Post on 13-Dec-2014
description
“By Ordinance or Other Regulatory Means…”Meeting the Challenge of New Stormwater Rules
Smart Growth and LID – background
How do Smart Growth and LID appear in permit language?
How does this translate into the local codes and management plans you work with?
Avoiding code heartburn – anticipating and dealing with conflicts
What this presentation will What this presentation will cover…cover…
Why Are We Talking About Planning and Land Why Are We Talking About Planning and Land Development Regulations?Development Regulations?
• The new Phase II rules The new Phase II rules (2003) change (2003) change everythingeverything– Post ConstructionPost Construction– Overarching for Phase I Overarching for Phase I
cities and even cities and even unregulated areas.unregulated areas.
– Emerging – construction Emerging – construction general permitsgeneral permits
• Attention to “impervious Attention to “impervious cover”cover”
• The Phase II directive to The Phase II directive to implement via implement via “ordinances or other “ordinances or other regulatory mechanism.regulatory mechanism.
Why Does this Matter for Why Does this Matter for Stormwater Practitioners?Stormwater Practitioners?
The Obvious Where and How Development and
Conservation Occur Matters to StormwaterMaking Use of Scarce Local ResourcesBrings your work on plans and ordinances to
the “front burner”The Not-so-ObviousMultiple, Simultaneous Processes for Public
Input & EducationMultiple timelines
Skills Sets – not just water quality anymoreImpervious cover is an imperfect way of
dealing with stormwater, but now plays predominant role.
The Intersection of Land Development and The Intersection of Land Development and Stormwater - Impervious CoverStormwater - Impervious Cover
• The early years– Imperviousness as an indicator– Use of thresholds
• The awkward teen years– “Well… if watersheds begin to decline
at 10% imperviousness…. Then let’s keep sites at 10%”
– Recognition that addressing imperviousness meant getting into land development codes
What Does holding each site at 10% What Does holding each site at 10% get you?get you?
Source: www.Sprawlaction.org
Oh Yeah… You call this good for Oh Yeah… You call this good for the environment?the environment?
St. Charles – Traditional Town Development in Missouri
Program Planning at Various Scales
Need to expand the scale of current stormwater planning
Smart Growth Techniques and their Smart Growth Techniques and their Relationship to Managing RunoffRelationship to Managing Runoff
• Smart Growth counterparts– Comprehenisve regional
planning• Pay more attention to
neighborhoods– restoration
• redevelopment/infill– density– compact design
– reducing the # of spaces
– better street design
• Traditional “water” techniques– watershed planning
• Pay more attention to subwatersheds
– restoration• streams & habitat
– “cluster” zoning– reduce impervious
surface coverage– water friendly
landscaping in parking lots
– better street design
• Development from Watershed’s Development from Watershed’s Point of ViewPoint of View– Preserve ecologically significant Preserve ecologically significant
areasareas– Target & Direct developmentTarget & Direct development– Make maximum use of previously Make maximum use of previously
development sitesdevelopment sites– RetrofitRetrofit
• Watershed from Development’s Watershed from Development’s Point of View (What can I do for Point of View (What can I do for You?)You?)– Efficient FootprintEfficient Footprint
• Mix of uses that relates to trip-Mix of uses that relates to trip-makingmaking
• Mix of transportationMix of transportation• ConnectivityConnectivity
– Once the pattern is settled – better Once the pattern is settled – better site designsite design
How do we get the best of “green” at the How do we get the best of “green” at the site, neighborhood and regional level?site, neighborhood and regional level?
How Did EPA Address this in How Did EPA Address this in Phase II Regulations?Phase II Regulations?
The Federal Register notice presented a wide range of options that cover numerous scales of application that are locally appropriate.
Several larger goals listed – minimize disturbance, try to maintain pre-development runoff characteristics, minimization of % impervious cover
Regional/Watershed ScalePreserve tracts of ecologically valuable open spaceWatershed Planning
District/Sub-basin Scale Infill Direct Development to Areas with Existing InfrastructureMinimize directly connected impervious surfaces
Site Level ScaleLID techniquesCombinations of structural and non-structural techniques
Translation into Permit LanguageTranslation into Permit Language
Aligning comprehensive planning with watershed planningAligning planning with Code and Ordinances
Street Design1. Location and alignment of streets2. Geometric Standards3. Retrofitting Roadside edges
Audit Zoning CodesParking
1. Amount and location of parking2. Hardscape in Parking Lots
District DesignDistrict and Subdivision Design
1. Cluster2. Mixed Use
Elements of a Comprehensive PlanElements of a Comprehensive Plan
– Baseline Assessment of Existing Conditions
– Trends– Goals– Objectives– Action Plan
• Multi-Faceted– Land-use patterns– Housing conditions – Population – Transportation– Infrastructure
Plans and CodesPlans and CodesJoint stormwater and land use plans are on the horizonJoint stormwater and land use plans are on the horizon
Subwatershed map What to Preserve Map
Mitigation ScoresImpervious Cover
St Joseph River Watershed Assn
Street Designs and Stormwater Impacts?
