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[Posted with permission from Roy B. Liggett, Jr]

KARST AREA ZONING LAWS SURVEY

Report Provided At The Request Of Lori Waters
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors

BACKGROUND

The following information was obtained in response to the proposed Loudoun County Limestone Overlay District (LOD). As part of the proposal, there is a requirement to perform certain Geological Analysis prior to construction or expansion of existing structures including houses. In addition, there is a requirement to notify prospective buyers of these restrictions.

There is no doubt that there is contaminated water entering one of the wells located in the Raspberry Falls development which is located within the proposed LOD. At this point Loudoun Water cannot say what the source of that contamination is (1). The proposed LOD does not solve this problem. There are other wells located within the proposed LOD which do not experience contamination.

I believe the proposed LOD doesn’t solve the issue of well contamination within the proposed LOD. It certainly may help prevent future water contamination, but we don’t know for certain. Until we locate the source of the current contamination, we won’t know if the proposed LOD will accomplish what we want.

I think we can reasonably say that current homeowners, whose houses met all the requirements of Loudoun County, will depreciate in value as a result of the restrictions included in this proposal. The end result will be that current property owners will face an unfair burden for the lack of knowledge of Loudoun County officials.

My suggestion would be that we slow down the rush to impose the LOD until we can solve the source of contamination, and then craft a solution based upon facts presented by experts in the field.

Methodology

In an attempt to determine what other jurisdictions are doing about these issues, I conducted a survey of 26 municipalities and counties all of which are located in known heavy Karst regions. I purposely selected areas that were both large metropolitan regions as well as smaller communities to get a fair mix. It should be noted that there are a large number of counties and municipalities located in karst regions, and this does not imply that the survey is comprehensive, but is only a cross-section of zoning rules. The selections were made by reference to the U.S. Geological Survey Karst Maps as well as books on karst (2). Some of the information was available through the internet and some required telephone contact with members of zoning departments, planning commissions, and city or county engineers.

Results

Jurisdiction Contact Geo Study Warning Setback

Auburn, GA Larry Lucas 770-963-4002 ex 202 NO NO NO
Bainbridge, GA 229-248-2000 ex103 NO NO NO
Norcross, GA Robert Patrick 770-448-2122 NO NO (6)
Shelby County, TN Chip Saliba 901-576-6619 NO NO (6)
Danville, KY Denise Wade 859-238-1200 NO NO NO
Bowling Green, KY J.M. Yowell 270-842-1953 NO NO NO
Mayfield, KY Online Ordinance Review NO NO NO
Murray, KY Online Ordinance Review NO NO NO
Monroe County, PA Online Ordinance Review NO NO 100 Feet
Louisville, KY Online Ordinance Review YES(3) YES(3) NO
Jefferson County, KY Online Ordinance Review ALL RULES SAME AS LOUISVILLE
Huntsville, AL Online Ordinance Review YES(3) YES(3) 25 Feet
Lexington, KY Online Ordinance Review NO NO NO
Muscle Shoals, AL Tandy Crosswhite 256-386-9205 NO NO NO
Brentwood, TN Andrew Bryant 615-371-0060 NO NO NO
Clarksville, TN Jack Frazier 931-645-7464 NO NO NO
Collierville, TN Online Ordinance Review NO NO NO
Springfield, MO Dena 417-864-1611 NO NO NO
Stone County, MO Online Ordinance Review NO NO NO(4)
Gainsville, FL Mark Garland 352-334-5070 NO NO NO
Clark County, VA Alison Teetor 540-955-5132 YES(7) NO 100 Feet
Leesburg, VA Online Ordinance Review NO NO NO
Marengo, IN (5) Indiana Dpt. Of environmental Services NO NO NO
Crawford County, IN (5) Indiana Dpt. Of Environmental Services NO NO NO
Lawerence County, IN (5) Indiana Dpt. Of Environmental Services NO NO NO
Bedford, IN (6) Planing Department 812-275-1631 NO NO NO



(1) Report by Todd Danielson to Loudoun Water Board of Directors subcommittee, October 5, 2009
(2) “Land use Policy and Practice On Karst” T.E.Rains and “Living On Limestone” Spencer Fleury
(3) Required if constructing over or in a sinkhole
(4) No building allowed in a sinkhole. Alteration of sinkhole due to construction requires approval of county engineer
(5) Have no zoning ordinances; rely on rules of the Indiana Department of Environmental Services which does not cover building construction issues but only regulates landfills and feedlot operations. Contact Joe Woods 317-232-8722
(6) No building allowed in sinkholes. Currently reviewing requirements
(7) Geophysical study required under drain field area. Currently being considered to be required for commercial operations and public facilities.

Conclusions

Given more time the survey could be more inclusive, but I believe the results indicate that no other jurisdiction is proposing anything as extreme as the proposed Loudoun County LOD. For those I talked to during the survey, I asked if they were aware of any other jurisdictions that were in the process of changing their regulations. The only one noted was Bedford Indiana, but they indicated the changes would only encompass water runoff issues.

My conclusion is that we are proposing extreme environmental rules, which I frankly don’t see changing the water quality in the Area. The change will be the taking of the property values of those already living within the proposed LOD.

Report prepared by Roy B. Liggett, Jr
16320 Limestone Ct.
Leesburg, VA 20176
703-777-8338