Carroll County property owners restricted from building houses due to a lack of distance between wells and septic systems may finally be able to start their projects with a proposed state rule change.
The Maryland Department of the Environment has proposed a code change that would allow property owners to apply for an exemption, or variance, to build wells closer to septic systems as long as there were no negative impacts on public safety or the environment.
Since the 1980s, property owners have not been allowed to construct a well closer than 100 feet to a septic system, according to Edwin Singer, environmental health director at the Carroll County Health Department.
Under the proposed change, property owners who want to build a well closer than 100 feet to a septic system would apply to do so through the Carroll County Health Department, Singer said. The Health Department would visit the property and make a recommendation if the variance should be approved.
The recommendation would be forwarded to the MDE, which would make the final determination if the variance should be approved.
The lack of a variance provision in state code, he said, essentially prevents building on properties if distance setbacks cannot be met, even if there is no significant impact to public health or the environment. Singer said he knows of five or six property owners who would be able to apply for a variance and develop their properties.
"We had to tell them no [in the past because] we didn't have a provision to allow them to do this," Singer said."This gives us the flexibility to be able to recommend a variance and allow these people to potentially develop these lots."
Commissioner Richard Rothschild, R-District 4, who has often criticized MDE, said he was glad to see the state department considering changing environmental regulations for the better.
"It's nice to get some good news every once in a while," Rothschild said.
Reach staff writer Christian Alexandersen at 410-857-7873 or christian. alexandersen@carrollcountytimes.com.