• Streets represent high proportion of imperviousness in watersheds
• “skinny streets” reduce overall imperviousness
• Momentum is high to reduce widths for a variety of community outcomes
• Challenges– Wide streets have a constituency
• Emergency response
– Sidewalks – good for transportation but bad for stormwater?
– Competition for street space for parking, bike lanes, wider walkways
Opportunities - Opportunities - Street DesignStreet Design
• From the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution
Prevention Program permit
• “j. Site Design Guidance and Standards Development
– The Dischargers shall review their local design standards and guidance for opportunities to
make revisions that would result in reduced impacts to water quality and beneficial uses of
waters... Areas that may be appropriate to address include the following, which are offered as
examples:….
• 3. Minimum impact street design standards for new development and redevelopment,
including typical specifications (e.g. neo-traditional street design standards and/or
street standards recently revised in other cities, including Portland, Oregon, Vancouver,
British Columbia);... “
Alternative Design – The role of District DesignAlternative Design – The role of District Design
Picture AConventional Subdivision
designTotal Street –76,680 ft2
Picture BTraditional Neighborhood
DesignTotal Street – 92,610 ft2
Tom Low, DPZ
Per unit – 2,018 ft2
Per unit –634 ft2
CNU/ITE street designs handbookCNU/ITE street designs handbook
Institute for Transportation Engineers and Congress for New Urbanism – With funding from
EPA and FHWA
• Example of offering alternatives to standard codes – not one size fits all– Gives engineers options to
the “cookbook.”
• Meeting Level of Service Standards as well.
Local Government Commission
Basic Zoning TermsBasic Zoning Terms“In developing your program, you should
consider assessing existing ordinances, policies, programs, and studies that address stormwater runoff quality.”
Zoning typically regulates– Uses
• eg. Residential, agricultural
• typically separate – C1 or R-2
– Height• either by # floors or gross
height• Floor area ratio (FAR)
– Lot coverage• Yard requirements• Setbacks• driveways• build to lines
– Parking
Zoning and Impervious CoverZoning and Impervious CoverZoning typically
regulates– Separate Uses
• Segregated tripmaking• “Retail follows
rooftops”
– Height • Limitations means
growth goes out not up
– Lot coverage• Minimum lot sizes
drives neighboring lots apart
• Minimum setbacks reduce intensity
• Even impervious cover limits can drive excess coverage
Basic Zoning- Cut to the ChaseBasic Zoning- Cut to the Chase
How are cities and counties going to overcome these code obstacles within codes?
Sub-area Planning is one of the best ways to coordinate efficiency
How are stormwater managers supposed to engage?
1. Stormwater managers sit at the front end of project planning and site plan approval.
2. Stormwater managers become experts in code language & innovationOverlay zones, floating zones,
transfer of development right zones, mixed use zoning, annexation rules
Impervious Cover & Parking Impervious Cover & Parking requirementsrequirements
“We plan for the 365 day parking event” –
Nikos Singeles
StudiesOlympia Washington (1993)Typical occupancy rates 40-60%Two thirds had occupancy <75% at peak
Connecticut (2005)Code dictates 5.5 spaces/1000 ft2
Peak usage supply – 2.3 spaces/1000 ft2
Where do Excess Spaces Come From?
– The Parking Space Stork• ITE - “Parking Generation”
– Dictates parking minimums– Criticized for over-supply
Impervious Cover & Parking Impervious Cover & Parking requirementsrequirementsParking assessed one site at a time
• Opportunities for sharing an afterthought– Lender requirements
• Risk in too little parking– No incentive to study parking utilization
• So what if we installed too much?– Opposition to shared parking
• Liability and trash pick up– View there is no cost to excess parking
• Although utility fees and land costs a factors
– Assigned spaces• Perk within leases• Takes spaces out of “pool”
– How Parking is Calculated• Rounding Up• Including square footage without drivers
(stairwells, mechanical rooms)
Parking, continuedParking, continued
• Space for Spaces– Rule of thumb - 200 square
feet per space– Actually - each parking space
(total) ~330 – 380 ft2
impervious surface with drive aisles, circulation, access
– Most codes cap the building footprint (example – 30 % of gross site)
– Few cap parking lot size– Big boxes could not exist
within this code– Won’t green parking solve
everything?• Knocking down trees to install
pervious pavers still a net negative for the watershed
Parking & IC - RedevelopmentParking & IC - Redevelopment
• Barrier to redevelopment or improvement– Older buildings must meet
new parking space numbers even when not needed
• Circulation Requirements– Trucks cannot block alleys
or streets– Hence, extra room needed
on site
• Use of On-street parking– It’s already there
This is a water quality problem
Critique This Picture- ParkingCritique This Picture- Parking
EPA
Opportunities - ParkingOpportunities - Parking
From North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) stormwater guidance
“2. Minimize impervious surfacesImpervious surfaces are those such as roads, parking lots, driveways, and rooftops, that don't allow infiltration of storm water into the ground…Narrower streets and smaller parking lots benefit the environment and can make a development more attractive as well.
