Storm water discussion rises again in council chambers

By Frank Ruggiero

ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

Talk of storm water once again flooded the Boone Town Council chambers, this time at the council’s April regular meeting.

Graydon Eggers, former town councilman and partner of MILHUG, LLC, requested an appearance with the town council to address storm water detention regulations for single-family developments.

Eggers recalled his time on the council, which started examining the issue of revamping storm water detention and retention requirements more than a year ago.

When it came to voting on such matters, Eggers would recuse himself from the vote, as he held interest in a 51-acre development adjacent to New Market Estates on Howard’s Knob. Forty-six of those acres were donated to the High Country Conservancy, leaving five acres for development that Eggers said make it difficult to implement storm water detention per town regulations without passing an inflated cost onto the homebuyer.

Eggers argued that the town’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) exempts single-family lots’ impervious areas in the calculation for detention measures, yet single-family lots in subdivisions are subject to compliance.

The UDO also refers to minor subdivisions as “commercial,” which Eggers also disputed. This, he said, places an “unfair burden on small subdivisions” and adds $6,000 to $10,000 in detention costs to a homebuyer.

In a letter to town council members, Eggers recalled how, in July 2005, the council decided to “study the matter further,” but said he was later told that discussions were planned for October, then November, then January and then the annual town of Boone retreat.

“I have been patiently waiting for eight months to hear such discussion and possible action, but [a homebuyer’s] home-building plans should now suggest immediate resolution of the matter,” Eggers wrote.

Council member Dempsey Wilcox told Eggers that the council had discussed the matter extensively at the retreat, but without resolution.

He recalled council member Lynne Mason suggesting that the council continue to follow the interim regulations until a more conclusive report on storm water policy is completed by an engineer.

“It will take a lot to lift single-family lots until we get that study,” Wilcox said, pointing out that Boone Development Services director John Spear said developers of small subdivisions can take the cost on themselves, though Wilcox said he didn’t think that would happen. Instead, homeowners will have to establish property owners’ associations to maintain detention facilities, which, he added, no one wants to do.

“Until we get a more comprehensive policy, I think we should exempt these single-family lots,” Wilcox said.

Spear reminded the council how the Boone Area Planning Commission and town council met to thoroughly discuss the issue a year ago, when planning staff presented numerous options for storm water policy. The choice was made, though, to keep the current regulations for storm water management exactly as written.

Storm water quality requirements vary with the state, Spear noted, so the town council rescinded the town’s retention standards, leaving none in their place. The town does, however, have detention standards.

One of the options at that early meeting, Spear noted, was to exempt individual lot owners in new subdivisions from storm water management, but that option was rejected.

Now, the developer must develop the system and install it, Spear said. If the detention system is located beneath a private road, though, it must be maintained by a property owners’ association, which is also required in the state’s general statues, Spear said, adding that he wouldn’t recommend that the town assume maintenance of a street built to private standards.

Such is the case with MILHUG’s system, and Eggers asked council members if they’d consider accepting the street with storm water detention measures beneath, as he didn’t want to put the burden of maintenance on property owners. Had the development been designed for above-ground detention, historic and significant trees would have had to have been removed.

Property owners could install their own detention measures, but the homeowner would be forced to place the home’s footprint elsewhere on the lot to accommodate the measures.

Blake Brown, director of Boone Public Works, said the underlying problem with the street in question is the underground detention and who would maintain it, as pipe systems only last so long.

Council member Bunk Spann said the town currently has a lot on its plate, including consultant work on storm water management and steep slope and multi-family development regulations. As such, Spann said he didn’t know if the council wanted to make a decision that night, since the impending regulations could affect storm water policy.

Mason said there is a study in progress, and that she’s struggling with amending the regulations for MILHUG’s situation rather than looking at what’s good for the entire situation. She said she doesn’t want to work on the matter in a piecemeal approach, as it wouldn’t address infrastructure and responsibility for the maintaining the system. Instead, Mason said she’d prefer to wait for recommendations from the consultant.

Town manager Greg Young told council members the town is initiating work in regards to the consultant. Council member Rennie Brantz said he was concerned in that the town cannot “put things on hold forever,” as people need to move ahead with their projects. Wilcox noted this was one of the problems with the whole plan.

Eggers said it boils down to the fact that the council saw the problem with the retention issue and knew it would cause trouble by having it in place and thus removed it.

The problem now is that the storm water detention regulations were left in place, meaning someone could purchase a home and move in, only to have new and, perhaps, less-stringent regulations pass soon afterwards. Plus, the council wouldn’t be able to address such a situation afterwards to avoid setting a precedent, he added.

“We can prevent this right now,” Eggers said. “We should have pulled back on the detention, as well.”

Were the town to implement comprehensive storm water measures, assessment for a single-family residence should be very affordable, he said. Eggers added that storm water off a handful of single-family lots is insignificant when compared to the storm water of Boone.

Town attorney Sam Furgiuele said council action would require a public hearing, as it involves amending the UDO. The most that could be done that evening would be to direct planning staff to compose a draft.

The council decided to let the matter rest for the time being, and Spann said, “My belief is we’re not going to let this die.”

Eggers hopes the same. “The big deal on storm water detention is the inequity,” he said. “I made the case that in a larger subdivision you have the room to do these things. But if you’re going to say it doesn’t apply to the construction of a single-family home, it should be that way – whether it’s in a subdivision or a single-family lot somewhere.”