First Wetlands Mitigation Bank Approved

By URIAH KISER

STAFFORD, Va. — Landowners in Stafford County can now reclaim wetlands on their property without petitioning the local government for approval.

County officials unanimously voted to allow property owners the by-right ability to create wetlands mitigation banks on their land. The tracts of land, or banks, are areas in Stafford County that will be used to restore land lost to years of farming and erosion, generally near streams, creeks and other tributaries.

Stafford’s first wetlands mitigation bank is a 300-foot forested track of land on Hampstead Farm off Popular Road. It sits along Potomac Creek and is farmland has been worked continuously since the 1930s, with the farm dating back at least 150 years, according to county documents.

The owners of the farmland said they need to improve the land to continue raising cattle. The family hired Falling Springs, LLC. to argue in favor to Stafford’s Board of County Supervisors and county officials to allow the creation of a mitigation bank as a by-right use of their land.

“Projects like this improve water quality and habitats, particularly this project will restore, enhance, and preserve approximately 30,100 feet of stream, Potomac Run, and 20 wetland acres. This will improve water quality in the county, reduce run off, and improve forested habitat in the county,” said Falling Springs, LLC spokesman James Parker.

The decision by the Stafford Board removes an additional layer of government from the approval process, but landowners still must go through a lengthy review process by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Environmental Quality to create the mitigation bank. The review and approval process is known to cost at least $12,000, plus a per-acre fee, according to county documents.

The Corps of Engineers set the standards for wetlands, and also issue wetlands impact credits which represent the accrual or attainment of aquatic functions at a mitigation bank, measured by the number of acres of wetlands in a community. The credits can, once the wetlands have matured, help raise the value of a property, said Parker.

Since this will be Stafford’s first wetlands mitigation bank, developers who’ve impacted wetlands in the county have previously purchased credits from other jurisdictions, upholding federal and state mandates which dictate “no net loss of wetlands.”

Prince William as a model

As Stafford officials debated the issue, they pointed to a wetland preserve in Woodbridge as a success story. Nestled on Neabsco Creek, the Julie J. Metz Wetland Bank is a 227-acre preserve turned Prince William County park that was created in the mid-1990s, and is now home to 160 species of birds and two miles of walking trails.

“Prince William County has a massive mitigation wetlands project at the end of Dale Boulevard and Route 1. It’s massive. It must be hundreds of acres there where you can walk around and get lost. I think we should make it as easy as possible to do that to their property in Stafford County,” said Stafford Aquia District Supervisor Paul Milde.

Milde worked tirelessly with the state to create the Crow’s Nest Wildlife Preserve, a 4,000-acre peninsula in the Aquia District bordered by the Potomac and Accokeek creeks and Potomac River. Known for its slopes, Crow’s nest boasts extensive plant and bird life.

“Right now, if you wanted to do nothing with your property, you just wanted to conserve it and make a wetlands bank out of it, you can’t really do that without going through a couple Board and Planning Commission zoning actions?” asked Milde, while arguing to allow residents to create wetland mitigation banks as a by-right use.

Some urged process to remain public

The first wetlands mitigation bank in Stafford will sit along Potomac Run off Poplar Road. Right now there are no trees along that piece of property, and the mitigation bank would work to restore a 600-acre buffer along the stream.

Though the measure was approved, some spoke out against creating wetland mitigation banks as a by-right use.

“I like to have the public involved in the process to able to comment, to be able to bring information to the bodies that make these decisions, so I’m leaning against doing this,” said Stafford County Democratic Committee Chair Alane Callander.