Planning Commision OKs water protection plan

By Uriah A. Kiser

Published: April 3, 2008

STAFFORD — The Stafford County Planning Commission on Wednesday night voted to recommend one of the strictest waterway protection ordinances in 20 years, aimed at developers building homes near the county’s waterways.

The ordinance would create the Potomac River Resource Protection Overlay District, a geographical area that consumes most of the Widewater area.

The district is designed to protect Aquia, Accokeek and Potomac Creeks, and the rest of the area’s Chesapeake Bay watershed from dirt, clay and silt deposits that clog the waterways.

“The ordinance is decades overdue; the more we wait, the more mud gets into the creek water,” said Cecilia Kirkman, who represents the Widewater District on the Stafford County Planning Commission.

Developers currently use fences called stream buffers that catch the sediment from lots before it enters the creek. The new ordinance would require those buffers to be placed 100 feet away from the creeks, giving even more separation between homes and water.

Some homeowners say the ordinance would unnecessarily take more of their property away, and discourage further development in the area.

“I think the proposed overlay district is a good idea,” said Bruce Miller, Stafford resident. “But I think the county needs to look at the fertilization of public-use fields and golf courses in the area as sources of the problem. We can achieve this without taking so much away from our land; it takes so much away from the selling points of our homes.”

Other residents say bacteria from animals are to blame for the murky build-up in the creeks.

“It’s not silt and it’s not clay, it’s E. coli bacteria… Increasing the buffer area will increase room for animals with E. coli bacteria,” said Stafford resident Robert Burn.

The ordinance, which is now waiting on approval from the Stafford County Board of Supervisors, will only affect new homeowners and not those who currently live by the water, according to Archer Di Peppe, Falmouth District planning commission representative.

“You obviously have the right to your own property, but it’s when your property affects others, that’s when the government needs to step in,” said Di Peppe. “It’s not like the soil police are coming to your home to check on your dirt… this is just for new homes that are being built.”

The measure did receive overall support from the commission, but some of the members voiced their opinions prior to it’s passing wanting to see more study on the issue, and a clearer explanation of what the boundaries the overlay district would.

“It’s the consensus that this ordinance is based on a district, not on a need… I think we will do better if we have information on the parameters and affected land,” said Ken Mitchell, Aquia District planning commission representative.

Michael Rhodes, planning representative for the Garrisionville District agreed, saying “there is a lot of goodness in the ordinance, but we need a better understanding of the of the impact area to bring to the board of supervisors”.

In an effort to fix the silt build-up problem in Aquia Creek, the county two years ago spent $80,000 to dredge portions of the waterway that runs through Aquia Harbour, according to Kirkman. Because the problem has continued, she said the county may be asked to spend more than $250,000 more to dredge the creek again.