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Arroyo Grande Council adopts updated well rules to protect city water supply
Summary
The Arroyo Grande City Council on March 11 adopted an ordinance amending Chapter 13.08 of the Arroyo Grande Municipal Code to clarify permitting, definitions and destruction of water wells and to add connection and feasibility standards; the council found the ordinance exempt from CEQA.
The Arroyo Grande City Council on March 11 adopted an ordinance amending Chapter 13.08 of the Arroyo Grande Municipal Code to clarify how new wells are permitted, how abandoned wells must be destroyed and when private wells may be allowed.
The measure, presented by Bridal Pedratti, the city’s community development director, expands the ordinance’s purpose to explicitly include prevention of depletion and other adverse impacts to the city’s water supply and public health and safety. Pedratti told the council staff refined definitions (including “agricultural well” and “private domestic well”), formalized a process for well destruction and aligned the local permit steps with county permitting procedures.
The ordinance makes the planning commission the approving body for well permits, with the city council serving as the appeal body. It also spells out connection restrictions: applicants for private irrigation and agricultural wells must demonstrate that city water service cannot reasonably be provided, including inability to obtain access easements across private property. Pedratti described three findings the planning commission must make for a well permit: that the well will not adversely affect public health or safety; that denying the permit would cause unnecessary hardship to the applicant; and that special circumstances of the parcel (size, shape, topography or location) make connection to the city system impractical.
Council member Guthrie said he supported the ordinance, calling the changes a “good faith effort” to clarify feasibility tests. Mayor Pro Tem Seacrest thanked staff for closing “loopholes” and updating an ordinance that had not been comprehensively revised in decades. The council voted in favor; the council also found the ordinance exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The ordinance replaces prior language in Chapter 13.08 and is intended to give clearer standards for staff, applicants and the public about when new private wells may be approved and how abandoned wells must be handled. The planning commission will now make the initial permitting findings described by staff; appeals will go to the city council.
