Planners seek to change permitting process for marinas, boatyards

Gloucester County:

“The Gloucester Planning Commission endorsed a county code amendment Thursday night that would allow marinas and boatyards to operate with a conditional use permit in several zoning districts. The Gloucester County Board of Supervisors will ultimately decide what to do with the commission’s recommendations on this matter.

As approved by the commission during a meeting in the colonial courthouse, marinas and boatyards could seek a conditional use permit in the Bayside Conservation (C-2), Rural Countryside (RC-1), Rural Conservation ((RC-2), Suburban Countryside (SC-1) and Single Family (SF-1) zoning districts, said Anne Ducey-Ortiz, director of planning and zoning.

All the marinas and boatyards in Gloucester appear to be nonconforming in their zoning district, planner Emily Gibson said. The proposed code amendment would allow those uses in all districts on Gloucester’s shoreline, she said.”

~ Writes Bill Nachman the Gazette-Journal

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Meeting Tuesday to help residents with changes to flood maps

Gloucester County:

“Some Gloucester residents may find themselves in a floodplain area for the first time, which may impact whether they will need to purchase flood insurance and, if they already have flood insurance, their annual rates. Gloucester officials will hold an informational public open house from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday at Achilles Elementary School for residents to review the changes and ask questions about the preliminary FEMA flood insurance rate maps.

According to Gloucester’s building official Paul Koll, about 5,000 postcards were mailed earlier this month to all county residents whose property may be at flood risk. He urged those who received the postcards to check their current flood risk on the FEMA updated coastal flood insurance rate maps, which can be found by visiting the county’s website at www.gloucesterva.info.”

 ~Writes Quinton Sheppard of Gazette-Journal

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Gloucester supervisors seek delay of new environmental regulations

Gloucester County

“In one of its first acts of 2014, the Board of Supervisors pushed back, albeit ever so diplomatically. With new members Mike Winebarger, Phil Bazzani and John Meyer aboard, the board voted unanimously to direct County Administrator Brenda Garton draft a letter to state legislators asking to delay by a year the implementation of a state-mandated storm water management program that critics say will prove costly to home builders, homeowners, businesses and taxpayers.

The storm water management program is billed as protecting Chesapeake Bay through the development and implementation of corralling storm water to ensure sediment, nutrients and pollutants don't wash into the bay and its tributaries. Counties are supposed to enact the new regulations by July 1.

The program is anticipated to cost Gloucester County $126,000 a year for a six-year period beginning in 2014. The program comes with added ordinances and requirements — and for applicants higher fees for permits and increased costs for engineering and construction — to install infrastructure to ensure storm water doesn't overwhelm local tributaries.”

~Writes Matt Sabo of the Daily Press

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