CRMC 



coastal buffer requirements, which do not adequately control non-point source impacts to 

 the Bay watershed, and which may be incapable of sustaining the effects of coastal storms. 



No speciHc standards govern approval of variances. A recent effort on the 

 part of the staff to develop a specific protocol to govern review of variances was not 

 supported by the Council. Section 120 of the Red Book provides five general policy 

 criteria to be used in granting variances from a regulatory standard: 



1) The proposed alteration conforms with applicable goals and policies in Parts Two 

 and Three of the CRMP 



2) The proposed alteration will not result in significant adverse environmental impacts 

 or use conflicts 



3) Due to conditions at the site in question, the standard will cause the applicant an 

 undue hardship 



4) The modification requested by the applicant is the minimum necessary to relieve an 

 undue hardship 



5) The undue hardship is not the result of any prior action of the applicant 



Variance review procedures have been an issue of considerable concern for some time. 

 Although abutters and other interest groups requesting notification are advised of 

 subcommittee variance reviews, review hearings are subject to the same shortcomings 

 regarding presentation and evaluation of evidence as are other CRMC hearing proceedings. 

 Substantive findings prepared by staff and by outside technical professional reviewers are 

 accepted only as evidence presented by "witnesses." Again, interest groups are put in the 

 position of amassing and presenting evidence in support of staff findings. 



Recommendations 



To protect the integrity of the coastal program, support local government resource 

 protection issues, provide accountability to the public, and improve predictability for 

 applicants, it is critical to provide clear guidance as to the circumstances 

 under which variances and special exceptions will be reviewed, granted, or 

 denied, and the conditions to be attached to approval. 



**Consider establishing a point-based system for initial review of 

 variances and special exceptions. (See the model described in the related Chapter 2.1 

 on ISDS.) The system should define clear conditions under which variances will not be 

 considered (where a presumption would be made that a defined action would substantially 

 endanger public health and environmental quality). 



***Establish a clear set of criteria, to be included as regulatory language in 

 the Red Book, which will be used in evaluating variance applications. The 



criteria should address all of the following: a) soil type; b) existing drainage characteristics 

 of the site which pose development constraints, and existing drainage alterations; c)location 

 in a floodplain A zone; d) location in a floodplain V zone; e) depth to groundwater and 

 impervious layer, f) slope; g) lot size; h) width of buffers to coastal features; i) type of 

 development and flows of stormwater runoff; j) sewage effluent projected; k) erosion and 



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