WESTFIELD—In spite of efforts by the Natural Resources Committee to have a draft ordinance change ready to come out of their committee by Monday, the draft will be staying with them for continued modification.
The committee has been working on creating changes to the Water Resource Protection District zoning ordinance recently, with aims to strengthen protections for the Barnes Aquifer. It was expected that the draft would be ready to come out of committee Monday but it was determined more work should be done following comments from the city’s planning department and further review of the draft, including the “Enforcement and penalties” section of it.
“We have to make sure we have it how we want it,” Ward One Councilor and Natural Resources Committee member Mary Ann Babinski, said.
Ward One Councilor Mary Ann Babinski
If it had come out of the committee, the next steps would have included going to full city council for review, as well as going through the public hearing process. According to a September 13th article in The Westfield News, the committee was aiming for that process to start Monday and to have a public hearing in early January.
The delay pushes the draft tentatively coming out of committee to as early as Nov. 2, with a public hearing still possible for early January.
The draft, which has been spearheaded by Babinski, has been worked on for several months by the committee.
If it is successful, then a number of additions could be made to the already-existing Water Resource Protection District. These changes could include protecting above-ground water sources that may feed into the aquifer, modifications of definitions in the ordinance, modifying prohibited uses within the district, changes to impervious ground percentages allowed before special permitting is required and the potential for penalties and enforcement for non-compliance.
The committee received comments from the city’s planning department, which were reviewed and discussed by the committee Monday. Next, Babinski is planning on meeting with the city’s law department to discuss the changes, including the section “Enforcement and penalties,” among other steps.
