The

Fayette County Planning and Zoning Commission has

recommended approval of a new set of

environmental regulations to satisfy state

requirements.

The

new regulations will support a recently approved

chapter on natural and historic resources in the

county's land use plan.

Much

of what is contained in the three sets of

regulations to address the environmental concerns

was already included in county development

regulations, said senior planner Pete Frisina,

but now will be packaged in a form more

acceptable to the state Department of Community

Affairs, though there are some new provisions.

Having

to rewrite the ordinance to satisfy the state

agency caused one commission member to bristle.

"You now have a DCA that in some cases is

superceding the EPA [Environmental Protection

Agency]," said Al Gilbert. "Somehow

some sanity has to be brought back. More tiers of

government is not what people are looking

for."

The

laws address wetlands, watershed protection and

ground water recharge area protection. The

chapter on water recharge areas is entirely new.

Under

the wetlands ordinance, county engineers would

determine whether a development is likely to have

an impact on a wetland area, and involve the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers if that's the case.

The

second ordinance identifies the county's large

and small watersheds and includes an official

watershed map of the county.

Also,

the law requires buffers between developments and

areas defined as watershed, and defines the types

of uses allowed within those buffers.

Recreational uses like golf courses and ball

fields will be prohibited in the stream buffers

if the County Commission approves the changes.

Experts

in the county Engineering Department will

administer the ground water recharge protection

ordinance, which restricts the intensity of

development allowed in recharge areas. Recharge

areas are those in which rain water seeps into

the ground to resupply the water table.

Planning

Commissioners approved the new regulations

unanimously. The County Commission will consider

them in a public hearing June 22, 7 p.m. at the

County Administrative Complex.

During

that meeting, the commission also will consider

the Planning Commission's recommendation that the

land use plan for the southern part of the county

not be changed.

County

Commission members earlier had asked the planning

panel to study the plan for possible revisions.

For the most part, the plan calls for low-density

residential development, with homes on lots of

five acres or more.

Planners

decided there's no reason to change that, in

light of the high concentration of wetlands and

poor soils in the area.

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