By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@thecitizennews.com

Fayette County commissioners Thursday will discuss changing the county's parking requirements to better protect the environment.

During a recent meeting, Commissioner Glen Gosa wondered why the county requires each commercial development to have a minimum number of parking spaces when the same regulations limit the amount of impervious surface — pavement — a development can have.

It's part of a difficult and potentially expensive problem the county faces as new state and federal laws focus more and more on keeping storm water runoff from flooding and polluting area streams and lakes, and on making sure rainwater can work its way through the soil and replaenish the water table.

“We're creating a problem we're going to have to fix years down the road when it comes to storm water runoff,” said Commissioner Greg Dunn as commissioners discussed the county's development regulations recently.

“I'd like something where a certain number of those parking spaces can be filled with gravel or some type of pervious surface,” said Gosa.

“My concern is that we have parking regulations that say you have to have X number of parking spots because that's what the regulations call for,” he said.

State and federal regulators have been warning local governments for years that eventually they're going to be required to capture and treat storm water runoff, a problem that increases as the amount of pavement in the county grows.

Normal procedure when commissioners discuss changes to development regulations is to turn the matter over to the county planning staff and Planning Commission, which would then return its recommendation to the County Commission.

Thursday's meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the County Administrative Complex.

Also on the agenda, commissioners will discuss the results of a recent analysis of county employees' pay scales compared to those in other area governments.

Commissioners also will:

Discuss a property use proposal from the County Extension Service.

Hear from resident Tim Munford about a problem with the developer of his neighborhood.

Consider a request from the Water Committee for a resolution applying for funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Commission meetings are open to the public.