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HomeMy WebLinkAboutACSA199700008 Review Comments 1997-01-13 COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE 0 '` „oy BAN 1 3 1997 ?. ©w.. Planning Ae MEMORANDUM TO: Ken Baker - Senior Planner 111— FROM: David Hirschman- Water Resources Manager A DATE: January 13, 1997 RE: Lochallen Land Trust Jurisdictional Area Request for Sewer Similar requests in the past have revolved around the issues of: (1)remedying a public health and safety concern,and(2)allowing the continued use of property when state local or state policies may limit or eliminate that use in response to a wastewater problem. This was the reasoning in both the Café No Problem and VDOT Rest Area situations. The Lochallen case is similar. Prior to the temporary pump and haul,the situation posed an on-site public health and safety problem in addition to discharging partially treated sewage into a tributary stream to the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir. As documented by Gary Rices' 12/20/96 letter to Ken Baker,the Health Department has not found any feasible on-site alternatives. In cases such as this,the property owner must make a capital investment to correct the problem. For the sake of this investment mil for reservoir watershed objectives,the chosen solution should represent the best feasible long-term solution. If alternative on-site options pose too high a risk due to site conditions, then the best option is often hooking up to the public system where proximity to a sewer line makes this feasible. As stated in the Health Department letter,this is the case with the Lochallen request. At this point,the County has received this type of request for residential(Lochallen), institutional (VDOT Rest Area), and commercial(Café No Problem)properties within the reservoir watershed area. None of these cases have conformed to all pertinent Comprehensive Plan recommendations(e.g., adjacent to an existing line,access to Crozet Interceptor). We have found that with these real-world situations,we cannot allow unsafe conditions to prevail in the reservoir watershed or promote partial or temporary solutions. At the same time,we are compelled to consider land use implications. One thing we know for certain is that we have not heard the last of this type of case. Perhaps the Lochallen request is our cue to modify the Comprehensive Plan language to make it more realistic while still upholding the land use objectives. In the meantime,I support connection to the Crozet Interceptor for the property in question as the best technical, long-term solution to a public health and safety problem. DJH/ctj Copy: Jack Kelsey,Chief of Engineering File davidllockla