by Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

Polk County residents wishing to comment on changes to the county’s watershed ordinance will have a chance during the Polk County Board of Commissioner meeting on Monday, Oct. 6.

A public hearing on the changes begins at 6 p.m. in the commissioner’s meeting room on the second floor of the Womack building in Columbus.

On Sept. 1 the county received a letter from the N.C. Department of Natural Resources (DENR) that the Green River Watershed was reclassified to a class IV watershed. The watershed includes Lake Adger with the reclassification necessary for Polk County to use the lake in the future as a drinking water source.

One of the requirements for the reclassification is for the county to update its watershed ordinance.

Commissioners met Sept. 22 with county planner Cathy Ruth to review the changes and set the public hearing. The Polk County Planning Board recently recommended approval of the changes.

The main change is a 30-foot buffer required along the stream bank, with some current restrictions in the county’s ordinance requiring a 25-foot trout buffer.

Building requirements in the new ordinance only occur if someone is going to disturb more than one acre.

For more information and to see the proposed ordinance, visit www.polknc.org. Go to the planning and zoning department/planning and zoning documents then to plans and drafts to see the proposed watershed ordinance.