Sec. 14-234. - Site-specific refinement of Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area boundaries.
(a) The City shall, on all properties located within a designated Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area, as part of the Chesapeake Bay Site Plan review process pursuant to Section 14-263(d)(3) or during the review of a water quality impact assessment pursuant to Section 14-264(6), ensure or confirm that:
(1) A reliable, site-specific evaluation is conducted to determine whether water bodies on or adjacent to the development site have perennial flow; and
(2) Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area boundaries are to be adjusted, as necessary, on the site, based on this evaluation of the site.
(b) Where no existing evaluation has been confirmed, the City shall ensure that a reliable, site-specific evaluation is conducted by either conducting the site evaluation or requiring the person applying to use or develop the site to conduct the evaluation and submit the resulting findings for review. When required by the City, site-specific evaluations shall be performed using one of the protocols acceptable to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, which include the North Carolina and Fairfax County field indicator protocols referred to in the document adopted by the Commonwealth of Virginia entitled "Determinations of Water Bodies with Perennial Flow, Guidance on the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Designation and Management Regulations" and any other protocol either set forth in written guidance issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality or for which the Administrator has received written confirmation from an authorized representative of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that such protocol is acceptable to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Each site-specific evaluation must be performed, and certified as complete and accurate, by a qualified professional. To be qualified, a professional must work or be certified in a related field such as stream ecology, hydrology, or hydrogeology, have secondary education, post-secondary education, or technical training in a related field such as stream ecology, hydrology, or hydrogeology, and have field experience performing or substantially assisting with the performance of a site-specific evaluation using the protocol employed. The City may, at its sole discretion, conduct a site-specific evaluation using a professional qualified pursuant to this section for any purpose.
(c) Where the City determines, based on methodology consistent with 9VAC25-830 and supporting guidance, that the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area boundaries are to be adjusted on the site, the Chief Administrative Officer, or the designee thereof, may verify the accuracy of the boundary delineation. The Chief Administrative Officer, or the designee thereof, may make adjustments to the site's resource protection area delineation where deemed necessary to correct an error, update based on changed natural conditions, or to otherwise meet the intent and purposes of this article. In determining when to make an adjustment to a resource protection area delineation, the Chief Administrative Officer, or the designee thereof, shall consider the perennial water bodies designated on the United States Geological Survey. Designation on the United States Geological Survey may be rebutted only by use of a scientifically valid system of in-field indications of perennial flow approved by the Chief Administrative Officer, or the designee thereof, and consistent with 9VAC25-830 and supporting guidance. In addition, and in accordance with this subsection, the Chief Administrative Officer, or the designee thereof, may require of any property owner requesting an adjustment to a site's resource protection area delineation a field survey using an approved scientifically valid system where site conditions or mapping sources indicate that a resource protection area feature may exist but is not currently designated as a resource protection area. Approved updates to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas Map shall be made in accordance with Section 14-202.
(Code 2004, § 50-324; Code 2015, § 14-234; Code 2020, § 14-234; Ord. No. 2014-116-89, § 2, 5-27-2014; Ord. No. 2018-025, § 1, 2-26-2018; Ord. No. 2024-263, § 1, 10-15-2024)
