[Ord. No. 11-008 §1, 3-7-2011]
The intent of the following provisions is to protect the quality
of groundwater serving public alluvial wells by regulating and restricting
land uses within boundary perimeters surrounding wellheads of such
wells.
[Ord. No. 11-008 §1, 3-7-2011]
A. Establishment Of Wellhead Protection Overlay Districts.
1. Applications to the Planning and Zoning Commission to establish Wellhead
Protection Overlay Districts may be initiated only as follows:
a. By resolution of the County Council;
b. By resolution of the Planning and Zoning Commission; or
c. By request of the Division of Planning and Zoning.
2. All such rezoning applications shall include a legal description of the circular boundary perimeter of the proposed Wellhead Protection Overlay District meeting the requirements of Section
405.404(A) below.
3. All notices and hearings relating to such rezoning applications shall be as provided by this Unified Development Ordinance, except as provided otherwise in Section
405.403(B) below.
B. Modification Of Circular Boundary Perimeters Of Proposed Or Established
Wellhead Protection Overlay Districts.
1. Modification of circular boundary perimeters of a proposed or existing
Wellhead Protection Overlay District may be sought only by application
by owners of land, or by a water district, municipality or other unit
of government having a well within such circular boundary perimeters.
2. If such an application is made during proceedings to establish a Wellhead Protection Overlay District pursuant to Section
405.403(A) above, the following procedural regulations shall govern the application.
a. Notice of intent required. The applicant must give notice of intent to file such an application by submitting to the Division of Planning and Zoning, on a form provided by the Division, an affidavit of intent to modify the circular boundary perimeter of a proposed Wellhead Protection Overlay District, along with the deposit required in Section
405.403(B)(4) below.
b. Time of notice of intent. Such notice of intent
must be filed no later than the date of the Planning and Zoning Commission's
initially scheduled public hearing to form a new district.
c. Effect of notice timely filed. Provided such notice
is filed on time, it will postpone for one hundred eighty (180) days
the Commission's scheduled hearing on the proposed district.
d. Completion of application. An applicant must complete an application to modify within ninety (90) days of the date of the filing of the notice of intent by filing the remaining required submittals enumerated in Section
405.403(B)(4). If an applicant fails to do so, the Division shall treat the application as withdrawn and refund the applicant's deposit, but the applicant is not barred from proceeding under Section
405.403(B)(3) to modify an existing Wellhead Protection Overlay District's boundary after the district's establishment.
3. If an application to modify the circular boundary perimeter of a
Wellhead Protection Overlay District is filed after its establishment,
the following procedural regulations shall govern the application.
a. Rezoning application. Such an application shall
be treated as a separate rezoning application governed by this Unified
Development Ordinance.
b. Completeness of application. Such an application shall be accompanied by required submittals enumerated in Section
405.403(B)(4) below.
4. All applications to modify the circular boundary perimeter of a proposed
or existing Wellhead Protection Overlay District shall be accompanied
by the following submittals.
a. A legal description of the proposed amendment to the circular boundary
perimeter of a proposed and established Wellhead Protection Overlay
District;
b. A sealed engineer's report on ground water and subsoil conditions
affecting the wellhead protected or to be protected by the Wellhead
Protection Overlay District, and justifying the proposed amended boundary;
and
c. A deposit may be required to defray the costs of an engineering consultant
engaged by the County to review that sealed engineer's report (deposit
subject to refund to the extent it exceeds actual costs and to supplementation
to the extent that it is insufficient to defray them).
5. All applications to modify the circular boundary perimeter of a proposed
or existing Wellhead Protection Overlay District shall be subject
to review and hearing as follows.
a. Upon receipt of a complete application to modify the circular boundary
perimeter of a proposed or existing Wellhead Protection Overlay District,
the Planning and Zoning Division and the County's engineering consultant
shall have ninety (90) days in which to review that application.
b. Based on that review the Division may also propose a modification
of a circular boundary perimeter either to reduce or enlarge it.
c. Upon completion of that review and issuance of all notices that may be required by this Unified Development Ordinance, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall conduct a hearing on that application to modify the circular boundary perimeter of a proposed or existing Wellhead Protection Overlay District and any related application by the Planning and Zoning Division. In no case may that hearing be scheduled at a meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission within ninety (90) days or later than one hundred fifty (150) days from the receipt of the applicant's complete application to modify. However, a hearing may be continued as provided in Section
405.535(B)(1)(d) of this Unified Development Ordinance.
