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Planning commission backs stronger riparian buffer protections, asks staff for clearer guidance and outreach
Summary
The commission voted to recommend zoning text amendments that move riparian buffer protections from the Water Protection Ordinance into the zoning code countywide, keeping 100‑foot buffers on perennial streams and adding clearer mitigation procedures and special‑exception standards; staff will refine survey standards, planting ratios and implementation guidance before the Board hearing.
Scott Clark, conservation program manager, presented draft text that would bring existing Water Protection Ordinance buffer protections into the county’s zoning code and expand day‑to‑day protection of buffer vegetation (not only during large land‑disturbing projects). Key elements include 100‑foot buffers on perennial streams in development areas, added protection for intermittent streams within Crozet (a water‑supply watershed), a mitigation plan process with native‑species plantings (staff will use a 2:1 planting ratio), and a new special‑exceptions process with…
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