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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 01311995 - 1.57 - - 1. 5.7 January 19, 1995 RECEDE® Board. of' Supervisors Contra Costa County JAN 99 1995 651 Pine St. Martinez, Ca. 94553 CLERK BOARD OF SUPERVISORS • CONTRA COSTA CO. Dear Board Members: We wish to appeal the conditions of our appeal to the. Contra ,Costa County Environmental Health Department of November 15, 1994. We are enclosing a copy of that -decision, along with correspondance since that decision. Our property at 1489 Delta Rd..,.. Knightsen was subdivided in July 1983 under the Ranchette Law. passed by the Board of 'Supervisors. It' was. approved for septic then. We originally applied for a septic permit on February 14, 1994• We `have been fighting the Environmental Health'Department ever since. After,months of tests, fees, talking, attorney fees, 'etc. we were finally granted our appeal on.November .15,,1994. However., they are now saying that the only place for the septic is in the extreme northern portion of the property. ,(almost on the property ' line).. The reason for this, decision is basedgon'mottling done by Terry Schmidtbauer of 'the Environmental ,Health Department. Mottling supposedly determines the ground water. level at' some point in time. Everyone in East County knows that the whole area was always flooded prior to Marsh Creek being revamped. Since it no longer floods, because of this, 'it' does not seem an issue now. We wish to put our house and:7septic in the approximate middle of our 5 acre parcel. Ground water level at this spot is' at 8 1/2 feet, which is_ acceptable to, the Health Department, but mottling is supposedly at 5 feet or less.. We feel we should have this proposed spot approved as it is acceptable in depth and mottling has probably occured years ago.- Supervisor Tom Torlekson has been working with a number of East County residents on this issue and has. been, trying to resolve these. problems. We are filing 'this letter to correspond with his proposal to the Board of Supervisors regarding the problems and solutions at the Health Department regarding East County. Thank You. Sincerely, Bud and Sue Starbuck Contra "s L Health Services Department Costa �`'�� ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DMSION g'•, :;, „ ..__ 1111 Ward Street County ` Martinez,California 94553-1352 car'+'covr+ (510)646-2521 .November 23, 1994 Bud and Sue Starbuck P.O. Box 1077 Oakley, California 94561 RE: 1489 Delta Road, Knightsen Dear Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck: As a result of the health officer hearing held on November 15, 1994, the hearing officer.hereby finds: 1. You can proceed with further testing that may include percolation tests in the proposed areas discussed at the hearing by Frank Belleci, Terry Schmidtbauer, George Nakamura and myself. 2. A variance will be approved that will enable you to have a three foot separation above seasonally high water table in relation to the bottom of the leachfield trenches. 3. There are compensating factors in the event of a septic failure, particularly the fact that you have a five acre parcel. 4. Our office will issue you a septic permit once an appropriate septic design has been proposed and approved for your lot. In order to expedite this information to you, I have requested George Nakamura to call you and discuss the above fmdings. If you have any questions, please contact me at (510) 646-2521. Sincerely, M. Guerra, .H.S. Deputy Director, Environmental Health DMG:slt s11 tarbuck.dmg A373A (10/92) Law Offices of SCOTT K. MMERMANCOPY Attorneys at Law Post Office Box 1120 812 First Street Brentwood, California 94513-1120 Scott K.Zimmerman Barbara E.Scramstad Telephone:(510)634-3571 Maureen M.Bryan,C.L.S. Facsimile:(510)634-0781 December 15, 1994 Mr. Daniel M. Guerra, R.E.H.S. Deputy Director, Environmental,Health 1111 Ward Street Martinez, CA 94553-1352 Re: 1489 Delta Road, Knightsen Dear Mr. Guerra: As you are aware, I represent Mr. and Mrs. Bud Starbuck, owners of the above property. I have discussed our conversation of December 14, 1994, in which Terry Schmidtbauer also participated, with Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck. The thrust of my conversation with you yesterday, regarded the two different sites on my clients' property, which we referred to as the "north" site and the "mid-parcel".site. In reviewing the conversation, I am still not sure whether your department is denying or prohibiting the Starbucks from merely testing the mid-parcel site. Clearly,-Terry Schmidtbauer does not believe that the mid-parcel site is suitable for a septic system. I assure you that Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck are equally adamant that the site is suitable. Nevertheless, it was-my impression, from Mr. Schmidtbauer's comments, that the site could be used, if(and only if) the soil profiles and the percolation test proved that it is suitable (i.e_.'has' an adequate separation above the seasonally high water table) Mr. Schmidtbauer also indicated that a high groundwater monitoring program could be used instead of the soil profiles - If my understanding-of our conversation is incorrect, "please contact 'me at your earliest . convenience. Mr. and Mrs. Starbuck would like to arrange-the necessary testing after the first of the year. In the event that you are not denying or-prohibiting the Starbucks from testing the mid-parcel site, they will contact you in early January, to arrange the testing: x , Law Offices of Scott K.Zimmerman Page:2 Thank you for your continuing courtesy in this matter. Very truly yours, Law Offices of Scott K. Zimmerman Barbara E. Scramstad 6ES:st cc: Clients g:Vit\9tarbucldguerre.115 Contrae_-sE -L °� Health Services Department Costa ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DIVISION �` — •• - +z 1111 Ward Street County ��`; y __ ��°4 Martinez,California 94553-1352 cis 'cov �v (510)646-2521 December 30, 1994 Barbara Scramstad Law Offices of Scott K. Zimmerman, Attorneys at Law P.O. Box 1120 Brentwood, California 94513-1120 RE: 1489 Delta Road, Knightsen APN# 020-200-032 Dear Ms. Scramstad: The following is in response to your December 15, 1994 correspondence to Mr. Guerra, Deputy Director of Environmental Health. As stated in the May 23, 1994 letter to the Starbuck's, they do have the right to conduct seasonal high groundwater testing in the area which was denied. This is done by installing monitoring wells to verify the actual level ground water attains. The current denial of use of this area is based upon observation of mottles, or discolorations of the soil which are indicative of the soil being under water at some point in the past. This Division allows applicants to prove that the mottles are historic, in other words, that they happened in the distant past; and are not a yearly occurrence, through the installation and monitoring of wells in the area desired. The actual observed level of the water will take precedent over the mottles. It is important to remember that groundwater monitoring must occur during years with 80% of average rainfall. Also, in this case, the summer irrigation influences the water table so monitoring would need to occur on a year round basis. Placement, design, and construction of the wells must occur under permit through this Division and be done by a licensed well driller. Soil profiles would be utilized if the Starbuck's wished to explore a new area that has previously not been evaluated. Soil profiles would not be a good way for long term ground water monitoring since the hole would need to be dug, buried and redug on very little notice from this Division. This may also be much more costly to the Starbuck's in the long run since it would take more time both by the contractor and this Division. I would also highly advise that percolation tests be conducted in the area the Starbuck's wish to use prior to the beginning of a ground water monitoring program. It makes little sense to spend an entire year gathering ground water data, only to find that the soil will not accept liquid and is inadequate for a leach field anyhow. Percolation test fees are currently $606. The percolation test pipes existing at the parcel are too deep. The total depth of the percolation hole shall not exceed three feet in this particular case. A373A (10/92) } Barbara Scramstad December 30, 1994 Page 2 If you have any questions you may contact me at (510) 646-2521. Sincerely, 4LAIN George akamura, R.E.H.S. Supervising Environmental Health Specialist GN/TLS:slt cc: Bud and Sue Starbuck 17d:scmmstad.gn r