Board OKs variance to place well in buffer and clear vegetation to build home on grandfathered lot

The St. Mary's County Board of Appeals voted Nov. 20, 2008 to grant a variance (VAAP 07-0834) that permits construction of a well within the 100-foot critical-area buffer and clearing more than 30% of existing vegetation to accommodate a single-family house on a grandfathered lot.

Staff and the applicant told the board the lot was created before the county’s critical-area rules and that, given the lot’s size and the need for both a primary and backup septic system, placing the well within the buffer was necessary to make the lot buildable. Staff found no hydric or highly erodible soils on the parcel and no constraints from wetlands or flood plain, and recommended approval subject to a buffer management plan and a 3:1 planting mitigation per square foot of variance granted.

William Higgs, the surveyor for the owners Rufus and Mildred Cannon, said the applicants moved the house and septic as close to the road as possible; the only buffer intrusion was the proposed well location. He also said the lot’s vegetative cover is about 44 percent (approximately 10,000 square feet) and the applicant would clear about 5,687 square feet (about 57 percent of existing vegetation) to build the house and septic. The applicant submitted a written justification dated Oct. 8, 2008 explaining why the hardship standard for a variance is met on this grandfathered lot.

Staff recommended approval with mitigation and a buffer management plan. The board accepted staff’s findings and voted unanimously to approve the variance with the stated conditions. Staff will prepare an order reflecting the decision within 60 days; the order may be appealed in circuit court within 30 days of signing.