HomeMy Public PortalAbout2021.01.14 Public Comments - Public Hearing for CA-20-03 General Development StandardsID
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Start time
12/17/2020 2:36:17 PM
Completion time
12/17/2020 2:59:30 PM
Email
anonymous
Name
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David Simmonds, President
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Big Payette Lake Water Quality Council, Inc., PO Box 3108, McCall, ID 83638
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The Big Payette Water Quality Council is pleased to support the proposed amendments to Title 3 with regard to lakeshore environs, vegetation and stormwater.
The 1997 Big Payette Lake Management Plan and Implementation Program relies primarily on local and State regulation, and adherence to, or improvement of, best management practices to
manage and limit the eutrophication potential of Payette Lake. The Plan is one that the City, County and State have either endorsed or codified. Therefore, a strong City zoning code
is key to a strong plan. The proposed amendments are generally a good move in that direction. The sustainability of Payette Lake should be an easy goal for all of us to rally around,
and given the increasing pressures of development and growth, and our growing knowledge of what works to protect water quality, adaptation of local regulation should be a given.
Specific Comments
1. Proposed changes to section 3.7.02.(C)3c provide for a more meaningful and effective implementation of a 50 foot setback to protect water quality and the integrity of natural shorelines,
which have the inherent resilience that thousands of years of climate and geologic adaptation have conferred. Hardscaping, including patios and walls, within 50 feet of the lake present
a risk to adacent shorelines from accelerated runoff, so such prohibition seems warranted. Property rights do have certain limits when impacts may extend beyond private property, and
particularly where an overwhelming public good is at stake. This is a reasonable change.
2. The addition of provisions in 3.8.03.(A)2, (B) and (D) with regard to retention of tree cover is a positive change with regard to mitigating thermal pollution of runoff into the lake,
thus helping to maintain a healthy cold water biota, one of the specific beneficial uses of the waters of Payette Lake. Tree canopies can also lessen surface erosion from precipitation,
and diversify snow melt patterns, both of benefit to decreasing the generation of upland pollutants. State and federal BMPs for forest practices have long recognized the importance
of shading in stream buffer zones for similar reasons, and Payette Lake is showing some stress that may be related to increased temperatures over a longer period of the year.
3. The provisions of 3.8.13.(C) for preservation and use of natural vegetation and native species would appear to benefit water quality generally, and particularly in lakeshore and near-lakeshore
development, where stormwater impacts may have the greatest effect on the public good.
This is a good opportunity to note that agencies, residents and other observers have, in the last several years, been seeing disturbing and as-yet unexplained new signs of impacts to
the lake, including novel and unpleasant algae blooms along with surprising evidence of cyanobacteria in remote imaging data. Protection of the watershed, and in particular the nearshore
zone lands, may need to gain a new urgency.
The City's timing is good. The overarching spectre of massive changes and potential development of State endowment lands puts extra emphasis on having appropriately strong development
standards in our watershed.
We hope to be a constructive partner with the City in assuring a sustainable Payette Lake.