20080499 Ver 1_More Info Received_20080324

TOWN OF KERNERS'VILLE
P.O. Box 728
Kernersville, NC 27285-0728
March 20, 2008
Ms. Amy Chapman, Environmental Senior Specialist
Division of Water Quality 401 Unit
1650 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1650
Subject: Approved Findings, Conclusions, Decision and Conditions
Request for Major Exception -the "Hermes Project
Randleman Reservoir Watershed -Upper Portion
Town of Kernersville -Watershed Review Committee
Guilford County, North Carolina
Dear Ms. Chapman:
Dawn H. Morgan, Mayor
Curtis L. Swisher, Town Manager
134 East Mountain Street
Telephone [phone]
Fax [phone]
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MAR 2 4 20D8
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Pursuant to our telephone conversation, please find enclosed Findings, Conclusions, Decision and Conditions
approved by the Watershed Review Committee (Committee) of the Town of Kernersville, which have been
certified by the Town Clerk, for the proposed "Hermes Project". After publishing notices in local papers and
sending written notices to affected local governments, the Committee conducted a public hearing, today,
which was held in accordance with the notices and the Town's Environmental Ordinance.
Representatives for the "Hermes Project" requested a major exception (variance) as provided in the Town
of Kernersville's Code of Ordinances (Chapter C -Environmental Ordinance, Article III -Watershed
Protection, Section 3-7.4 Exceptions, Major). The "Hermes Project" is proposed for a tract containing
approximately 130 acres, which is located within the Town of Kernersville, Guilford County, North
Carolina, having a street address of 1540 Old Greensboro Road.
A complete record of the hearing has been developed. Should you desire, we can provide copies of the
recorded documents and minutes of the hearing. Please let me know if you need, or want, this information.
Should you have questions or need additional information, please contact me at [phone].
You may send email to rradford(a~toknc.com.
Si rely,
D
R sell D. Radford, P.E., Wa ershed Administrator
Town of Kernersville
Enclosures
CC: Ms. Sue Homewood
Mr. Jay Devaney, Attorney
Mr. Curtis Swisher, Town Manager
Mr. John G. Wolfe, III, Attorney
ALDERMEN
Kevin Bugg -Brooke W. Cashion -Dana Caudill Jones -Keith Mason -Bob Prescott
_ NORTH CAROLINA'S
~_ PIEDMONT
TRIAD

TOWN OF KERNERSVILLE
P.O. Drawer 728
Kernersville, NC 27285-0728
Dawn H. Morgan, Mayor
Curtis L. Swisher, Town Manager
134 East Mountain Street
Telephone [phone]
Fax [phone]
I, Dale F. Martin, Town Clerk of the Town of Kernersville, North Carolina, do hereby certify that the
attached document is a true and accurate excerpt of the Minutes of the Kernersville Watershed Review
Committee Hearing held on March 19, 2008.
Witness my hand and the seal of the Town of Kernersville, this 20th day of March, 2008.
~_~
Dale F. Martin, CMC
Town Clerk
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MAR 2 4 2008
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ALDERMEN
Kevin Bugg -Brooke W. Cashion -Dana Caudill Jones -Keith Mason -Bob Prescott
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WATERSHED COMMITTEE HEARING
TOWN OF KERNERSVILLE, N. C.
MARCH 19, 2008 AT 10:30 AM
Present: John G. Wolfe, IIII, Hearing Officer; Curtis L. Swisher, Town Manager; Russell
D. Radford, Town Engineer/Watershed Administrator; Timothy G. Shields, Public Works
Director; Doran Maltba, Asst. Public Works Director; Ana Jaramillo, Engineer; Elizabeth
Binkley, Stormwater Technician, Jeff Hatling, Community Development Director, and Dale F.
Martin, Town Clerk.
Full public hearing with all persons wishing to be heard having been heard from including:
Jay Devaney, Attorney; Denise Poulos, LLS, ECS Carolinas, LLP; Keith Price, Jr., PE, Samet
Corporation; Brian Hall, Samet Corporation; Andy Scales, PE, The Schneider Corporation.
At conclusion of the public hearing:
Action taken by Committee:
Russell Radford, Watershed Administrator presented the following Motion, which was
subsequently amended by Committee, based on the findings of fact as stated below: Based upon
the application for major exception, including supporting documents, and upon sworn statements
presented today, I offer the following in the form of a motion for consideration and approval by
the Committee:
Findings of Fact:
1. The site for the "Hermes Project" is proposed to be located within the Town of
Kernersville and in the Upper Portion of the Randleman Lake (Deep River) Water Supply
Watershed. If approved, discharge of storm water runoff from the site will be into an
unnamed tributary to Deep River, which has a current stream classification of WS-IV.
The Town's Environmental Ordinance requires that a 50-foot wide, two-zone stream
buffer be maintained adjacent to streams and ponds. Among other conditions, the
Environmental Ordinance imposes strict limits on development within the stream buffer,
and also limits new impervious surfaces on a site within the watershed to no more than
70%.
2. The Town of Kernersville's Code of Ordinances (Chapter C -Environmental Ordinance,
Article III -Watershed Protection, Section 3-7.4 Exceptions, Major) provides for an
applicant to request a major exception (variance), which would be considered by the
Town's Watershed Review Committee. Pursuant to the request for a major exception to
the stream buffer rule, the Watershed Review Committee has scheduled this public
hearing to receive sworn testimony and to permit citizen input for and against this matter.
3. A preliminary plan for the "Hermes Project", which was submitted with the application
for major exception, shows a proposed disturbance and encroachment of development
within a regulated 50-foot wide stream buffer on the site.

