Significant LUMO Issues at Bradley Ridge
Comments Submitted to Chapel Hill Town Council by Sunrise Coalition
February 2008
Executive Summary
The Sunrise Coalition represents neighbors of the Bradley Ridge subdivision. We have two major concerns about Applicants’ application for a Preliminary Plat that are related to the Town’s Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO).
1. Applicants propose to obliterate (pipe and fill) a small stream that was included in the Town’s Resource Conservation District in 2003 but then wrongfully excluded in 2004.
2. Applicants propose allocating a sub-standard and insufficient amount of land to on-site recreation – i.e., only one third of the amount required by LUMO.
Approval of these proposals by the Town Council would set precedents that weaken LUMO substantially and would chart an unsustainable course for Bradley Ridge.
Stream Conservation
The Applicants are proposing to obliterate (pipe and fill) a small stream and associated wetlands on the eastern portion of the Bradley Ridge subdivision (see attached figures). The small stream and wetlands have important hydrologic functions that should be conserved. These important functions include attenuation of stormwater flows and associated nutrient loads to the Jordan Lake reservoir.
Town Engineers classified the stream as “intermittent” in 2003 and thus brought the stream into the Town’s Resource Conservation District (RCD). At Applicants’ request, the stream was reclassified as less-than-intermittent in 2004 and thus excluded from the RCD and LUMO protections. The Town’s basis for reclassification is a minor human-caused disconnection of the intermittent stream at the point where it joins a perennial stream that flows under I-40. In other words, a short segment of the natural intermittent channel is buried under a pile of dirt at the point where the intermittent stream joins the perennial stream. Burial of the intermittent stream presumably occurred during I-40 construction.
No ecological or legal rationale has been articulated for the Town staff’s decision to exclude the intermittent stream from the RCD on the basis of a minor human-caused disconnection. There is no legitimate ecological rationale for the decision. Water flows through and over the boggy area where the natural intermittent channel has been buried. This boggy area is immediately adjacent to the perennial stream and functions as a wetland connecting the intermittent and perennial channels. Legal issues surrounding hydrologic connection / disconnection are complex and unsettled as indicated by a series of Supreme Court decisions on this topic in recent decades. In general, the Court’s decisions have excluded “isolated” wetlands from federal jurisdiction but have not excluded tributaries and wetlands adjacent to perennial streams such as the intermittent stream on the Bradley Ridge property.
Recreation
The Applicants are proposing to provide only 33% of the recreation area required by LUMO (i.e., LUMO requires 4.98 acres but Applicants propose to provide only 1.65 acres plus a payment in lieu). This is not a sustainable solution. Bradley Ridge is a Cluster Subdivision. The Preliminary Plat includes 31 affordable units on very small lots with minimal yard space for recreation. Considerable thought and dialogue went into the development of LUMO including its requirements for on-site recreation in subdivisions. The Council should be especially respectful of both the letter and spirit of LUMO in a project such as this in which the Town and County have participated by financing land acquisition for affordable housing.
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
Actively flowing water was observed along the entire length of the disputed intermittent stream and wetlands on the eastern portion of the Bradley Ridge property during and after rain on December 30th, 2007. Flowing water is a strong indicator of hydrologic connection to the perennial stream that flows under I-40.
