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County zoning staff urge stronger enforcement after unpermitted septic and building work
Summary
Richland County zoning staff reported several cases of construction and septic work done without permits, described plans with legal counsel to pursue fines and citations, and introduced a newly promoted zoning sanitation technician.
Richland County zoning staff told the committee they have encountered multiple instances of construction and septic work without required permits and are preparing to tighten enforcement with assistance from county counsel.
Kathy, a county zoning staffer, described a recent case on the Clark property near Rock Bridge where a landowner dug drainage ditches in the floodplain and undertook building work without permits. Kathy said the Department of Natural Resources had issued or is expected to issue fines: “The gentleman up, by Rock Bridge on the old Clark property off of, County D, decided to dig out the old drainage ditches and put the, the oil all over the is all in the flood plain and. Yeah, he's in a, he's gonna get a quite a big fine from the DNR for it.”
Staff said some property owners had installed septic systems or trailers without approvals and that county attorney Wendell will meet weekly with staff to advise on enforcement and the citation process. Kathy described the plan as using corporation counsel to help issue fines and to draft citation procedures for failures such as not returning required septic maintenance forms: “So we're going to establish some policies on that… corporation council will be the 1 That'll be issuing. Helping us issue the fines and the other 1 is we've talked about, We're supposed to be able to issue citations for people who don't return their septic maintenance forms… So just having us work with Jen and I to work through the process and how we issue. Citations they did in the past and I just don't know how to go about doing it.”
The committee also introduced a new zoning sanitation technician. Jen, described by staff as in her second week on the job, said she has a background in fisheries and is learning zoning and land conservation work. Staff reported this year-to-date counts for permits: 37 land-use permits for the year, with 18 in April, and 13 sanitary permits so far, with several more applications pending.
On inspection protocol, staff described what they check during septic inspections—tank elevations, distance from wells and property lines, inlet/outlet placement and drainage field layout—and noted that technicians can perform inspections but final approval requires sign-off by senior staff. The committee asked staff to coordinate with counsel on fines and to bring back enforcement procedures and any necessary ordinance clarifications.
