And Speaking of Stream Buffer Variances

So, what about the stream buffer variance being sought by the Goddard School applicant? I am not an expert in that area, so I reached out to my counterpart in Norcross, Connie Weathers, who is the chair of that city's sustainability commission. She is a water and recycling guru and has dealt with stream buffer variances several times. Smart lady that she is, she requested a recommendation on this particular situation from Jason Ulseth, Technical Programs Director at Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. Jason was already familiar with this particular situation.

Here is Jason's assessment:

Any project that is removing impervious pavement and replaces it with a pervious material is a good thing, as long as it is done properly as you indicated. I looked at the plans included in the application and they really seemed to be inadequate and incomplete. It is unclear by looking at the plans what the new footprint for the playground will look like compared to the existing parking lot footprint.

Additional plans should required showing exactly what is existing on the site and what is proposed, including a limits of disturbance. In addition, a proper Erosion, Sediment, and Pollution Control Plan should be developed that shows that they will protect the stream from potential pollution during the demolition and construction phases. We would also recommend that the applicant prepare a buffer planting/restoration plan as mitigation for this project. This can just include some details for planting some native species to enhance the buffer area around the stream, behind the proposed playground. I would not recommend requiring any work within the stream channel as that is really under US Army Corps of Engineers jurisdiction and not the jurisdiction of the LIA (Local Issuing Authority). I don’t think that all of this would be asking too much, and I think these plans could be easily drawn by a design professional and would not add an unreasonable cost to the applicant.

Our Sustainability Commission has not taken a group position on specific issues such as this as of yet. Whether or not we will is up for discussion at our next meeting. However, as a concerned citizen of this city, it is my hope that decisions such as variances not be made lightly nor without appropriate expert evaluation regarding the effects on the environment.