HomeMy WebLinkAboutSDP200900057 Review Comments Critical Slope Waiver 2009-09-10*-&A
County of Albemarle
Department of Community Development
Memorandum
To: Gerald Gatobu, Current Development Project Planner
From: Phil Custer, Current Development engineering review
Date: 10 September 2009
Subject: Harris Garage Critical Slope Waiver (SDP- 2009 - 00057)
The purpose of this memo is to provide engineering commentary regarding the applicant's recent request to
modify a condition of a critical slope waiver approval that was given during the review of the site's Special
Use Permit (SP- 2008 - 00058). During their June 9th 2009 meeting, the Planning Commission approved the
critical slope waiver for Harris Garage with two conditions. The condition that the applicant would like to
modify is written below as it appeared in the approval letter written by the County Planner.
To provide stormwater management and replenish the buffer, the entire buffer area within the property
should be planted in accordance with the Chesapeake Bay Riparian Buffers Modification and Mitigation
Guidance Manual no later than three (3) months following the approval of the critical slopes waiver.
" These shall be bonded as a
guarantee of survival for a minimum of 5 years.
The date that the mitigation plantings were to be installed was September 9"' 2009. In the applicant's letter
requesting reconsideration of this condition, he stated that seedlings (one option included in pages D -6 and
D -7 of the Chesapeake Bay Riparian Buffers Manual which has been provided at the end of this memo) are
not available until late winter /early spring and, therefore, the deadline for mitigation installation should be
extended to April 1 st. Engineering review can confirm this claim regarding the availability of seedlings.
The Virginia Department of Forestry is currently no longer selling seedlings on their website. Engineering
review also spoke with someone at a local nursery and landscape contracting company who verified
seedlings are unavailable this time of year because the success rates are extremely low when planted now.
However, it should be noted that the buffer manual describes another mitigation option that is much more
viable at this time of year. Rather than planting seedlings at a density of 1210 stems /acre, mitigation can
be provided with more mature landscaping. In this option, approximately 1 large tree (1 -1/2" caliber), 2
understory trees (3/4" caliber), and 3 shrubs (15" height) would be needed for every 400 sf ( -650
stems /acre). The mature planting option is considerably more expensive and is not preferred by the
applicant. The total cost of the mature planting option being close to $10,000 compared to less than $500
for seedling mitigation.
In the staff report to the Planning Commission for their June meeting, county staff had included in the
critical slopes waiver conditions a sentence essentially directing the applicant to provide mitigation with
the mature landscaping option. This sentence was explicitly removed when the waiver was approved
which seems to indicate that the seedling option was the direction preferred by all parties: {T,4e ayf liean
finder-s" trees at 4' eenter-s, and shr-ubs at 8 " . In this context, the modification to the critical
slope waiver to extend the required time for the mitigation to be installed is reasonable and would seem to
be a continuation of the county's position from the original critical slope waiver approval in June.
File: E1_csw_PBC_sdp200900057.doc