Agenda - Planning Commission - 04/07/2016

Home

Q The small creek in the photo on the left drains zoo acres upstream of the stormwater detention pond in the photo on the right, which is partially owned by a home owners association (the other half of the pond is owned by another by the original developer). When the Hopewell Heights development was constructed about io years ago, the pond was eight to zo feet deep. After io years, sedimentation reduced the depth from between zero and four feet, nearly eliminating the pond's stormwater storage function. The association decided to dredge its half of the pond and perform needed improvements to the outlet at a cost of nearly $zo,000. Unfortunately, the original developer has refused to dredge the other half, imperiling the ongoing functionality of the pond for stormwater management. levels. Ideally, utility easements should simply be located outside flood hazard areas entirely. Major utility equipment should be included in the community's definition of critical facilities, which should then be required to be located outside the Soo -year floodplain to ensure a minimum of damage. One area of concern identified in the new report is the proliferation of owners associa- tions. According to the Community Associa- tions Institute, zo.7 percent of the U.S. popula- tion, or 66.7 million Americans, live in 333,600 common -interest communities. Approximately 55 percent of these common -interest communi- ties are home owners associations. Indeed, subdivision standards across the country gen- erally allow for the creation of owners associa- tions —usually either condo or home owners. These owners associations may manage roads, parklands and other open space, stormwater, and flood control infrastructure. lithe associa- tion is managing these facilities, they are usu- ally considered privately owned. The increasing use of the owners association may be seen as beneficial by tax -starved local governments who see them as a way to promote develop- ment and raise new tax dollars while avoiding liability for these new facilities. The question is whether such associations will be able over the longterm to maintain the necessary assess- ments to support responsibility for managing highly engineered systems such as levees and floodwalls.The report offers some recommend- ed standards for handling these problems. PLATTING One major step for the future involves the use of flood hazard information on plat maps. Significant improvements in FEMA flood maps have resulted in new flood maps that are overlaid on an aerial mapping layer, but the next step is to transfer that information to subdivision plans and plats. Having such data on preliminary plans can help community staff and planning boards make informed decisions as they consider approving new subdivisions. Having this information on final plats is very helpful in informing potential new residents and buyers of parcels of flood risk on the tots being developed. Communities can address this by showing the ioo-year elevation level on all subdivision plats. They can also require that those final plats include the building pad or proposed low- est finished floor elevations. Finally, a flood - plain note on the plat or survey can identify the parcel as being flood prone (with references to flood zones and FIRM [Flood Insurance Rate Map] panel information), state that improve- ments are subject to additional floodplain management regulations, and inform of the need to submit an elevation certificate, or the need to purchase flood insurance. Communities can also use conservation easements to permanently protect flood -prone areas or floodplains. Most planners are already familiar with the use of conservation ease- ments in various contexts, so the real issue is how to apply them in this particular context. Planners can create incentives for the use of such easements for floodplains by allow- ing density bonuses on lots or dwelling units and by requiring a permanent conservation or drainage easement when the community has areas of lots in the floodplain that are not allowed to be developed. For example, Lake County, Illinois, requires a stormwater/drain- age restrictive covenant for each lot platted for areas that are designated as stormwater and drainage ways, floodplains, wetlands, and buf- fer areas. This permanent deed restriction lim- its uses, requires maintenance of the area by the lot owner or home owners association, and importantly allows any property owner in the subdivision, property owners downstream or upstream adversely affected by any violation, or the municipality to have standing to bring an enforcement action. WATERSHED MANAGEMENT Stormwater management over the past few de- cades has relied on highly engineered practices that channel stormwater quickly and efficiently ZONINGPRACTICE 3.16 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION r page.