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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 15 Correspondence from Planned Parenthood of Southern Oregon May 21, 2013 Mayor and City Council City of Springfield 225 Fifth Street Springfield, OR 97477 Dear Mayor and Council: Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon received a notification from the Development and Public Works Department that we would be billed for stormwater drainage services at our site at 3579 Franklin Blvd. The letter from the City indicated that the rate we would be charged is based on impervious surface on the lot and our lot was categorized as having a moderate run-off factor. We respectfully disagree that our business should be billed for stormwater services as our building and site have no connection to the public stormwater system. A public stormwater system does not exist in Glenwood at or near our site. When we submitted for Site Plan Review, we were informed that the City’s Land Use Code required that we demonstrate how all stormwater would be treated and detained on site. To that end, PPSO: • designed large bioswales in the front, back and side areas of our lot • installed a vegetated roof that runs off into a large underground cistern that allows us to use collected rainwater for all our toilet flushing • utilized pervious asphalt for our parking areas • invested nearly $200,000 in added costs installing all the treatment and infiltration systems on site because there was no public stormwater system available. In addition to the up-front construction costs for implementing these strategies, the City’s Land Use Code also required that a significant amount of area of the site be dedicated to stormwater detention, which places limitations on parking capacity and future expansion. There are many developments in Springfield that provide for on-site treatment of stormwater and then pipe the treated stormwater to the City’s system. Our development is different, in that all stormwater is treated and infiltrated on site. It doesn’t seem right for the City to require all stormwater to be treated and detained on-site, AND bill businesses for ongoing stormwater drainage services. This approach seems to disregard the difference between the types of systems installed in many other developments and the type of system that PPSO installed at our site. Rewarding business behavior that the City is trying to encourage, rather than penalizing businesses, is the appropriate response. The stormwater fee is a barrier to development and redevelopment in Glenwood, as long as the City also requires all new development in Glenwood to treat and retain stormwater on site. PPSO chose this site in Glenwood because part of our mission is to have a light footprint. Glenwood is already committed to development, so in keeping with our mission, we chose to develop responsibly in a committed urban area, rather than at the edge of the urban growth boundary. PPSO chose this site knowing that there was no public stormwater system and there would be some additional costs associated with development. PPSO positively views many of the on-site stormwater detention and treatment requirements because it helps lower the environmental impact of development. In the event that stormwater infrastructure is installed in the future, PPSO would be glad to work with the City to test our on-site treatment and certify that there is no connection or utilization of that infrastructure. Action Requested: Develop and implement a policy that forgives/foregoes charging stormwater fees for development that treats and retain all stormwater on site. We await the City’s response. Sincerely, Cynthia Pappas President and CEO c: Gino Grimaldi, City Manager Vicki Silvers, Chair, PPSO Board of Directors M E M O R A N D U M City of Springfield Date: 6/17/2013 To: Gino Grimaldi, City Manager From: Matt Stouder, Managing Civil Engineer Anette Spickard, Deputy Development & Public Works Director Len Goodwin, Development & Public Works Director Subject: Stormwater User Fees INFORMATION SHARE: This memorandum is for your information. It summarizes background and context for the City’s Stormwater User Fee Program, and also responds to the May 21, 2013 letter submitted to the Mayor and Council by Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon (PPSO). History of Stormwater User Fee Program On July 1, 1989 Springfield City Council first adopted Municipal Code language requiring the collection of stormwater drainage fees from all real property in the City of Springfield. While the City’s code numbering system has been revised, this basic language remains essentially unchanged as of the date of this communication. Over this period of time, however, Council has adopted a number of resolutions to revise the drainage user fee amounts based upon regulatory requirement changes, capital infrastructure investment needs, debt service requirements and inflation. Currently, Springfield Municipal Code 4.208 (2) requires that all real property within the city which contributes drainage water to or which benefits from the function of the drainage system of the City pay a stormwater fee [emphasis supplied]. For property other than single family dwellings, this fee is calculated by the product of the property area (in square feet), the runoff coefficient (based on the intensity of the development-impervious area), and $3.525 per 1,000 square feet, plus the base of $1.40. All Single family dwellings pay an equal fee which is currently set at $12.13 per month. These amounts are scheduled to increase by 4% on July 1, 2013 as set by Council. As noted above, all real property in the city is classified and assigned a runoff coefficient according to the intensity of development, as follows: • Undeveloped: Real property which is undeveloped and unaltered by buildings, road, impervious surfaces. Coefficient = 0 • Light Development: Impervious surfaces of less than 20%. Coefficient = 0.40 • Moderate Development: Impervious surfaces 20% – 40%. Coefficient = 0.50 • Heavy Development: Impervious surfaces 41% - 