AGENDA DATE: 1/22/2025
TITLE:
Title
AC44: Environmental Stewardship Chapter
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Request for Board of Supervisor’s feedback on the draft Environmental Stewardship chapter.
ITEM TYPE: Regular Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Wall, Filardo, Barnes, McDermott, Swartzendruber, Kanellopoulos, Holt
PRESENTER (S): Tonya Swartzendruber, Planning Manager and Scott Clark, Conservation Program Manager
LEGAL REVIEW: Not Required
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: Albemarle County is updating the Comprehensive Plan through the Albemarle County 2044 (AC44) project. The project is in Phase 3: drafting language for the four-part Comprehensive Plan document and developing Plan actions.
The draft language for the Part III - Environmental Stewardship chapter in Attachment B is built upon community input and reflects the Planning Commission’s and Board’s feedback.
One of the prominent topics for Environmental Stewardship is water quality. The County’s Stream Health Initiative (SHI) provides recommendations to improve water quality and protect the natural environment. In the Rural Area, water quality protection includes land conservation and protecting and restoring riparian stream buffers.
Stormwater management is required for permitted development throughout the County, and is especially important in the Development Areas, where the majority of the county’s development occurs, and impervious surfaces are more prevalent. There are multiple options for meeting stormwater management requirements, including both on and offsite.
Onsite stormwater management practices capture and filter rainwater on a property using runoff diversion and stormwater retention facilities where runoff and sediment is captured and filtered by the soil. Offsite, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) uses nutrient credits to quantify improvements affecting water quality. The nutrient credit system allows developers to purchase credits from other properties within the same watershed to balance areas of higher sediment and pollution with areas of higher water quality treatment and manage the cumulative amount of runoff and discharge.
The County also seeks to maintain and support biodiversity, which refers to the diverse communities of plants and animals. The County’s Biodiversity Action Plan provides guidance for protecting native species and natural habitat, which includes preservation of large forest blocks and restoring streams.
Recommendations related to climate action and community resilience are incorporated throughout the Comprehensive Plan, most specifically in the forthcoming Resilient Community chapter. The Environmental Stewardship chapter is also strongly tied to the County’s Climate Action Plan and the resilience plan (Resilient Together) which is currently being implemented.
For reference, a summary of previous Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors feedback on Environmental Stewardship is provided as Attachment D. Community input themes associated with Environmental Stewardship are summarized in Attachment C.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Quality of life - Encourage a vibrant community with economic and recreational opportunities that serve all community members.
DISCUSSION: An updated AC44 outline is provided as Attachment A. As a reminder, the topics within the red box will be the focus of today’s work session. This work session focuses on proposed comprehensive plan language within Attachment B, specifically:
- Does the Board support prioritizing the implementation of incentives for low impact development (LID) for stormwater management, as depicted in Objective 2?
- Should the actions include more measures for biodiversity protection or related demonstration projects on County-owned lands?
- Do the actions for objectives 1 and 3 sufficiently address the protection of public water supplies and groundwater supplies?
- Are there any topics (especially within the narrative) and/or actions that need additional context or explanation?
BUDGET IMPACT: There is no budget impact associated with this agenda item.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff requests the Board of Supervisors review and provide feedback on draft Environmental Stewardship Actions.
ATTACHMENTS:
A - AC44 Outline
B - Environmental Stewardship Chapter
C - Environmental Stewardship Community Input Themes
D - Summary of Planning Commission and Board Feedback