by Jackie Nunnery
LANCASTER—Saying it was too drastic of a change, the Lancaster planning commission on Thursday, August 15, rejected proposed language changes to the Waterfront Overlay District that would have addressed concerns on lot size minimums when subdividing parcels.
Director of planning and land use Olivia Hall said some residents had expressed concerns about “the inability to subdivide parcels that are within 800 feet of a tributary stream due to the restrictions on parcels within the waterfront overlay” which requires a minimum lot size of two acres. She said the proposed revisions would address those concerns while “maintaining the original intent of the code.”
To define which parcels would be included in the waterfront overlay, Hall suggested using a distance of 800 feet from the “baseline tidal shoreline,” which would exclude perennial streams. She added that those streams would still be protected by the 100-foot Resource Protection Area of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA).
According to Hall’s presentation, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science defines “baseline tidal shoreline,” as “the boundary between the water and upland. Where marshes exist, it is the upland edge of the tidal marsh, or where beaches exist, the upland edge of the beach….
