Kosciusko County Commissioners approved new pond and well ordinances Tuesday.
The new pond ordinance requires a process for property owners to follow who want to build or expand a pond, and sets regulations on how and where ponds can be built. The new well ordinance adds a 50-foot setback requirement for wells near productive agricultural land to the health department's current regulations on wells.
According to Assistant County Planner Matt Sandy, local farmers approached the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission about writing the amendments because of farmers' concerns about how ponds and wells can affect the use of the herbicide atrizine in farming. Atrizine's label prohibits its use in areas less than 200 feet from a pond or 50 feet from a well.Sandy said the farmers wanted the county's ordinance to ensure new ponds and wells aren't built closer than those set distances from their fields.
Sandy said the planning commission began the discussion stage of creating the new ordinances in October 2007.
"We have had good input from local farmers and community members," Sandy said.
The commissioners tabled a decision on the new ordinances at their Aug. 19 meeting and asked Sandy and County Health Department Assistant Administrator/Environmental Scientist Neal Brown to refine and clarify some of the wording in the amendments.
Tuesday, Sandy and Brown submitted the updated amendments.
The process required for new pond construction involves a permitting process like that required to construct new buildings. Sandy said landowners must submit a site plan to county planners. If the site plan meets the setback requirements, the county will issue the permit. If it doesn't meet the setback requirements, the land owner can appeal to the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals for a variance.
Subdivisions are exempt from the new pond ordinance, however, "the plan commission can require them to go through the process if it looks like there might be an issue," Sandy said.
The ordinance went into effect immediately. New ponds which are already under construction are not subject to the new ordinances, however, ponds or wells which are at the planning stages must follow the new procedures.
