week of 11/6/02
 
 
 
  Sediment control regionwide
SMN
According to Jackson County Board Vice Chairman Stacy Buchanan and County Manager Ken Westmoreland, the absence of a fee schedule that is required by its own Sediment Control Ordinance prohibited the county from assessing $7,450 in fines recommended by sediment control officer Jeff McCall against Jack Debnam and Jackson Land and Timber.

McCall recommended the fines in an April 5 memorandum to Westmoreland. He noted numerous violations recorded during inspections of the Moonlight Drive subdivision between Feb. 15 and April 4. Debnam is chairman of the county planning board.

The oversight also resulted in waived penalties against Mike Cooper and Ken Solomon. A fee schedule passed on July 25 has remedied the problem, according to Westmoreland.

Jackson County’s ordinance went into effect Nov.1, 2000. The ordinance calls for a soil and erosion control plan for land disturbances of one acre or more. While no formal plan is required for less than an acre, landowners are required to fill out a short form stating what type of erosion control will be implemented.

In other nearby counties:

° Haywood County has the oldest ordinance — established in 1988 — among counties west of Buncbombe. Haywood’s ordinance calls for a plan for any disturbance of a half-acre or more. There is no fee schedule in Haywood’s ordinance, but a five-member Sediment Control Board reviews any violation and sets civil penalties that can reach up to $5,000 per day.

° Macon County’s ordinance is also triggered at the half-acre site size. However, the ordinance, established in April 2002, makes allowances for landowners disturbing an acre or less who use contractors from an approved list. Contractors get on the approved list by completing six hours of education regarding best management practices and permitting. Landowners disturbing an acre or less who contract with an approved contractor are exempt from filing a sediment and erosion control plan. Macon’s penalty schedule is modeled after Haywood and Buncombe counties.

° Swain County’s ordinance, established in July 2001, is also based on the state model with a one-acre trigger. Penalties in Swain County are established by a Soil Erosion Control Board.