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May
9, 2003
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Vol.
10 No. 5
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Fairfax
County Launches a Boatload of Water Resource Regulation Changes
and
It's Pogonia Season! |
| Fairfax
County Chesapeake Bay Changes on the Way |
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| The
Fairfax County Planning Commission has approved
amendments to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance
(and related sections in the Public Facilities Manual,
Subdivision Ordinance and the E&S Ordinance). These
changes will go to a public hearing with the Board
of Supervisors on May 19, 2003 at 4:30 p.m. The
recommended effective date is July 18, 2003 – five
months before new Resource Protection Area (RPA)
maps are expected to be completed. Click
here for full article. |
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| Regional
Pond Program Changes in Fairfax County |
| A
major change to stormwater and watershed management
protocols in Fairfax County is underway. Regional
ponds will no longer be considered the first
choice to alleviate problems associated with
increased stormwater flows, but instead be
considered just one of many tools available
for stormwater management. This could delay
projects that rely upon future regional ponds,
or cause the need for temporary on-site ponds,
and lead to lot loss in some situations. Click
here for full article. |
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| Endangered
and Threatened Species Alert: Small Whorled Pogonia |
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| Small
Whorled Pogonia |
If
you are planning to develop property in Northern
Virginia having mature hardwood forest with an open
understory, you will most likely need a survey for
the small whorled pogonia (Isotria medeoloides)
between June 1 and July 20 – or your wetlands permitting
may be delayed up to a year! Click
here for full article. |
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| New
Fairfax County Requirement – Surveying Downstream
Ponds |
| Fairfax
County announced in a March
31, 2003 Letter to Industry new policies
and procedures for land development projects
upstream of existing impoundments. All first
submission site plans, subdivision plans,
rough grading plans, bonded grading plans
(where the limits of disturbance have not
been included in the subdivision plans), public
improvement plans, infill plans, and minor
site plans, will require a pre-construction
bathymetric survey of certain ponds downstream
of the site prior to plan approval. This policy
is in response to several fights in the last
few years over how much sediment left certain
construction sites and was deposited in downstream
ponds. Click
here for full article. |
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| Proving
Adequate Outfall Gets Tougher in Fairfax County |
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| In
a Letter
to the Industry dated April 25, 2003, Fairfax
County announced it is now requiring all future
plan submissions to provide additional documentation
of how land development projects comply with state
and county requirements regarding demonstration
of adequate outfall. This will require significant
additional work on the part of land development
engineers. This is significant because without approval
of "adequate outfall" the site cannot be developed.
Click
here for full article. |
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Do
you know someone who would be interested in reading
this newsletter? Click
here to forward a confidential copy to them!
* * * *
About Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. (WSSI):
WSSI is the leading provider of wetland science
and water resource engineering consulting services
in Northern Virginia. The firm has worked on over
1,200 sites, comprising more than 70,000 acres,
and has created hundreds of acres of wetlands
and restored miles of streams in the area. Our
team of 40 engineers, scientists, technicians,
GIS/survey specialists, and administrative staff
yield a unique combination of disciplines focused
on wetlands and water resources and provide creative
solutions for integrating the constraints of economics
and land plan requirements with local, state and
federal environmental regulations. For more information
about WSSI, visit our web site at www.wetlandstudies.com.
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