In January, a 401 permit for a new development in Jamestown’s Deep River/Randleman watershed was granted by the Winston Salem Regional Office, Division of Water Resources, citing JORDAN LAKE NUTRIENT RULES instead of the 2020 Randleman Watershed Rules.
In response to our PUBLIC COMMENTS, the NC DWR Winston Salem Regional Office issued a one-paragraph memo to their file that said our comments were not “applicable.”
We reported it to the NCDEQ folks in Raleigh, and on January 26th, the Winston Salem Regional Office resubmitted a revised 401 water quality permit for the development (“Oakdale Forest”) correcting the error.
The 401 permit is supposed to LIMIT the IMPACT to perennial drinking water supply streams at 138 linear feet, and it limits impact to water supply watersheds and wetlands at .028 acres… which sounds reasonable and in accordance with the protections in our 2020 RANDLEMAN WATERSHED RULES and the Clean Water Act.
On February 5th, however, Jamestown’s town planner granted a Major Exception to the developer, Windsor Homes, giving them the right to permanently impact 19,506 square feet of buffer zones in the Critical WS-IV Randleman Watershed (a stream flows across the property and then downhill to Bull Run and Deep River).
Apparently, on January 30, 2024 (after the permit was corrected and resubmitted), Windsor Homes decided it would need to permanently impact 19,506 square feet of critical watershed buffers “for the construction/installation of a roadway to access the rear portion of the development.”
The planner okayed it in a letter that is now part of the Public Record, without the “No Practical Alternative Request” document she references, addressed to Rich Glover as “engineer” for this project.
In the letter, town planner Anna Hawryluk said she is applying a new 2020 Randleman Watershed Rule – 15A NCAC 02B .0724. But she failed to apply Randleman Rule 15A NCAC 02B .0611 that defines this as a MAJOR EXCEPTION (IMPACTS greater than one-third of an acre of Riparian buffer) and thus requires: (1) a complete application package, (2) preliminary findings, and (3) a 30-day public posting of those findings BEFORE a final decision is made.
Hawryluk’s letter:
And here is the REVISED 401 permit and cover letter dated January 24, 2024:
ORIGINAL POST, JANUARY 12, 3024:
A 401 permit for a new development in Jamestown’s Deep River/Randleman watershed was granted by the Winston Salem Regional Office, Dept of Water Resources, citing JORDAN LAKE NUTRIENT RULES instead of the 2020 Randleman Watershed Rules that apply to US. No mention is made of the buffer, density, mitigation, vegetative setback, water quality standards and variance requirements in the 2020 Randleman Watershed Rules.
In response to Jamestown residents’ PUBLIC COMMENTS, the Winston office issued a one-paragraph memo to their file that said the comments weren’t “applicable.”
The Comments discussed incomplete sections and blank entries in the developer’s application; incorrect data; and stressed the importance of following all provisions of the 2020 Randleman Water Supply Watershed Rules.
Yes. You read that right.
The State of North Carolina’s Winston Division of Water Resources office gave a thumbs-up to Windsor Homes to plop a development atop forested, undeveloped Class IV water supply watershed land next to a FEMA flood zone – where Bull Run and Deep River converge.
The Public Comments were ignored by the regional Division of Water Resources office in Winston:
The reference by the NCDEQ employee on the final page requiring adherence to a 303(d) program is interesting.
The 2020 Randleman Rules were mandated upon our fragile watershed because we are in the middle of a public water supply system that receives wastewater discharge and run off from plastic, pvc and chemical companies in addition to landfills, wastewater treatment plants, Brownfields, and abandoned superfund and hazardous sites.
For comparison, here are surveys, wetlands impact studies, permitting/401 data, and Stormwater Management Plan for a neighboring project across the street from the Oakdale Forest project — for JAMESTOWN MIDDLE SCHOOL at 4815 Harvey Road:
No one is monitoring the dischargers and pollutant loads in the upper Deep River. The state TMDL program isn’t discussed in Jamestown, nor is the Clean Water Act and its 303(d) assessment program.
Which is why Guilford County continues to court out-of-state, out-of-country plastics and chemical manufacturers and landfills to do their dirty business here.