Laserfiche WebLink
Case File: CU 10-08 ERL CUP <br />Page 8 Cin~of E1kRiver <br />Zoning-and Comprehensive Plan <br />According to the Landfill, the 200-foot buffer zone which theypropose to fill with solid waste was <br />not entirely arithin the CitS~'s SWF Zoning District until the City Council's April 19, 2010 action <br />zoning the entire Landfill into the SWF and ME Overlay Districts. Similarly, at present the eastern <br />edge of the 200-foot buffer zone proposed to be filled is not cu~entl~T guided "landfill" on the Land <br />Use Map element of the 2004 Comprehensive Plan. However, staff has proposed, and the City <br />Council mill consider on May 17, 2010, an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan that will <br />designate the entire Landfill propert~~ as "Landfill". <br />The April 19, 2010 zoning action and the proposed May 17, 2010 Comprehensive Plan amendment <br />were not proposed by staff so that the Landfill could place solid waste in the buffer zone. These <br />actions were proposed and taken in order to implement the City's, and we believe, the Landfill's <br />long time understanding and intent that the entire Landfill property between the rail trail and <br />Highway 169 be zoned and guided to allow Solid Waste Facilities. <br />However, the fact that the Landfill property is, or soon will be, correctly zoned and guided does not <br />mean that there is a right to place solid waste in the 200-foot buffer zone. The requested <br />amendment to allow this must still meet the requirements of City Code and State law, including the <br />standards for issuance of a Conditional Use Permit and the requirements of the City's Solid Waste <br />Facilities Ordinance. <br />Summary <br />The Application to expand the Landfill by extending the area approved for the deposit of Solid <br />Waste into the existing 200 foot buffer zone on the southern boundary of the Landfill appears, from <br />an overall engineering standpoint, to meet the design requirements for expansion of the Landfill. <br />However, the proposed expansion will result in the State-mandated 200 foot buffer zone being <br />located on adjoining property outside of the Solid Waste Facility Zoning District, and would require <br />that significant infrastructure components, including. groundwater monitoring wells, gas monitoring <br />probes, a service road and, potentially, surface water management facilities, be located outside of the <br />SWF Zoning District. This raises a number of concerns regarding the consistency of the proposed <br />amendments with State regulations, the City's Solid Waste Facilities Ordinance, and the Standards <br />for Issuance of a Conditional Use Permit. <br />With respect to state regulations, location of the state-mandated 200-foot buffer zone onto adjoining <br />property appears to be inconsistent with the state regulation that requires any new fill area to be <br />located at least 200 feet from the nearest property line. No evidence of a conveyance of property or <br />relocation of the property line has been submitted with the Application, so the City can not confirm <br />that this regulation will be complied with. Approval of an amendment to the CUP and SWFL to <br />allow the deposit of Solid Waste within the existing buffer zone would .have to be subject to the <br />Landfill complying with the state regulaxion. <br />Relocating the buffer zone outside of the SWF Overlay District is also a violation of the City Code <br />sections set forth above, as is the location of landfill infrastructure, including groundwater <br />monitoring wells, gas probes, storm water management facilities and service roads, outside of the <br />SWF District. Approval of an amendment to the CUP and SWFL to allow the deposit of solid <br />Z:\CommunityDevelopment\Planning Main\Case Files\CUP\CU 10-08 Waste Managemern\Staff repon to CGCU 10-08 - peter.doc <br />