Permanent Stormwater Controls Ok’D

Spokane County commissioners have been wading through the problem of stormwater control and may have come up with at least one answer.

Last week they approved a permanent ban on construction of buildings on natural drainage ways in the Moran Prairie, Glenrose Prairie and Central Park watershed.

The new ordinance, adopted on a 2-1 vote, also prohibits construction of basements in new homes and requires developers to use evaporation ponds for runoff.

Commissioners Kate McCaslin and John Roskelley voted yes while Phil Harris voted no.

The latter restrictions have been in place for two years as a temporary means of controlling stormwater. The new ordinance makes the regulations permanent.

Commissioners told staff to meet with homebuilders to see if they can come up with a way to allow exceptions to the no-basement rule. Homebuilders said some locations are safe for basements because ground-water levels are deep enough not to cause seepage.

Homebuilders also asked for an amendment to allow them to maintain housing densities on tracts that have drainage ways. The idea is to set aside the natural drainage ways but to allow the same number of homes as would be allowed on land without a drainage way.

The problem of flooded basements and parking lots has worsened in recent years in southeast Spokane, especially in seasons of heavy snow and rainfall.

It’s a problem that is occurring elsewhere as more homes and businesses are built in unincorporated areas. A similar ordinance is being considered for Five Mile Prairie on the North Side.

Even as commissioners were tightening controls on developers in southeast Spokane, they backed away from a proposed fee increase in the county’s stormwater service area.

The commissioners said no to a staff proposal to increase fees from $10 a year to $30 a year for residences in the stormwater area of the county.

Large property owners, including industrial locations, would have had substantial fee increases because the charges are based on land area for nonresidential properties.

Brenda Sims, stormwater utility manager, said the fee increase was intended to raise money for physical improvements, such as collection pipes and detention ponds.

A consultant has estimated that $13 million is needed to buy drainage ways and build a system of pipes and ponds in southeast Spokane.

The commissioners’ decision not to impose a fee increase for now is expected to slow construction of stormwater improvements.

“We don’t know what we are going to do next,” Sims said. “We need to rethink the plan.”

Sims and other staff members have proposed using the fee increase to subsidize 30 percent of the construction costs for area-by-area stormwater systems.

The other 70 percent would be paid by property owners through some type of surcharge within each drainage basin.

The county currently has a contract with a consultant to develop a watershed plan for the West Plains by 2001.

County officials are also updating countywide stormwater management guidelines. The updated guidelines could put new restrictions on developers, including controls over how much water is allowed to leave a site. Proposals also seek to control the silt and mud flowing from building sites. Dirty water is known to clog existing stormwater control systems, such as drywells, downstream from construction sites.