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Topic
Description:
The
following summarizes the two special exceptions to be
considered at this public hearing:
Category
23 Special Exception (SPEX07-CR-004)
The
applicant seeks to fill in the floodplain to access its site
by crossing the FEMA floodplain from Ritchie Road. This new
public road will cross the Browns Run Floodplain. In
addition, the applicant seeks to place stormwater
management/BMP facilities within the floodplain.
The
requirements for filling in the floodplain (per Zoning
Ordinance Section 4-406.3), as specified in Section 5-2301,
must be met before approval of the Special Exception. The
County has not received any of the materials required by
Section 5-2301 for the Special Exception; therefore, this
application for Special Exception cannot be evaluated.
Category
20 Special Exception (SPEZN07-CR-010)
This request
seeks construction of individual wastewater treatment
systems on each lot to handle the household wastewater from
the proposed 11-lot development. The applicant’s
representative has shown an evapotranspiration system on
each lot. This system consists of an effluent treatment
phase in an aquarobic mini plant. Then the finished product
is discharged into an evapotranspiration bed. The bed is
constructed with an impermeable fabric layer that has
filtering material placed on it, such as a sand mixture.
That material is then planted with evergreen trees and
grasses. The bed then recycles the homeowner’s mini-plant
water through evaporation and plant transpiration.
Staff notes
that Virginia Department of Health (VDH) cannot sign a plat
or approve the proposed system. Through its May 14, 2007
referral to the Planning Commission, the VDH indicated, as
currently designed, the applicant’s proposed sewage system
would fall under the approval jurisdiction of the DEQ.
Consequently, the applicant has asked for waiver of those
preliminary plat requirements as part of that application
(PPLT07-LE-009). Further, the County cannot authorize a
discharge system. As a result, the applicant’s engineer
added the evapotranspiration bed component to the system it
to provide full treatment and disposal on each individual
lot.
Applicant’s Category 20 Statement of Justification:
As
indicated, this development application includes individual
alternative wastewater treatment facilities for each lot.
The VDH has stated that no other option exists for these
lots due to the poor soil conditions. The systems as
proposed meet the requirements/conditions of the
Commonwealth of Virginia General Permit (9VAC 25-100) for
treatment and discharge of treated effluent from single
family users of less than 1000 gallons per day. Being
sensitive to Fauquier County’s concern for direct discharge,
this project proposed to intercept the permitted discharge
for re-use into designed evapo-transpiration beds where all
or most of the treated effluent would be consumed by plant
uptake, transpiration and evaporation. This is based on
studies conducted by Dr. Alfred Bernhart with the University
of Toronto. While ET rates vary throughout the US, for our
area a rate of 0.13 gal/per day/sq. ft. is a conservative
design number.
Each lot
within the development will be part of a Homeowners
Association. The requirements of this association will be
provided to the County for review and approval prior to
approval of the final subdivision plat. This Association
will contract with a service provider to monitor and
maintain all of these treatment units as a block. This will
include the monitoring of treatment performance as required
by the Commonwealth permit, conducting routine maintenance,
responding to service calls and making repairs as necessary
to keep the treatment units performing properly. Homeowners
will be made aware of treatment facility operating functions
and their responsibilities in being aware of any performance
issues. They will be provided with numbers to call in the
event that any alarm or signal goes off or if there are any
signs of interruptions in plant operations. This
information will be maintained by the Homeowners Association
leadership and with the Contracted Service Provider. The
tanks in these treatment units have some reserve capacity
that should provide a buffer between any alarm and the time
in which the Service Provider can respond. Prompt response
will be part of the contract agreement with the Service
Provider.
Framing of the Issues:
The
following defines the issues confronting both the applicant
and the county. First, the Virginia Department of Health
rescinded statewide approval of the Aquarobic Filterbed
System. Therefore, no further permits would be issued for
that category of drainfield disposal. Second, discharge
systems are expressly not allowed within the Zoning
Ordinance and the County Code (Section 17-21); except for
established remediation needs resulting from an existing
home’s failing drainfield.
The County
allows two discrete options for the new homes dependent upon
the site soil conditions: (1) traditional systems or (2)
alternative systems. A traditional on-site sewage disposal
system consists of a sewer line, septic tank, distribution
box and a series of two-foot to three-foot wide drainfield
laterals installed in gravel. These systems are designed to
dispose and treat the effluent at a depth of eighteen (18)
inches to fifty-four (54) inches and depend on the naturally
occurring soil. Traditional systems may use a sewage pump to
lift the effluent to a single higher elevation. There are
two alternative systems available and they are described as
follows: (a) alternative proprietary pre-engineered
systems: A proprietary pre-engineered system is an
alternative non-discharge system, which has received general
approval from the state health commissioner; and (b)
alternative engineered systems: Engineered systems are
those non-discharge systems, which have not received general
approval from the state health commissioner.
The Zoning
Ordinance does not allow for discharge systems except in
extraordinary circumstances. Zoning Ordinance Section
5-2002 states that: “A Special Exception for a private
individual sewage treatment system which discharges into an
open ditch or water shall be allowed only to replace an
existing sewage system which is presently serving an
existing use. The existing sewage system must have failed
and have been certified by the Virginia Department of Health
to pose a real or potential health threat and a discharging
sewage treatment system is the only alternative to the
repair. In approving such a system, the Board may establish
conditions including but not limited to use, maintenance and
testing.”
