20050578 Ver 1_Staff Comments_20050805

Request for Variance from Buffer Requirements - (Action Item)(Danny Smith)
A High Point nursing home, under the ownership of the Catholic Church, has been
planning for years for a major expansion of their facility. The facility is located in the
Deep River watershed upstream of High Point Lake and is in the Randleman Lake
watershed protection area. Therefore, a 50 ft. buffer is required to be maintained on each
side of the intermittent and perennial stream that transacts the site. The EMC rules
require that the water supply watershed buffer protection program be implemented by the
local government; in this case, the City of High Point. The City approved a variance last
month to allow the stream to be moved and piped. The EMC rules and procedures
require that all major local variances be approved by the Water Quality Committee. The
DWQ staff has worked with the engineer who designed the proposed facility and has
concluded that there are "practical difficulties [and] unnecessary hardships" associated
with the project that would qualify for the variance conditions established in rule 15A
NCAC 2B .0104(r). The WQ Committee will be asked to approve the requested
variance.