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Pittsboro tightens sewer allocation process, approves displacement reconciliation and limited allocation for Northwood; Chatham Park townhomes cleared
Summary
With its wastewater plant approaching 90% of permitted planning threshold, Pittsboro approved modest changes to sewer allocation policy, accepted Chatham Park's wastewater displacement reconciliation (reserving part of a 121,000 gpd allowance), authorized a limited allocation for Northwood Landing, and approved a 10‑lot preliminary plat for Chatham Park Section 5.1 Central Townhomes.
Engineering staff told commissioners June 13 that the Pittsboro wastewater treatment plant has an NPDES permitted capacity of 750,000 gallons per day and that, when accounting for tributary flows and permitted but not currently tributary allocations, the town is at roughly 675,000 gpd (about 90% of permitted capacity). The board heard a staff recommendation to adjust sewer allocation guidelines because of constrained capacity and operational considerations.
Staff proposed several modest edits to the town’s sewer allocation guidelines: (1) allow the town manager to approve small infill allocation requests for existing lots that fall within current available capacity (to expedite single‑lot projects), and (2) remove the guideline that had allowed approvals up to 110% of plant capacity on a 'paper flow' basis, aligning policy more closely with state 90% guidance. The board moved and approved those amendments.
Separately, Chatham Park representatives presented a reconciliation that recognizes flow previously tributary to Pittsboro has been diverted to the Chatham Park Water Recovery Center (WRC) since that plant came online; Chatham Park said roughly 121,000 gpd in permitted paper flow is in play, with about 29,000 gpd reserved for future Chatham Park projects. Staff and developer proposed applying an offset so a portion of that reconciled allocation could be made available to Northwood Landing. Because the town’s treatment system is near planning thresholds, staff recommended approving a constrained amount as an offset; commissioners discussed and then moved to approve the reconciliation and the limited allocation amount that staff said could be accommodated without exceeding operating thresholds.
The board also approved a preliminary plat for Chatham Park Section 5.1 Central Townhomes: a 4.25‑acre parcel with a 1.13‑acre subdivision to create 10 townhome lots. The project was approved by the planning board and would require about 1,800 gpd; staff noted that projects tributary to the Chatham Park WRC may use a state‑approved reduction (in the town’s Chatham Park arrangement a 50% flow reduction per bedroom was applied, reducing the typical per‑bedroom count from 120 gpd to 60 gpd in that service scheme).
