WSMU_MRSV_Ltr_19971105

State of North Carolina
Department of Environment,
Health and Natural Resources AT1C‘frA
Division of Water Quality
James B. Hunt, Jr., Governor — immummima
Wayne McDevitt, Secretary p E H N Fl
A. Preston Howard, Jr., P.E., Director
November 5, 1997
Mr. N. Erskine Smith, Jr.
Planning Director
Town of Mooresville
P. O. Box 878
Mooresville, NC 28115-0878
RE: Shoe Enterprises Major Variance Request,Town of Mooresville (Iredell County)
Dear Mr. Smith,
This letter is in response to the additional information submitted by Glenn Dunn of
Poyner& Sprull and Dick Brolin of B.K. Barringer& Associates pertaining to the major
variance request by Shoe Enterprises for their property located in the Town of Mooresville
within the Lake Norman WS-IV watershed protected area. In order for the major variance
request to proceed to the Environmental Management Commission (EMC), State rules
require that the request be routed through the local Watershed Review Board(i.e.: the
Mooresville Town Board) which shall prepare a preliminary record to be submitted to the
Commission for review [15A NCAC .0104(r)]. With additional material being presented
by the applicant, it is important that the local Watershed Review Board meet again to
consider this new information and make findings of fact as required in the Administrative
Code.
After considering the discussion which took place at the September 10, 1997 Water
Quality Committee (WQC)meeting and perusing the additional information submitted by
Poyner& Sprull and B.K. Barringer on behalf of Shoe Enterprises, Division of Water
Quality (DWQ) staff would ask that the following issues be evaluated by the Mooresville
Town Board when considering the revised variance request.
1. DWQ staff received a letter from the Ford Motor Company suggesting that the
Mooresville Motor Company needed 5 1/2 acres of usable site for a new facility. Is
this figure a recommendation or a requirement? During the September meeting,the
WQC appeared to be interested in data supporting the number of acres required
(e.g., projected sales planning volume figures). If the landowner provided the full
100 foot buffers as required in the ordinance, 3.8 acres or 42 percent of the site
could be covered by impervious surfaces.
P.O. Box 29535, Raleigh, North Carolina 27626-0535 Telephone [phone] FAX [phone]
An Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer 50% recycled/ 10% post-consumer paper

Mr. N. Erskine Smith, Jr.
November 5, 1997
Page Two
2. The applicant has indicated that a 50 percent reduction in the required 100 foot
buffer widths would enable the development of 5.8 acres or 64 percent of the site.
What is the minimum buffer reduction necessary to obtain the 5 1/2 acres
recommended by the Ford Motor Company? Would Shoe Enterprises and/or the
Mooresville Motor Company be amenable to a redesign to meet this figure?
3. When did Shoe Enterprises purchase the property? Was Mr. Shoe a Moorsville
Town Board member at the time of purchase? Was Mr. Shoe aware of the Town's
local ordinance and the impervious cover limitations upon the property at the time of
purchase?
4. DWQ staff is interested in findings by the Town of Mooresville pertaining to the
issue of practical difficulty and unnecessary hardship to Shoe Enterprises when
carrying out the strict letter of the local ordinance. In particular, please at least
address the questions of whether, due to full compliance with the provisions of the
ordinance, the property owner can secure no reasonable return from or make no
reasonable use of his property; and that the hardship is the result of the applicant's
own actions.
5. On behalf of Shoe Enterprises, B.K. Barringer & Associates has submitted
information indicating that oversizing the wet detention pond by 33 percent to
capture increased runoff from the site serves to mitigate the effects of the reduced
buffer widths. DWQ staff is interested in specifics regarding the detention pond
design. Is there a difference in the physical size of the pond when it is "oversized?"
DWQ staff has not been presented with any plans or drawings showing the
configuration for the wet detention pond. How many more square feet of pond are
required to control the increased runoff? Is the pond required to be deeper to handle
the increased volume? What is the effect on the percent of total suspended solids
(%TSS) removed?
6. DWQ staff is interested in the additional stomwater managment measures
propsed to be taken by the property owner in order to mitigate the effects of
increased runoff from built-upon areas. Will the roadways and parking lots use
curn and gutter street drainange systems? Will the development use sand filters,
filter trenches, and/or grassed swales to filter water-borne pollutants from the site?
6. DWQ staff is uncertain that they have the most recent version of the Town of
Mooresville's water supply watershed protection ordinance. Please submit to
DWQ, from the most recent version(s) of the local Town of Mooresville
ordinance(s),copies of all sections which pertain to variances. According to staff
files,the variance information would be found in Section 14.11 and Article 10 of
the local zoning ordinance.

Mr. N. Erskine Smith, Jr.
November 5, 1997
Page Three
7. Please submit verification that a description of the variance request was sent to
all local governments having jursidiction within the Falls Lake WS-IV watershed
and to any major consumer of water whose point of intake lies within the same
watershed. Please submit any comments received from these notified local
governments pertaining to this variance request.
Finally, the Town made no finding of fact showing that public safety and welfare
have been assured and substantial justice done. The applicant has offered to mitigate some
of the potential impacts of the increased impervious surface area on the site by oversizing
the stormwater pond. However, the proposed development and additional impervious
surface area would significantly reduce the vegetation and interrupt the natural drainage
pattern of the site. The lack of substantial proof of a hardship, other than an economic one
to the property owner, increases the potential of this variance setting a precedent- the
cumulative result of which could cause substantial harm to the water quality in Lake
Norman.
If you have any questions regarding DWQ's recommendations or if you need further
assistance, please contact Brent McDonald of my staff at(919) 733-5083, extension 508.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and support of the Water Supply Watershed
Protection Program.
Sincerely,
AP l'i ' vA--c -11-0.,t,f.4-Fy,, (1 IA II ?-
A. Preston Howard, Jr., P.E.
41- .r-„ ` S t-T -
cc: Brent . McDonald,DWQ--WSWP V
Bradley Bennatilli YQ --Stormwater
Rex Gleason,DWQ --

Jim Dunn,DCA--MRO
Kathy Cooper, N.C. Attorney General's Office
H. Glenn Dunn, Poyner & Sprull, L.L.P.
Dick Brolin, B.K. Barringer& Associates
DWQ--Central Files