Amending bay preservation law postponed by NK board

Action to bring New Kent’s ordinance that protects Chesapeake Bay waters into line with state law, and include a few extras not mandated by the state, has been postponed by the county Board of Supervisors.

Board members are concerned the county’s version could further curtail individual property owners’ rights.

At issue is land designated as Resource Protection Area (RPA) under provisions of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. In New Kent, RPA acreage totals 31,379. The county, meanwhile, must be in compliance with state law, which is overseen by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

County environmental planning manager Amy Walker told supervisors during their Monday meeting that problems are surfacing in the county involving some property owners who are violating the required 100-foot RPA buffer zone that borders streams and waterways eventually flowing into the bay. Trees and shrubs in the buffer zone are being removed illegally, almost to the extent of clear-cutting, so that residents have a waterfront view, she said. Landowners guilty of infractions are claiming ignorance or misunderstanding of the law, she added.

In addition to ironing out inconsistencies between state and New Kent law, county planning staff is recommending three non-mandated changes. The first would require inspection and marking of vegetation to be removed from the buffer zone before a county permit is issued.

The second would require a professional — forester, arborist, or horticulturist — to determine if vegetation is dying or diseased, thus warranting removal. Then, any vegetation planted within the buffer zone must come with a two-year guarantee.

Not including the changes, Walker said, could open the door to landowners purposely killing trees and shrubs.

“Those are the issues we’ll face when people learn they can’t do what they want to,” she told the board.

But supervisors stopped well short of granting approval.

“We’re penalizing a lot of folks for the actions of a few,” said District 2 Supervisor Marty Sparks, adding that the proposed amendments show an absence of common sense.

“We’re assuming that everyone is out to cut down healthy trees,” he said.

Four people who spoke during a public hearing on the matter were divided over the proposal. County residents Sam Snyder and Jerry Benson urged passage. Snyder said New Kent’s action could serve as a model for the state while Benson said a better job must be done to protect water quality.

County residents Jay Hubbard and Sam Howard, however, took issue. Hubbard said wording in the proposal needs clarification while Howard disputed the need, labeling the action as scare tactics advanced by the DCR.

“The DCR can paint a picture any way they want,” Howard told supervisors. “If citizens give up any more rights to make decisions to the state and the DCR, it will open a Pandora’s Box.”

District 5 Supervisor Ray Davis said a solution could be educating the public, a step county staff plans to take, but he conceded that such a step might not work.

“An education program would be the best thing, but we assume everyone reads this and they don’t,” he said.

District 1 board member Mark Hill indicated displeasure with the proposal, saying, “I don’t see the need for New Kent to strengthen state or federal law.”

Supervisors instructed county staff to further research the matter and report to the board at its Jan. 14 meeting.

In other business Monday, the board removed truck and trailer length restrictions placed on vehicles visiting the county’s trash deposit sites.

In August, supervisors placed a 10-foot maximum length restriction on trailers used to haul trash and debris to dumpsites as a means of preventing contractors from depositing construction and demolition waste. But at the board’s September meeting, several county residents complained that they were turned away at dumpsites because their trailers exceeded the length limit.

“This was one where we messed up,” Davis said. “We tried to identify contractors, but a lot of people have trailers and pile in trash for a week or a month before they go to the dump.

“It was a sticky situation,” he added. “We tried to put some parameters on and the parameters didn’t work out.”

County general services director Jim Tacosa told the board that county employees at the trash sites have been educated on how to identify contractors. In recent weeks, county residents have registered no complaints, he said.

In other business, the board:

–Amended county zoning law to include performance standards for new and expanded public, semi-public, institutional, educational, and recreational uses and facilities. The amendment covers landscaping, lighting, noise, architectural guidelines, traffic controls, and operating requirements for firearm/archery ranges, animal shelters, campgrounds, cemeteries, community centers, golf courses, horse racing facilities, health/exercise facilities, theme parks, stadiums, and communications towers.

–Amended county law to enable county courts to order defendants convicted of drunk driving, reckless driving as cause of an accident, driving on a suspended or revoked license, and hit and run to pay cost recovery fees as part of restitution at the time of sentencing.