The CLUPn2050 and Urban Stream Syndrome

[John Dempsey]

re: CLUP 2050

 

Greetings, Orange County Board of Commissioners,
  CLUP 2050 must include UDO reforms based on the 18 years of peer-reviewed, water management, field-research that has taken place since Orange County’s last CLUP was adopted.    
   Coincidental with Orange County’s last Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP 2030, adopted in 2008), the term Urban Stream Syndrome was being adopted worldwide by field researchers to describe the consistently observed degradation of creeks and streams feeding rivers as a direct result of urban development.  Absent UDO reforms based on that scientific field research those areas targeted by CLUP 2050 for future development will degrade Orange County’s, Durham County’s and Wake County’s fresh water supply.  Particularly vulnerable will be our many headwater streams feeding both the Neuse and the Haw River watersheds along the I-40 and I-85 corridors between Chapel Hill and Mebane. One characteristic of that headwater geography is that it contains more numerous streams, streams critical to our municipal water supplies.
 
   Elected government representatives need to set the expectation for planning and development review that includes UDO reform based on current field research. We need to include what we have learned since or last CLUP into our new CLUP. Our Planning and Inspections Department personnel are trained in current development industry policies and practices but we also need the input from the science research community for true reform that will mitigate the effects of Urban Stream Syndrome.  Absent such science-based reform the CLUP 2050 will only codify practices that have been proven to be harmful to our water resources and negatively impact our shared fresh water resources.

   Please research Urban Stream Syndrome. Anyone who is responsible for making land use decisions should have a firm understanding of that research.

Also, please consider….
•…a watershed manager within our Planning and Inspections Department, schooled in the current science and Best Management Practices for watershed stewardship.

•… adoption of the Sound Rivers/Neuse & Tar-Pamlico Riverkeepers, Gold Standard for Watershed Management development practices.

• ...protect our headwater streams, those feeding the Haw and the Eno/Neuse River    systems, with overlays for the many streams located along the I-40/I-85 corridors.     Many communities around the country recognize the importance of protecting their    municipal water supply headwater streams.

• ...reinforce Federal ESA protections for species and habitats on the Eno and the Little    River enacted since our last CLUP in 2008 . Let's help reinforce these new Federal    protections designed to save species by codifying protective rules for future development    under County ordinances as well.  An example of one place to start is with the American    Planning Association https://www.planning.org/policy/guides/adopted/endanger.htm)

•...increase wetlands conservation efforts on the County level.  Recent Federal Court decisions have pushed wetlands protections further down onto local jurisdictions. Orange County should now step up and actively promote development practices and policies in compliance with the science and better protect our freshwater resources.

Thank you for your time on this important matter, the stewardship of our shared freshwater resources.
Sincerely.

John Dempsey
Hillsborough