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Planning Commission backs narrower Waterfront Overlay, trimming about 14,000 acres
Summary
After public comment on both environmental protection and housing access, the commission voted to forward an option to replace tributary-based coverage with an 800-foot shoreline-based Waterfront Overlay (W-1) to the Board of Supervisors.
The Lancaster County Planning Commission voted to forward proposed changes to the county's Waterfront Overlay (W-1) that would remove inland parcels currently included because they are within 800 feet of tributary streams and instead apply the overlay by an 800-foot measure from the water shoreline.
County planning staff said the proposed change would remove roughly 14,000 acres from the existing waterfront overlay, leaving about 20,000 acres still covered and subject to the W-1's minimum 2-acre lot-size subdivision standard and average 200-foot frontage rule where applicable. Staff presented several mapping options and recommended "Option 3 ' water shoreline 800 feet," which the commission selected and forwarded to the Board of Supervisors with a favorable recommendation.
Staff noted parcels removed from the overlay would remain subject to underlying zoning, septic and well regulations, erosion and sediment control, stormwater management and the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. Planning staff also said a county attorney opinion advised against a case-by-case "heritage-legacy" exception because it would require an extensive title search and an enforceable affidavit to prevent immediate resale; the attorney likewise advised that exempting subdivisions of fewer than six lots would be discriminatory.
The public hearing attracted both residents urging continued strong waterfront protections and supporters pointing to the county's need for more developable land to help address workforce housing and local economic development. Jo Chamberlain and others urged caution, arguing broad removal of land from the overlay risks water quality and habitat; economic-development representatives and a county advisory committee argued that some inland acreage is suitable for infill housing and that higher density is necessary to make workforce housing feasible.
Commissioners debated trade-offs and ultimately voted to recommend the Option 3 shoreline-based overlay to the Board of Supervisors. Staff said the change would not remove Chesapeake Bay Act protections and that the inland acreage removed would remain subject to other environmental and septic controls. The Board will consider the recommended language and the accompanying mapping.