4. The "Hermes Project" is intended for a large distribution center, which has been pre-
engineered to achieve maximum logistic efficiencies for the needs of the business. The
minimum site requirement is for 110 acres, on relatively flat land. In this instance,
approximately 130 acres has been proposed for the site.
5. The application for variance identified ten (10) sites in the Triad area that were evaluated
for their potential to serve the intended business. Except for the site under consideration,
all other sites were reported by the applicant to be unacceptable for various reasons.
Discounting limitations imposed by the stream buffer rules, the site proposed for the
"Hermes Project" is acceptable to the applicant.
6. Five (5) site development alternatives were evaluated for the "Hermes Project" in an
effort to avoid disturbing a stream buffer. Given the size and organizational requirements
for the project, the engineering consultant could not "fit" the project onto the site, while
not also impacting a stream buffer.
7. The applicant has proposed an impervious cover on the site of 57.3 percent.
8. Vehicle wash water, any discharges from vehicle maintenance, and runoff from the fuel
island will be pretreated and discharged into a municipal sanitary sewer system.
9. The application for major exception (variance) to the stream buffer rules includes a
proposal to collect and to treat stormwater runoff from both onsite and offsite surfaces.
Treatment of the stormwater is to include, in series, a "Stormceptor(s)", a wet detention
pond, and a level spreader/filter strip. The "Stormceptor" is a proprietary device intended
to collect and treat runoff from vehicle operations and storage area(s) prior to discharge
into the wet detention pond. A Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures Plan will
be developed for the fuel island and other areas of the site subject to spills; this plan will
function to further prevent and/or control spills. The wet detention pond has been
proposed to reduce suspended solids, nitrogen and phosphorous from stormwater runoff
leaving impervious surfaces on the site. A level spreader/filter strip is proposed to be
used in series with the water quality draw-down flow from the pond to provide additional
treatment for suspended solids, phosphorous and nitrogen.
10. The applicant has proposed to control post-development, peak runoff rates for the 2-year,
10-year, 25-year and 50-year storm events to that of pre-development peak runoff rates
for the same storm events.
11. The applicant has proposed to obtain other environmental permits, as may be required,
specifically those addressing handling of any hazardous material that may be onsite,
temporarily. Hazardous wastes passing through the site, but not stored, will be handled
in a Hazardous Material Processing Area designed for that purpose.
12. The applicant is involved in a company wide program to quantify and to reduce its
carbon footprint. This program will include the proposed site.
Based upon the above proposed findings, I further propose the Watershed Review Committee
conclude the following:
Conclusions:
1. Assuming the request for variance is granted by the Environmental Management
Commission, a final site plan will be submitted by the applicant, which will contain a