70%. Coefficient = 0.75 • Very Heavy Development: Impervious surfaces more than 70%. Coefficient = 1.00 The code also provides for reclassification of an individual parcel of property to a lower classification of intensity of development than would be indicated by the runoff coefficient scheme above, if hydrologic data submitted by the property owner demonstrates a hydrologic response substantially similar to that of a parcel of property of such lower classification. Stormwater User Fees 6/13/2013 Page 2 The storm drainage fee pays for maintenance and operation of the storm drainage system that runs throughout the entire City. These activities include green infrastructure maintenance, capital improvement, leaf pick-up, street sweeping, catch basin cleaning, and numerous other activities related to the City’s storm drainage system. The fees also pay for our Phase II National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit mandated program activities (public education and outreach, public involvement and participation, illicit discharge detection and elimination, construction site stormwater runoff control, post-construction stormwater management for new development and redevelopment, pollution prevention in municipal operations). Failure to manage the system according to the provisions in our NPDES Permit could subject the City to enforcement action under the Clean Water Act and/or third party lawsuits. Separately, the City also imposes Systems Development Charges on all development. With respect to the Stormwater charge, the fee is calculated based upon the impact that the particular development has on existing capacity, and future capacity needs. Development which installs devices to reduce the amount of stormwater runoff into the system (i.e. bio- swales, drywells, etc) may be issued a discount on the stormwater SDCs based on the percentage of the runoff reduction. These charges are completely distinct from the charges imposed upon users of the system. Response to PPSO Letter In the May 21, 2013 letter, PPSO indicates a public stormwater system does not exist in Glenwood near their site and that City Code required all stormwater to be detained onsite. While current language in the Glenwood Refinement Plan (GRP) requires infiltration first if practical, it does allow for overflows to the public system during larger storm events. The GRP however, was not adopted nor in effect when PPSO submitted for development approval, so those code provisions did not apply to PPSO. In fact, there is a public stormwater system in Glenwood, in the vicinity of this development. That system is part of the Franklin Boulevard facilities, and has been constructed and maintained by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). The reason the City could not accept additional discharge offsite in the case of this development was that the existing public stormwater system across the street did not have available capacity since it was constructed to drain the street only. The City will design and construct a future stormwater collection system in Franklin to serve adjacent properties, and is working on accumulating funds from SDC’s and user rates to build that system as part of the Franklin Boulevard multi- way boulevard project. PPSO was aware of the constraints on their property with respect to stormwater and interested in moving forward anyway to meet their own scheduling concerns. In order to make the site design work from a stormwater perspective, PPSO chose to infiltrate all stormwater onsite through the use of large detention ponds, pervious pavements and other means. Through this design, PPSO was able to achieve zero discharge to the public system, though a portion of the area dedicated for stormwater infiltration will be removed when the City constructs the multi-way boulevard. By designing the site with zero discharge, PPSO realized a savings of approximately $17,000 in local stormwater SDC’s. In April 2013 SUB notified staff that PPSO was not being billed for City sewer or stormwater fees which should have begun December 2012. Staff notified PPSO of the City’s intention to begin billing for these required fees. The amount of the monthly charge ($51.13 per month) is based on a site inspection by staff to measure the impervious areas. The City Stormwater User Fees 6/13/2013 Page 3 did not enforce collection of the back months (December through May) and is billing forward from June 2013. As noted above, the existing rate structure is in city ordinance and includes tiered rates for commercial property but does not provide for a 100% waiver since the fee is designed to support the citywide stormwater infrastructure and NPDES permit requirements that benefit all that use our street system. The options available for alternative PPSO rate determination under the existing ordinance are: • Keep at current rate in the “moderate” impact category ($51.13 per month) • Reduce rate to “low” impact category ($41.32 per month) • Reduce rate to “undeveloped land” category ($1.40 per month) The current base rate of $1.40 monthly is arrived at by ascribing charges for billing and planning services to all properties in the City. As such, it does not fully take into account the numerous benefits that residents and businesses in the City receive as a result of having a functioning public stormwater management system. Staff can re-evaluate the stormwater fee structure and provide Council with options to consider for code amendments. In 2000, the City of Portland undertook a similar effort and has an effective model in place to address the impacts of new green infrastructure development that may be informative for our process. The staff study will include a discussion of the impacts to the City’s ability to maintain stormwater infrastructure and meet NPDES permit requirements given different funding scenarios. Unless Council directs to the contrary, staff will bring a discussion on this approach, and on other issues related to stormwater rates, such as discounts for seniors or for those of low income, to Council after the summer recess.