02-22-1988 - Agenda Packet City Council - regular meeting

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"Replacement Area" Rating A system has been devised to rate the potential capability of a property for future repair or replacement of septic systems. That system takes into account only the factors of lot size, house and accessory strL•-ture locations and hardcover locationz, setbacks for drainfield -ystems from property lines, structures and wells, and for vertical separation from lake related water tables. Using the inventory drawings, containing an overlay of the above noted factors, the square footage of area within a property that could potentially be devoted to drainfield use is defined, and that square footage is termed the Replacement Area or "RA" rating. The RP. rating has been determined for both the "relaxed" standards using a 50' well -to -septic setback (this is called RA-50) and the Orono Code 75' well-to-drainfield setback (this is known as RA-75 ). It was further determined that where the RA factor is from 0-1,225 s.f. it would be impassible to replace an existing septic system within the confines of the existing codes based on the area required to construct a single trench type replacement system for a typical 2 to 3 bedroom home. It was further determined that with RA ratings of 1,226 to 1,975, it would be feasible only to replace the existing system with a bed-':ype drainfield system, which in the generally clayey soils found in the Stubbs Bay Study Area would have a poor potential for permanent functionality. An RA rating from 1,976 through 5,000 would generally provide enough area for a single replacement type drainfield system but not necessarily enough room for a secondary site should that system fail. An RA rating from 5,001 s.f. or greater generally indicates a pijperty that would have area suitable for replacing the existing drainfield and the capability for a secondary alternate site. In &1.1 four RA categories, site factors such as slopes, poor soils, perched seasonal water tables on high ground, slow percolation rate, future house expansion, and existing system locations, are not taken into account, hence many properties which are given a specific RA factor will likely have more limitations than are indicated by the RA factor alone. The inventory property data listing (Appendix 1) defines each property by address, owner, and acreage, contains '_nformation on the well/septic separation distances, notes current conformity status of individual systems, nd assesses the potential of each site for r^pair/rrplacem, of the existing system via the "RA" rating. 10