prior to that time, please so notify me. If you believe that the staff will not have adequate time to gather and assemble the informa- tion it would intend to include with its report to the Board prior to the May 8th meeting date, the applicant would not object to continuing this matter until the next Board meeting date. I certainly appreciate your time and consideration in this matter. Sincerely, Dennis S. Rooker cc: Chris Halstead Edwin M. Freakley DSR/ap 'ATTACHMENT BI? AL3EMARLE COU \ TY SERVICE AUTHORITY P.O BOX 1009 401 VcINTIRE RD CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. 22902 (804) 296-5810 13 a 5 May 21, 1991 ��p�'il'i�G 13-- � meµ._. .. Mr. Wayne Cilimberg Director of Planning and Community Development County Office Building Charlottesville, Virginia Re: Watterson Farms Dear Wayne: The Board of Directors has discussed the proposal before the Board of Supervisors to create a "water for fire service only" jurisdictional area to encompass this subdivision. It is the Service Authority' s position that, if the County begins creating such service areas, the following should apply: 1. All water facilities must be constructed in accor- dance with ACSA standards and dedicated to ACSA. 2. ACSA would develop a schedule of connection and service fees for providing this service. We should discuss this again before you prepare your report to the Board. Ver truly yours, J. W. Brent Executive Director JWB:kst ATTACHMNT C • e . 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J. • -imago nit Rl. 25 a /w.ij1+ Iz I\ ,. 2 /\N I 0 0 A \-r-- .4.Av .,&_,/ / ..ie.F...:.:7..:::.::.:.:.',:...:::.:',.....::....:,....,....:........!:......'.:.:,..,....:.:::::.:.... , ,.....(...-r• ...i.\\*\,......, 'I3E 14 1 le, , ISO ": / ?* /lSB I � r �\ ( �`�:. ` ''';�: •, ,,,. w \ 1 _) / / �.' ��— : Ify � 75 "A"INFICT SAMUEL MILLER DISTRICT SECTION 59 J•1 ••••MOOHMAN•S WVEA AGRICULTURAL A FOR ESVtc*STR1GT" WATTERSON FARMS - REQUEST FOR JURISDICTIONAL AREA DESIGNATION FOR FIRE SERVICE ONLY: OUTLINE OF REPORT TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FOR THEIR MEETING OF JUNE 12 I. Background to Request A. Original request to amend ACSA services areas to provide public water 1. Staff recommended public water service not be made available due to inconsistency with Comprehensive Plan objective and strategies for provision of public utilities and past actions of the Board of Supervisors to limit utility service outside designated growth areas. 2. Board of Supervisors denied request for a public hearing on request supporting staff recommendations. B. Applicant requested consideration of designation to provide fire service only through fire hydrant( s) - Board asked staff to investigate this and report back. II . Fire Service Options A. Fire hydrant on road( s) at location where existing water lines currently cross the road(s) --this would potentially replace dry hydrant need or pond withdrawal need in rural areas. B. Extend water line( s) along residential street( s) and provide standard fire service (all residences within 400 ' of a hydrant) . 1. Restrict residential connections--water line( s) would be for hydrant( s) only. 2. Watterson is requesting this design. III . Issues A. Need for fire service 1. Applicant has stated that Virginia Code Section 56-261 establishes a legal requirement to provide fire protection service. 2. Applicant feels their request will improve fire protection and reduce insurance rates for residents. 3 . Jay Schlothauer (Building Inspections) has indicated that hydrants should either be located to meet ISO standards (all residences within 400 ' of a hydrant or not at all - hydr nt( s) at location w ere existing water lind.ss cross road& but not meeting ISO standards would not likely result in an insurance break and create false sense of security for homeowners. 4. John Jones (Building Inspections) says that hydrants will only make a real difference in firefighting if response time for the responding stations is within five minutes_ and fire fighting personnel ' da equately trained - Watterson Farms currently has a 15-20 minute response time from its responding station (Crozet) . 5. County experience is that Rural Area subdivision fires are typically confined to one structure and do not spread to adjacent structures due to typical spacing of homes. B. Areas of similar circumstance - existing water line in the Rural Area 1. Ivy area (same water line as adjacent to Watterson Farms) . 2. 29N (north of Hollymead) . 3v In future - 250E (out to Village of Rivanna) . 4. Existing and future development in these areas may be expected to request the fire service only jurisdictional area designation. C. Installation, Maintenance and Assessment 1. Applicant proposes to pay for installation of system and dedicate to ACSA for their maintenance with a mutually agreed upon service charge. 2. ACSA will need to develop a schedule of connection and service fees. 3 . Bill Brent (ACSA) says that fire service only provides no physical link with customer for billing (as water service does through meter) --no way to equitably cut off service to individual residences short of lien on property if service not paid for--may necessitate County assessing properties to cover fire service on ACSA' s behalf (tpssses ment District? ) . D. Policy Implications 1. Comprehensive Plan, as previously presented, does not support public water service in the Rural Areas. 2. Extension of water lines to provide standard fire service brings water lines to the frontage of many residences--increases potential for future requests for jurisdictional area designation for full public water service--Is this a "foot in the door"? Future Boards of Supervisors would have to deal with such requests. IV. Recommendation A. Fire hydrant(s) on road(s) at location where existing water lines currently cross the road seems to have limited benefit. B. Two primary concerns for fire service only -- ( 1) how to assess for service, and ( 2) increased potential for future requests for full water service, which is in contrast to the Comprehensive Plan. C. Due to current fire fighting response time, Wa*r$(son Farms may only marginally benefit from fire hydrants. D. Staff would not recommend establishing a fire service only jurisdictional area.