Maitland works to conserve wetlands with new regulations

Maitland’s wetlands are set to get a new layer of protection thanks to a City Council vote last month.

On Aug. 24 the Maitland City Council directed city staff to draft an ordinance that would provide additional protection to the city’s wetlands, and close loopholes in city code that could potentially be exploited to expedite their decline.

Councilwoman Bev Reponen recommended the action after acres of wetlands that were annexed into the city last year were destroyed to make way for an apartment complex as part of the now-approved Maitland West development.

“We need to … get it done so that we actually have a good place to go to as we go through the next developments that will include wetlands,” Reponen said at the Council’s Aug. 24 meeting. She said the ordinance would give precise direction to developers who are looking to construct projects near the city’s waterways.

Receiving unanimous support from the Council, an ordinance designed to “give clear direction about how wetlands are to be protected,” will be drafted by city staff before being voted on again by the City Council.

To prevent what happened at Maitland West from happening again, Reponen recommended that the Council add verbiage to the ordinance that vegetation removal permits can only be given after a site plan or development agreement for the property has been signed off by City Council.

By the time the Council voted on the Maitland West development, Maitland’s Lake Management Coordinator Paul Ritter said most of what once was wetland had already been “de-mucked,” a process in which contractors dig down 10 feet into the soil and replace “muck” with clean-fill sand.

“In all essences the wetlands are gone,” Ritter said at the Council’s July 27 meeting prior the project getting approval.

Councilman John Lowndes and Councilwoman Joy Goff-Marcil both said they supported the idea of tightening up the city’s regulations to keep similar things from happening to other wetlands.

“For the future this would be a great asset to our city,” Goff-Marcil said.

Vance Guthrie, a member of the city’s Lakes Advisory Board, said he hopes that the new ordinance will help the lake’s board get more of a say in what developments happen on and around the city’s wetlands and waterways. Every waterfront development, he said, impacts the quality of Maitland’s lakes.

“If you take that natural filtration system out and just put cement down, you’re not getting clean water. Trees were doing it for free,” he said, adding that without wetlands providing natural filtration, the city’s water quality in its lakes could suffer.

Maitland city staff was directed to take the input of the public and Council and craft an ordinance that meet’s the city’s needs. The ordinance will be presented to the Council at a future meeting for final approval.