Initially
the sewage disposal for this development was proposed as a
community system linked to the Kastle Greens Golf Course’s
current system. The Zoning Ordinance Section 7-500
prohibits public and private central sewer systems outside
of any service districts, except to convert existing health
problems on developed lots. Thus, the Board of Supervisors
proposed a text amendment to allow for community systems in
association with a Rural Health Remediation District. This
text amendment was withdrawn when the applicant withdrew its
rezoning proposal and opted to develop subject to the
parcels’ subdivision potential density.
The second
proposal presented was an Aquarobic Filter Bed system with
an expanded filter bed. The Planning Office received notice
from the Health Department of an order rescinding approval
of the Aquarobic Filterbed Systems. Further VDH indicated
that the system, as modified by the applicant’s engineer was
a deviation for the Filterbed, as designed by Aquaroic
International. Thus (had the approval of the system not
been rescinded) the proposal still would have had to be
submitted (in full detail) to the VDH Engineers in Richmond
for evaluation.
The third
proposal presented was an effluent treatment system combined
with a discharge to Brown’s Run (a DEQ designated impaired
stream) or to a community collection system. The collection
system would take the treated water from the individual lot
mini-plants and place the effluent into the existing Kastle
Greens Golf Course ponds for use for spray irrigation at the
golf course. Again, discharge systems are not allowed by
the Zoning Ordinance and the County Code (Section 17-20).
The current
proposal shows and Aquarobic Mini-Plant for effluent
treatment with an evapotranspiration bed to allow for full
treatment and disposal on each individual lot. VDH does not
have approval authority for this type of system. DEQ would
issue the permits for each lot. A formal determination has
not been made as to whether this system can be approved
under Zoning Ordinance regulations.
VDH has a hierarchy of individual sewage systems. At the
top is the normal septic field. This is the preferred
system. This type of system is "by-right" with the county in
the sense that it does not require any additional special
exception permits. If the soils will not support a septic
field VDH and the County allow the installation of
"alternative" non-discharging systems. Examples of these
systems include Pureflo systems; mound systems and drip
systems. If septic fields or alternative systems won't
work, VDH also allows for provisional or experimental
systems. These types of systems require Special Exception
approval. VDH allows "as a last resort" discharge systems.
To obtain a discharge system permit from VDH the State Water
Control Board must issue a finding that no public sewage
system is available to serve the property. A letter from
the County would appear sufficient to prove this fact. In
addition to this finding, the applicant's soils engineer
would have to prove to VDH that no other system will work.
The Zoning Ordinance requires a Special Exception for such
a system. The problem with this type of system is that
County ordinances do not permit the use of a discharge
system except in the case of repair or remediation of a
failed system or for certain commercial uses (the Farmer’s
Coop). The ordinance does not permit the use of this type
of system for new subdivisions. If a discharge system were
to be proposed, the Board would need to take the following
actions to permit the use of such a system: a) a text
amendment amending the ordinance to permit the use of
discharge systems for new subdivision projects; b) the
issuance of the Special Exception to permit the use for the
Paddocks; and c) a direction to the Health Department to
issue the permits under the state regulations.
In summary,
VDH regulations currently prohibit alternative discharging
systems except where there is no other alternative
available. The regulations also prohibit new subdivisions on
these systems under most circumstances. Lastly, the Zoning
Ordinance does not allow for discharge systems for new
development. The following are VDH regulatory references
which potentially impact a discharge proposal to in the base
of individual on-site discharge systems for each lot:
The
following regulation applies to the Virginia Department of
Health:
Evaluation of other options required. The Virginia
Department of Health (VDH) will not issue a permit to
construct a discharging system, unless all options for
onsite sewage treatment and disposal have been evaluated and
found unsatisfactory. The consideration of all options
include site evaluation(s) by the VDH and when appropriate,
a report prepared by a person having a special knowledge of
soil science as defined in §54.1-2200
of the Code of Virginia and the methods and principles of
soil evaluation as acquired by education or experience in
the formation, description and mapping of soils indicating
that no sewage disposal site exists on that property.
Options include a conventional onsite septic system using a
pump, low pressure distribution (LPD), or an elevated sand
mound or other systems which may be approved by the
department under the Sewage Handling and Disposal
Regulations, 12VAC5-600-10 et seq.
The following regulation
applies to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality:
12VAC5-640-410. Subdivisions.
Discharging systems may be
permitted in existing subdivisions in accordance with this
chapter.
No
discharging system shall be permitted in any subdivision
created after July 30, 1992, when a central sewer system is
available or may be permitted to serve the subdivision. If
the SWCB determines that no central sewage facilities are
reasonably available or may be permitted, and each proposed
site is eligible for registration under the General Permit,
then the locality, in which the proposed subdivision is
located, may request that the department review the plan for
compliance with this chapter. When subdivisions are
proposed utilizing individual discharging systems and dry
ditch discharges, the use of easements shall be prohibited
for multiple systems discharging to a single dry ditch or
intermittent stream unless the owner(s) take necessary
action to prevent access by children, animals, or other
vectors.
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