Cumberland Discussing Private Water Lot Changes

The Cumberland County Planning Commission is considering making changes to its new lot guidelines for those landowners with private water sources.

Under current rules, in order to create a lot in Cumberland County without public water, it must be at least two acres and have a private source of water. Planning Director Tommy Lee said past variances allowing less acreage started a discussion of lowering lot qualifications.

“We had a lot earlier this year that was a little less then an acre that already had an existing well,” Lee said. “It had a private water source. We allowed that lot to be subdivided, and when that happened, we said, ‘Hey, I think we need to go back and look at these regulations.'”

Lee said the planning commission is unsure in what direction to take the changes, so a public hearing in December has been set to gain feedback from the community.

“The planning commission made a motion to have a public hearing at our December meeting on December 17th to get public input to see what potential concerns they would have if we changed it,” Lee said. “The number of lots in Cumberland County without public water are very minimal. We do not see this very often.”