Stormwater

The issue of stormwater was one of the first things which brought me into neighborhood organizing. In North Raleigh we have often seen the muddy runoff from nearby development pouring over the streets and collecting in our backyards. It has always been my position that developers should be held responsible for preventing and managing the stormwater runoff which results from their projects.

Since joining council I have continued to make the stormwater issue a priority, and a few months ago I asked the Stormwater Management Advisory Committee to look at tightening our requirements for stormwater runoff during construction. They responded to the council with a list of recommendations, and I asked that the issue be looked at in the Comprehensive Planning Committee to see if more could be done.

Currently, the stormwater issue is still in the Comprehensive Planning Committee. On February 11 we discussed potential steps the city can take to limit the possibility of silt and stormwater runoff during construction. We learned that we cannot increase the fines for failure to comply because the state sets our fine limits. So we are now focusing on preventing the problem. We have sent requests back to the Stormwater Management Advisory Comittee to look at things such as graduated grading and other standards to make construction sites less likely to cause massive runoff.

We expect the final resolution on new stormwater standards to come before council in the next few months.