A public information meeting will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 20, on new riparian buffer regulations for Chapel Hill.
A riparian buffer is a vegetated area near a stream that helps protect
waterways from the impact of adjacent land uses and pollution. The
meeting will be held in the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin
Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Town of Chapel Hill stormwater management and planning staff members
will describe the process for adopting changes to the Town's Land Use
Management Ordinance to comply with new state and federal rules that
aim to reduce pollution flowing into streams and Jordan Lake. The lake
is a major drinking water supply to Wake and Chatham Counties, and a
popular recreation area and wildlife habitat.
The new rules necessitate text amendments in Chapel Hill’s Land Use
Management Ordinance regarding protection of riparian buffers. Staff
will discuss what the rules will mean to property owners and how they
will affect maintenance and development near riparian buffers.
The Town has riparian buffer protection requirements contained in
its Resource Conservation District (RCD) provisions of the Land Use
Management Ordinance. However, the current provisions do not address
all of the Jordan Lake buffer protection criteria. The local program
must consist of ordinances, policies, and procedures for protecting the
riparian buffer, determining variances, record keeping, and
enforcement.
All waterways in Chapel Hill and its planning jurisdiction flow into
the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake. This area of the lake
experiences frequent algal blooms due to overloads of nitrogen and
phosphorous. The algal blooms can cause taste and odor problems in
drinking water, kill or stress aquatic life, and release toxins into
the water. Riparian buffers are important in providing vegetation to
filter stormwater runoff and to stabilize streambanks. They reduce
erosion and sedimentation and the corresponding pollutants that flow
into the lake.
There will be opportunity for additional public input during a Town
Council public hearing tentatively scheduled for Feb. 15. If you are
unable to attend the public information meeting, please submit comments
to Sue Burke, stormwater management engineer, at sburke@townofchapelhill.org or Kendal Brown, principal planner, at kbrown@townofchapelhill.org.
These comments will receive the same consideration as those from the
public session. For more information, call Sue Burke at 919-969-7266 or
visit www.jordanlake.org/home.
