WILMINGTON — Stormwater regulations in Wilmington could be getting less stringent thanks to an ordinance coming before City Council; the new regulations would loosen restrictions for developers.
The City of Wilmington’s Planning Commission continued the item twice over the past year, once on the request of city staff, once because the Commission could not reach a consensus to vote.
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According to City Manager Sterling Cheatham, the amendment would change regulations he says discourage the redevelopment of properties that are currently “fallow.”
“The Land Development Code (LDC) currently includes a threshold of 50-percent new impervious surface coverage beyond which 100-percent of a redevelopment site must be brought into compliance with the stormwater regulations. This compares to treating only the disturbed area of an undeveloped site– rather than 100% of the parcel. The code also includes some flexibility for redevelopment sites. The proposed amendment would do away with the 50-percent threshold for redevelopment sites. It would reduce the required water quality treatment volume for surfaces for redevelopment projects,” Cheatham wrote in the City Council’s agenda for Tuesday.
Cheatham wrote that staff is recommending the approval of the amendment. In September, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the amendment as well.
The actual amendment would change two things for developers according to documents submitted to City Council:
- It would change the standards for how much of a site must come into full compliance with the stormwater regulations (by eliminating the “50% rule” so that only the redeveloped portion of the site and not a full site would have to come into compliance.
2. It would reduce the required water quality treatment volume on qualifying redevelopment projects for all newly constructed impervious surfaces areas not covered by a roof and eliminate the water quality treatment volume on redevelopment projects for impervious surfaces covered by a roof.
What it means
Impervious surfaces are those that water, typically from rain or storm surge, cannot penetrate. Without anywhere to go, the water builds up instead of soaking into the ground or permeable surfaces. These regulations help prevent flooding events like those seen after Hurricane Florence.
“Current city codes require developers to bring projects into full compliance with all stormwater guidelines if the total new impervious surface area – including redeveloped land where impervious surfaces already existed – exceeds more than 50 percent of the lot’s coverage. In other words, if more than half of the development is covered in buildings, parking areas, and other impervious surfaces, developers are no longer grandfathered into the lot’s existing stormwater design,” Port City Daily previously reported.
The guidelines were put in place nearly a decade ago in 2009 to benefit and improve water quality because runoff from imprevious surfaces often carries pollutants into local waterways. The City of Wilmington has approximately 28-percent of its area as impervious surfaces already.
City Council will vote on the amendment Tuesday during its regular scheduled council meeting at City Hall.
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