detailed Stormwater Management Plan to meet requirements of the Environmental
Ordinance and any conditions attached to an approved variance.
2. The applicant for the "Hermes Project" has presented information that describes the
proposed site to be unique in that it is the only one out of ten (10) potential sites that met
the selection criteria. It was reported that practical difficulties associated with (a)
minimum site development requirements and (b) site configuration needs of the applicant
preclude being able to avoid disturbance of the stream buffer.
3. As currently proposed, site development is proposed for 57.3 percent of impervious
cover, which is compared to a maximum allowed by the Town's Environmental
Ordinance of 70 percent.
4. In order to minimize impacts on the stream, buffer disturbance has been limited to no
more than that required to make the site feasible.
5. As established by the State's BMP Manual, a treatment scheme has been proposed for the
site, which is estimated to reduce pollutants from the discharge of stormwater by: (a)
90% of suspended solids, (b) 40% of nitrogen, and (c) 61 % of phosphorous. The
proposal meets the required level of treatment for stormwater, established in the Town's
Ordinance. While providing additional pollutant removal, treatment through the
"Stormceptor" was not included in the projected removal calculations.
6. Control of post-development, peak runoff rates to pre-development rates for the 2-year,
10-year, 25-year and 50-year storm events is anticipated to minimize stream bank erosion
downstream from the site.
7. Payment into a mitigation bank, or other forms of buffer mitigation, has not been
proposed as part of the Town's consideration of this major exception. The Town of
Kernersville's Environmental Ordinance does not provide for mitigation. However, the
applicant has stated his intent to apply fora 404 Permit and 401 Certification, which will
very likely include buffer mitigation.
8. Other environmental permits, coupled with site development plans, that are required for
handling of any on site hazardous wastes will be followed by the applicant to further
ensure public safety and to limit exposure to the environment.
If members of the Committee agree with my proposals for findings and conclusions, I propose
the following decision and conditions:
Decisions and Conditions:
In accordance with The Town of Kernersville's Code of Ordinances (Chapter C -Environmental
Ordinance, Article III -Watershed Protection, Section 3-7.4 Exceptions, Major), the application
submitted on behalf of the "Hermes Project" for a major exception to stream buffer rules in the
aforementioned Environmental Ordinance is granted pursuant to the following conditions:
1. This major exception shall only apply to the applicant for the "Hermes Project, to the
specific property and for specific uses identified in the applicant's supporting
information.
2. Detailed site development plans, specifically including a Stormwater Management Plan,
shall be developed in accordance will all applicable local and State laws, rules and
regulations. Prior to commencing site work, all site development plans shall be reviewed

and approved by relevant agencies. The applicant shall be responsible for obtaining all
permits needed for the proposed development. Detailed development plans for this
project shall not deviate more than allowed by existing ordinance from plans and
documents, which were submitted in support of this request.
3. Treatment of stormwater runoff from this proposed site shall meet, or exceed, treatment
efficiencies for suspended solids, nitrogen, and phosphorous from best management
practices proposed for this project. Treatment removal efficiencies for best management
practices shall be determined by application of relevant design criteria identified in the
Stormwater Best Management Manual -Jul 2~ published by North Carolina Division
of Water Quality.
4. The applicant's final development plans for this project must include means to control the
post-development, peak runoff rates from the 2-year, 10-year, 25-year and 50-year storm
events to pre-development, peak runoff rates for the same storm events.
5. The applicant submitting an application for an erosion and sediment control permit to the
Land Quality Section of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for this
project must set forth proposals which exceed the Section's minimum performance
standards for erosion and sediment control.
6. The applicant provides mitigation for stream buffer disturbances as may be specified by
the Environmental Management Commission and in the Section 404 Permit and Section
401 Certification.
7. At such time as a variance may be approved by the North Carolina Environmental
Management Commission, the applicant shall submit to the Town of Kernersville for
approval detailed, final development plan(s), which meet, or exceed, the most restrictive
condition(s) approved by either the Town of Kernersville - Watershed Review
Committee or the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission.
Motion and amendments were seconded by Doran Maltba and the vote was all for and motion
carried. _
JoJ~I G. W~1"fe, III, Hearing officer and Town Attorney
ATTEST:
-~C~/~
Dale F. Martin, Town Clerk