[Ord. No. 11-008 §1, 3-7-2011]
A. Boundary. Any Wellhead Protection Overlay District shall be enclosed by circular boundary perimeter defined by a radius of one thousand (1,000) feet surrounding any wellhead of a public alluvial well, unless that circular boundary perimeter is modified as provided in Section
405.403(B) above.
B. Permitted And Conditionally Permitted Uses. Except as provided in Section
405.404(C) or
(D) below, within any Wellhead Protection Overlay District, the district regulations for the underlying zoning district shall authorize permitted and conditional uses.
C. Prohibited Uses. Notwithstanding any applicable district
regulations in this Unified Development Ordinance, within any Wellhead
Protection Overlay District, the following uses are prohibited:
1. The production, use, handling, or storage of any extremely hazardous
substance, greater than the exempted quantity.
2. Landfills, including but not limited to industrial and municipal
landfills; open dumps; or any other waste disposal facility.
3. Waste transfer stations and incinerators.
4. Waste disposal wells and underground injection of liquid wastes.
6. Wastewater treatment plants and/or wastewater pump stations.
7. Cemeteries and graveyards for humans or domesticated animals.
9. Uncovered salt, de-icer or chemical storage.
10. Private potable water wells into known and potential sources of contamination.
11. Ponds/lakes constructed deeper than fifteen (15) feet, in order to
prohibit excavation below the upper cohesive solids into the underlying
sand and gravel aquifer except at properties where site specific drilling
data indicates deeper excavation, will not contact the sand and gravel
aquifer to a maximum allowable excavation depth of five (5) feet above
the base of the upper cohesive soils.
D. Conditionally Permitted Uses. If permitted under applicable
district regulations in this Unified Development Ordinance, the following
uses are permitted within any Wellhead Protection Overlay District
only as conditional uses that must be subject at a minimum to the
conditions set out below:
1. Uses permitted only conditionally:
a. The production, use, handling, or storage of any hazardous substance
or liquid petroleum product.
b. Fleet storage, maintenance, repair and service facilities, including
but not limited to mechanical services, transmission repair services
and oil changing services in conjunction with and supplementary to
a permitted business operation.
c. Construction of new underground storage tanks, including new underground
storage tanks that replace existing underground storage tanks, and
associated pipes in compliance with applicable local, State and Federal
laws and in conjunction with and supplementary to a permitted business
operation.
f. Wastewater pretreatment facilities or other impoundments of waste
material.
g. Vehicle service stations and convenience stores which sell motor
fuel.
h. Electrical power generator and substations.
i. Manufacturing of communications equipment.
j. Manufacturing of electric and electronic equipment, including circuit
boards.
k. Manufacturing of fabricated metal products.
l. Manufacturing of machinery.
m. Manufacturing of plastic materials and synthetics.
n. Primary metal industries, such as blast furnaces, steelworks and
rolling mills.
2. Required conditions of the foregoing conditionally permitted
uses.
a. Provide for the installation and maintenance of devices for secondary
containment in case of inadvertent discharge from primary containers,
ensure the proper storage of regulated substances, and ensure the
integrity of impervious floor surfaces in storage areas.
b. Submission of an emergency contingency plan for each facility to
respond to unauthorized discharges.
c. Posting of a bond or carrying of insurance which would pay for the
cost of cleanup incurred as the result of inadvertent discharge, as
required by applicable environmental laws and regulations.
d. The three (3) previous requirements must be approved in writing by
both the Community Development Director and the St. Charles County
Local Emergency Planning Committee or their designees.
E. Exemptions. The following substances are not subject to
the provisions of this Section, so long as they are used, handled
or stored in a manner that does not result in contamination of groundwater.
1. Use of any regulated substance in an amount less than the exempted
quantity for that substance.
2. Any substance to the extent it is used for personal, family or household
purposes, or is present in the same form and concentration as a product
packaged for distribution and use by the general public. However,
regulated substances used in the operation of a home business shall
not be exempt from the provisions of these requirements.
3. Any substance to the extent it is used in routine agricultural operations
and not permanently stored out-of-doors.
4. Any substance to the extent it is used in a research laboratory,
hospital or other medical facility, and is under the direct supervision
of a technically qualified individual.
5. Regulated substances contained in properly operating sealed units
(transformers, refrigeration units, etc.) which are not operated as
part of routine use and which are in operable condition.
6. Motor fuels, lubricants, and coolants which are in use within operable
internal combustion engines and attached fuel tanks.
7. Radioactive materials that are regulated by the United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
8. Regulated substances in Continuous transit through a Wellhead Protection
Overlay District.