Gallatin officials are considering whether to add vernal pools to the town’s draft zoning law, a move that could give the seasonal wetlands the same protections as regulated wetlands and require 100-foot setbacks around them.
At a June 29 workshop, the Town Board discussed the possible change while reviewing draft environmental maps prepared by Hudsonia Ltd., a Bard College-based environmental research institute. The maps show wetlands, steep slopes, streams, and forests,but board members and environmental advisers said more work is needed to determine which mapped vernal pools have been verified in the field.
The workshop included members of the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and biologist Jenna Holub of Hudsonia Ltd.
Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that resemble small puddles or shallow lakes, typically hold water in the winter and spring, and dry up during the summer and fall, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Of the five regions surveyed by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation in recent years, the Hudson Valley has the highest concentration of vernal pools.
Some members of the group questioned whether the pools on the draft wetland map had been verified. Carol Smillie, a member of the Conservation Advisory Council and the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee, said she had identified roughly a dozen pools on the ground with environmental consultant Jim Nordgren, but many more appear as data points on the draft map.
Conservation Advisory Council Chair Eli Arnow recommended labeling unconfirmed locations as “potential vernal pools.” Arnow also suggested encouraging homeowners to report any pools on their property to the town with help from an expert. Some members raised concerns that such a requirement could prove costly and might delay building and zoning permits, given that the pools can be difficult to identify after spring.
“I think a wetland biologist should have the education to be able to say, this is potentially a vernal pool, even in the dryer season,” Arnow said. “I think we can rely on their expertise.”
Town Board member Jeff Jorve acknowledged the verification challenge.
“This map is just delineating the boundaries or in the case of vernal pools, it’s just a point on the map,” Jorve said. “So, obviously there might be some instances in which a person says, I don’t see a pool there and we need to go make a site determination on it.”
Ben Maron, another Town Board member, urged the group to first consider whether the town wants to protect the pools as part of its zoning update.
“At the end of the day, the vernal pools are the nursery of the forest,” Maron said. “They are probably the most critically important to the wildlife habitat of these areas and I think are such a key link that to protect the forests and take away the nursery of the forest would seem to be in conflict.”
Arnow and Smillie plan to follow up with Nordgren to clarify what data was used and which pools have been verified in the field. If regulated, vernal pools would be treated the same as wetlands for zoning purposes and would carry a 100-foot setback requirement.
The board is expected to vote on the matter and finalize the maps at its next workshop, scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 21.