Fayette | News

Why is sewer important?

Tue, 05/16/2006 - 3:41pm
By: Cal Beverly

For the most part, unincorporated parts of the county are unsewered, meaning residents rely on septic tanks for wastewater disposal. Residential septic tanks require a significant portion of an acre for the drainage field, in effect limiting the smallest county lot sizes beyond sewer lines to one acre or more.

Developers and builders generally seek sewer service to allow for more residential or commercial density per buildable acre. Generally speaking, developers can make more money from sewered property than from unsewered land.

The provision of city sewer services to unincorporated areas opens up the possibility of more residences on much smaller lot sizes than are now required.

The county’s land use plan and one-acre minimum lot sizes could come under legal attack if sewer lines are available to county lots.

On the other hand, many argue that sewered lots provide a higher degree of environmental protection to the water table and nearby streams because of fewer septic tanks.

Others argue that smaller lots and higher density in and of themselves are not bad things. The issue, many contend, lies in how the density is handled by local governments. — Cal Beverly, editor.

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Sewer
H. Hamster's picture
Submitted by H. Hamster on Wed, 05/17/2006 - 5:52am.

And others argue against density simply because it is "too dense". These people (somewhat dense themselves) offer no solution - only that a proposed development is "too dense". When conservation subdivisions are proposed where the same overall density is achieved, but with the homes clustered at one end on sewer and 30 or 40 acres left as open space, their argument changes - now the lots are "too small".

Sadly, some of these morons are on the decision-making bodies such as planning commission or even elected officials. Read Cal's summary - it is all you need to know. Let the professional staff manage the density - don't tie their hands by insisting upon 2-acre lots because Phylis or Dennis or the land use plan says so. Get with the times and sewer everything. Insisting upon septic tanks - which were invented during the transition from outhouses to indoor plumbing - is a bit backwards and certainly not environmentally responsible.


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Ignore the land use plan?
Submitted by justaskin on Wed, 05/17/2006 - 7:07am.

Hamster,

Are you suggesting that the land use plan be ignored? You are well aware that the land use plan is the "blueprint" that has been followed for years that is responsible for how great the county has developed. The problems that you always talk about here,(McDuff Parkway "bypass", Lowes, Best Buy etc.) are all examples of where someone sometime ignored the land use plan. The land use plan is developed by the staff(s). It is the elected people that make the changes. I believe the people who make changes to the land use plan, developed by professionals (staff, consultants etc.) should be held accountable for the outcomes, good or bad. I am surprised that you would suggest ignoring the land use plan considering the long term implications to the quality of our life here.

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Are you sure Best Buy ignores the land use plan?
Submitted by McDonoughDawg on Wed, 05/17/2006 - 7:58am.

I'm not sure. It seems to "fit" much better to me than Walmart does. I know the Best Buy in PTC looks much better than any Best Buy I've seen. Other Villages have big boxes, as in K-Mart @ Braelinn Village. Speaking of K-mart, they now have a nice selection of appliances and Craftsman Tools.

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Sewers
PTC Guy's picture
Submitted by PTC Guy on Tue, 05/16/2006 - 9:02pm.

It is a complex issue.

A strongly related question is, has anyone done studies on how many people our water supplies can support?

Not when we have wet years, but when we have dry to draught years.

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Keeping it real and to the core of the issue, not the peripherals.


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Sewers
Peter Pfeifer's picture
Submitted by Peter Pfeifer on Wed, 05/17/2006 - 7:16pm.

The answer to your question is that Lake MacIntosh, when completed, will give the water system enough capacity to handle the county until the build-out PROJECTED in the Land Use Plan (around 155,000 if memory serves - if you need to have the precise number, I will look it up). That is with the Land Use Plan that is CURRENT. Increasing densities (whether or not we have larger or smaller LOT sizes) will deplete this capacity. So, if future County governments break the Land Use Plan or if Cities continue to annex and increase population beyond this figure, then we will not have enough water some day. Peter Pfeifer


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Build Out
PTC Guy's picture
Submitted by PTC Guy on Wed, 05/17/2006 - 8:13pm.

Thanks. That paints the picture I forsee. We will not have enough water.

Annexation will not stop. Developers will continue to find legal angles to force changes.

And, I do believe from seeing it any other states, when housing reaches some number X the Feds will declare septic tanks are polluting excessively and will require sewage treatments. Which will allow greater density.

Unfortunately they will probably be right. The assumed ability of the land to deal with sewage rarely proves correct.

-----------------------------
Keeping it real and to the core of the issue, not the peripherals.


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