Chesepeake Bay Preservation : LoCo proposal

The Hearing before the Board of Supervisors was well attended. There were about 150 people in the audience and more than 65 scheduled speakers. There were approximately 20 people against the Bay Act for every speaker in favor of passage.

Comments ranged from homeowners to HOA's to community associations to commercial developers. All seemed to be against the proposed Bay Act.

Many brought up the fact that Fairfax and Prince William adopted similar measures decades ago - but had no evidence that it had benefited the ChesaBay.

Some very interesting groups showed up to speak. You can watch the whole thing from the webcast archives at http://loudoun.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=35.

 

Here's good pick up by Leesburg Today

http://www.leesburg2day.com/articles/2010/05/25/news/9714chesbay052510.txt

 

This was sent to those of us that have subscribed to Stevens Millers updates. Since he states he will be having community meetings I was not sure how many others would be interested in this information.

Dear Neighbor,

You have probably heard that the County is considering passage of a version of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. A lot of people have asked me about it and about the effect it might have on residents of the Dulles district. I have had detailed conversations about it with County staff and have reviewed the relevant documents. It is clear to me that the Act would have no effect on the rights or property values of the vast majority of Dulles homeowners. The only parcels affected are those that include part of the Resource Protection Area (the "RPA"), or where some new land use will take up more than 2,500 square feet.

I have learned that a couple of organizations are deliberately trying to confuse people by leading them to believe that the "RPA Screening Area" is the same as the RPA. This is false. For parcels in the Screening Area, outside the RPA, if your swing-set, shed, or deck is under 2,500 square feet, the Bay Act has absolutely no effect on you. Please note that existing uses, such as your house, patio, dog-house, and so on, are NOT counted in that 2,500 square-foot limit. Likewise, anything you do inside your house is NOT counted (like finishing your basement).

Monday night, we were visited in the Board room by over 60 speakers. Many of them provided their home addresses on the speakers' sign-up sheet. Some of those stated, "My parcel is in the RPA." I used the public mapping system and discovered that not all of them were in the RPA. Those speakers were in the RPA Screening Area. Others simply said, "My parcel is in the RPA Screening Area," and then went on to speak against the Act, apparently because they believed the RPA and the Screening Area are the same thing.

This, plus a very helpful chat I had with a neighbor recently (during which he cogently pointed out that the County has bungled the job of making the difference between the RPA and the Screening Area clear), has convinced me that we need to hold off any votes until people have had a fair opportunity to learn what they want to know about the Act.

At the same time that the county needs to improve its communication with the public about this issue, there are private groups putting out a lot of phony information, apparently for reasons that serve their commercial or political interests. That's not helpful and, if you receive any such stuff, I'd be grateful if you'd forward it to me so I can be aware of it. Scaring people for money is a practice I'd like to fight.

Although it's called the "Bay" Act, its supporters endorse it because of its potential to protect our own sources of drinking water. With over three-fourths of our county's streams in "stressed" condition (or worse), it seems well past time to adopt better practices so our water will be safe to drink. However, for those residents living on parcels that actually do overlap the RPA, I want to be sure they are not subject to unreasonable burdens or costs. I believe that protecting our water supply is something we can and should do, but that we can and should do it fairly, with respect for the rights of each individual.

I'll be doing some community meetings on this before a final vote. Please go to http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=1957 and click on "Subscribe to My Mailing List" to be sure you get a reminder.

Best wishes,
Stevens

Staci

 

I'm working on getting a large 5-6 foot map of Broadlands that shows the known RPA buffer and the RPA screening tool buffer overlaid on it.
When I get it, I'll post it in the Nature Center.

 

no disturb zone - chesapeake bay preservation act

I was curious as to whether our property was affected. Found these directions on Loudouni in the comments section of http://www.loudouni.com/video/news/2010-05-27/opinions-chesapeake-bay-preservation-act:

"Help your neighbors find out if they are in the no disturb/must plant indigenous trees (250 per acre required) RPA 200 foot plus zone. Many who are not near any stream will be shocked to find out their lots are completely within the proposed no disturb area, because the new proposed expansive definition of "perennial body of water" to include every drainage swale in the County (all to be buffered and planted.)
There are 13 steps to find the extent of Resource Protection Areas on your property. Here they are:
1. Go to www.loudoun.gov
Click on “Assessments/Parcels” under e-Services
Click on box “Yes” at bottom
Click on circle “Property Address”
Put your address in empty box (do not use “Road”)
Click box “Submit”
Click on “Map It”
Click “Yes” box
Click on “Map Layers” on top left tab
Click on “Land Records” box
Click on “Environmental”
Click box for “Buildings” and for “Draft RPA Screening Tool”
Click on “Apply” oval at bottom left. Tan areas are your resource protection areas that require preservation. Dots are buildings."


Appears we are in the proposed zone. Mike

 

This board says that this topic has "moved". Ok, to where was it moved. I'd like to follow this topic. Thanks.

 

Stevens, it is my understanding we get our water from Fairfax. I am not sure the quoted argument provides a direct benefit to Loudoun water. Seems to me Fairfax should be participating, and I've heard they aren't interested. If the real goal here is to protect our drinking water shouldn't efforts be focused on lobbying Fairfax to be part of this Act? I am not sure I buy into the strategy of Loudoun being a part of the initial vanguard on this effort. I am not willing to pay for it, as it won't directly impact the water I use which is from Fairfax.

 

Here's another issue I've not heard.

Are HOAs going to be forced to regulate this ordinance? Will HOAs be required to identify and monitor effected areas? Will architectural review boards be required to include this new ordnance in the approval process?

I certainly hope not. Can you imagine the additional cost and potential liability this would burden HOAs with?

 

Fairfax county is one of the 84 jurisdictions that were REQUIRED to adopt the CBPA.

 

Based on how this thing is being rolled out, I'd like to have definitive assurances that HOAs will not be part of the approval, monitoring or enforcement aspects of any regulation. It's a valid question.

Assuming that these aspects can be deemed a County issue and not a HOA issue, then how much is it going to cost all of us to enforce this ordnance. Seems to me we will need to expend more resources and money to do so. I'd like to know how much? How many more staff FTEs will need to be hired?

Also, how the heck is a 10x10 shed going to impact the Bay?

 

Thanks for the clarification vacliff. Another example of how hard it is to figure out the impact or dynamics of this proposed ordnance.

 

I know both of these have been asked by some people in Brambleton and the response was it could be administered w/ current county staff. My response is that there is 10 overhead FTE's we could remove from the budget next year then, assuming this thing is not passed.

 

FYI... Stevens Miller will be speaking on both this & the CTP on June 17th @ 6:30 pm. Please note there has been a location change to Eagle Ridge Middle School.

 

Here's the announcement from Supervisor Miller's Office:

Supervisor Stevens Miller would like to hear the Dulles District residents’ opinions regarding the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) and the Countywide Transportation Plan. Supervisor Miller will be hosting a community meeting to discuss concerns with Dulles District residents. Staff will make a presentation about the CBPA and answer questions from attendees. Supervisor Miller is inviting residents to attend the following community meeting:

Thursday, June 17th at 6:30 pm, Eagle Ridge Middle School

 

The map is now posted in the Nature Center. It is in the hallway between the lobby and the conference room.