PASCO COUNTY, FLORIDA
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO: Honorable Chairman DATE: 11/12/02 FILE: CAO 03-2816
Members of the Board
of County Commissioners
THRU: Robert D. Sumner, SUBJECT: Wellhead Protection-Proposed
County Attorney Amendments to Pasco County Land
Development Code-Chapter 612
Second Public Hearing: 11/19/02;
9:30a.m, Dade City
FROM: Joseph D. Richards, RE: Introduction: 3/5/02; Changes
Assistant County Attorney Accepted 10/08/02; First Public
Hearing 11/6/02, 9:30a.m, NPR
It is recommended that the data herein presented be given formal consideration by the Board of County Commissioners.
DESCRIPTION AND CONDITIONS:
This is the second of two public hearings to be held to adopt the new Groundwater Protection Ordinance.
On March 5, 2002, staff introduced the proposed Groundwater Protection Ordinance, amendments to the current Land Development Code Section 612, Wellfield Protection, to ensure that our ordinance provides the necessary protections for the zones of contribution for public water supply wells. On March 13, 2002, we presented the draft ordinance to the Citizens Ordinance Review Committee (CORC), and on March 19, 2002, you directed staff to hold public workshops on the ordinance. Since the conclusion of the workshops, staff reviewed the public input and then staff proposed changes to the ordinance incorporating public comment. You accepted those changes on October 8, 2002.
At the first public hearing, we proposed two additional changes. Staff believes that the protection against excavation that intersects the Floridan aquifer and the confining layer should be provided for WPA 2 as well as WPA 1. The change is noted on page 11 of the attached draft.
In summary, the new ordinance provides the following. Wellhead Protection Areas (WPA’s) are set up for the five year, WPA 1, and ten year, WPA 2, travel time - the time it takes a particle of water to travel from a given distance to the wellhead. The areas of protection do not prohibit all development within the areas, but rather restrict those types of land uses with the greatest potential to contaminate drinking water supplies. The Wellhead Protection Ordinance will be applied to particular parcels of land through the development of wellhead protection area maps. These maps will show the overlay districts based on the five and ten year travel times with a 200 feet buffer required for technical variations area as recommended in the study prepared by Metcalf & Eddy. We have not, however, yet mapped the protection areas for the wells that pump less than 100,000 gallons per day (gpd). As you recall, the Citizens for Sanity settlement agreement only required us to develop protection areas for the major wells, but staff proposed including the small wells also. To prepare these maps, staff will have to dedicate significant time to verify the locations of the approximately 170 wells that supply public drinking water and pump less than 100,000 gpd and then to prepare the protection area maps. This effort will be undertaken when the Board makes the decision to include the small wells in the ordinance.
One of the more difficult issues in the first draft involved the restriction on septic tanks. The March draft prohibited all septic tanks in the WPA 1, in other words development would only be allowed if sewer was available. We came to realize that this prohibition may restrict all use of particular parcels of land; therefore, we recommended changes to allow development of parcels that are already platted for residential use but where sewer is not available. See Section 7, General Exemptions, paragraph H. Numerous other changes of a technical and cleanup nature are shown on the attached draft.
Note: At the first public hearing, Tampa Bay Water expressed concern over the potential adverse impact the septic tank exemption may have on its wells. We are investigating the possible number of residential lots that may be affected by this exemption and hope to have numbers for consideration at the public hearing.
Some of the uses restricted in WPA 1, include land fills, discharges of liquid or solid wastes, concentrated animal feeding operations, mining, or borrow pits and uses that handle treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste or generate hazardous waste. Residential uses will be allowed with limitations. In WPA 2, between the five and ten year travel time, restricted uses include wastewater treatment plants, waste disposal operations, and hazardous waste handlers. Other land uses will be allowed subject to incorporation of best management practices to limit the potential exposure of the groundwater to contamination.
This ordinance will be prospective in nature, therefore, any existing uses that would be prohibited under the new ordinance, will be allowed to remain as non-conforming uses subject to certain restrictions. Those restrictions would prevent expansion or increase in a non-conforming use and any uses utilizing on-site sewage disposal would have to connect to the public sewer system, when it becomes available.
The ordinance also provides for general exemptions such as the limited handling of regulated substances in office buildings and by janitorial services and the ordinary application of pesticides and herbicides provided the activities are conducted in accordance with all applicable law and regulations. The ordinance will also provide the County with the authority to regulate the location of new public water supply wells to ensure that such wells are not located in areas that would be in violation of the restrictions contained in this ordinance.
This ordinance and associated comprehensive plan amendments along with the Metcalf
& Eddy groundwater study satisfies the wellhead protection requirements of the Citizens for Sanity Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement required the County to determine the zones of contribution for all major wells, the wells pumping over 100,000 gpd, and then to amend the Comprehensive Plan to show the groundwater protection areas and the land use restrictions for the protection areas. Proposed Comprehensive Plan amendments are attached for your review. These amendments must be adopted by ordinance November 19, 2002, and an ordinance for that purpose is also attached.
ALTERNATIVES AND ANALYSIS:
The Board of County Commissioners is requested to consider the following alternatives:
1. Adopt the attached proposed Groundwater Protection Ordinance.
2. Direct staff to some other course of action.
RECOMMENDATION AND FUNDING:
The County Attorney’s Office, with the concurrence of the Growth Management Department, recommends that the Board of County Commissioners sitting as the Land Development Regulation Commission incorporate the finding of consistency in the attached Staff Report as its recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners as to the Groundwater Protection Ordinance’s consistency with the Pasco County Comprehensive Plan and recommends that the Board of County Commissioners accept the consistency report, accept public comment, adopt the attached proposed Groundwater Protection Ordinance by role call vote, authorize the Chairman’s signature on same, direct Board Records to file a certified copy of the ordinance and the coding form with the Department of State within ten (10) days after enactment, retain one (1) original, and send one (1) certified copy to the County Attorney, New Port Richey.
No funding is need for this action.
JDR:mjc
Attachments: Proposed Groundwater Protection Ordinance
Growth Management Dep’t Staff Consistency Report
cc: Samuel P. Steffey, II, Growth Management Administrator
Cynthia Jolly, Development Director
Debra Zampetti, Assistant County Attorney (Zoning)
Joseph Gross, Supervisor Code Compliance (Code Enforcement)