Reduce parking lot size by lowering the number of parking spaces (minimum and maximum ratios) and by sharing parking among adjacent businesses - Zoning Ordinance, Development/Engineering Standards
Reduce parking requirements for developments in proximity to public transportation - Zoning Ordinance
Provide incentives or opportunities for structured parking rather than surface parking - Zoning Ordinance”
Subdivision RegulationsSubdivision RegulationsSubdivision Regulation
ComponentsMany mandate one useEven Planned Unit
Developments are not necessarily true mixed use
Transportation Internally oriented Ped/bike access inconvenientTrails do not link everyday tripsStreet design left to individual developer
How Do Subdivision Regulations Drive Impervious cover?
Typical subdivision requirements (Ben-Joseph, 2003)
– 5000 square foot lots– 56 foot street right-of-way– 20 foot driveway setbacks– 50% pavement.
• Open Space requirements– Over 80% have open space requirement– 50% - mandatory in regulations– Can serve to spread development out
• Non Residential IC – the real driver– Loudoun County – 12 trips/day/household
• There are 10 parking spaces just waiting• Ripples across built landscape• On-site requirements – inefficient layout drives
inefficient stormwater handling.
The Ultimate in Conservation Design The Ultimate in Conservation Design
– Redevelopment– Redevelopment
Opportunities – Infill & Redevelopment
• “Non-structural BMPs are preventative actions that involve management and source controls such as: policies and ordinances that provide requirements and standards to direct growth to identified areas, protect sensitive areas such as wetlands and riparian areas, maintain and/or increase open space (including a dedicated funding source for open space acquisition), provide buffers along sensitive water bodies, minimize impervious surfaces, and minimize disturbance of soils and vegetation; policies or ordinances that encourage infill development in higher density urban areas, and areas with existing infrastructure,…”
EPA Phase II regulations, 1999
The Challenge with Redevelopment
Redevelopment is almost universally more difficult to undertake than new developmentWhy?
Tight Building Environment
Going up against existing zoning
Going up against existing neighbors
Requires Coordination
Designadvisor.org
Meeting Challenges
Dim Sum versus Combination Plate watershed planning
Too many codes jump into site level BMPs without considering the larger pattern.
EPA recommends hierarchy of BMP planning
Identify and preserve lands and open space first
Identify where to develop on a less disturbing footprint
Yummy, easy swale dumplings
Not sure I want to digest infill thingy
Avoiding Code HeartburnOne Size Fits all ordinances
for New Development and Redevelopment
Appealing because• Easy to write• Easy to Administer• Easy to Defend• Easy to Measure and Report
for Compliance• Easy to Delegate to
Developer
ExamplesCluster subdivisionsUniform impervious cover limits
Avoiding Code HeartburnThe Heartburn?Low Impact Label – Caldwell
Farms, MassachusettsBecause the stormwater rules
are strong in both federal (CWA) and local (ordinances) regulations, hydrology equations dominate (and even overwhelm) the environmental analysis.
End up with a highly disturbed watershed even as each individual project sailed through the hydrology review.
Avoiding Code HeartburnThe Heartburn?Infill and redevelopment emerging as “the
ultimate in conservation design”However, code language can work against
redevelopment. The challenges• Much of the ripe redevelopment sites
are in highly impacted watersheds and must be part of the solution
• Performance standard conundrum – LID cheaper and easier for 1-year storm, but not 5 year.• Will high performance standards kill
LID?
• Economic development conundrum – Areas that need BMP benefits can’t even attract redevelopment under current rules.
• Regulation Conundrum – trigger is development or redevelopment• But not remodeling…..
More Information?
Lisa Nisenson
Nisenson Consulting
1549 Ringling Blvd
6th Floor
Sarasota Florida
Lisa@nisenson.net
www.nisenson.net
202-744-6854 (mobile)