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Article published August 11, 2010
Officials have tough call
The Butler County commissioners are stuck between a rock and a hard place over proposed stormwater management regulations. On one side, residents and municipal officials want the county to loosen the guidelines before enacting them in two weeks. However, the state Department of Environmental Protection might reject the county resolution if its limits are not stringent enough. "We're in a catch-22," said county Commissioner Jim Lokhaiser at Wednesday's meeting. Once the county adopts a resolution that is approved by DEP, all 57 municipalities in the county must adopt ordinances with limits no looser than the resolution. A point of contention in the guideline is the minimum size for new developments requiring stormwater mitigation plans with volume and rate controls for water runoff. The size limit encompasses the entire area of a development that covers up the ground, including driveways, creating surfaces impervious to water. Other counties in the northwest region of the state, such as Lawrence and Venango, have set that minimum at more than 5,000 square feet — the state recommendation. Various municipal officials have suggested 10,000 square feet as a more appropriate limit as the ordinances can set lower limits where needed. Lokhaiser said it would be easy for him and the other commissioners to pass a resolution with a higher limit such as 10,000 square feet and blame DEP if it is sent back to the county. He said the commissioners have to make a responsible decision. Commissioner James Kennedy agreed. The DEP is judging each county resolution on a case-by-case basis. A 1978 state law mandates the implementation of stormwater management regulations to prevent future flooding problems caused by new development. However, the state didn't set aside funding for the implementation until a few years ago. The state pays 75 percent of the county's expense to develop the resolution. Most of the cost is a $334,220 contract with the Pittsburgh firm Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, the consultant for the project. Dave Johnston, county planning director, said the county's share of the total expenses, 25 percent, was covered mainly by in-kind services of county staff working on the resolution. "We prepared the plan ... at little expense to the county," he said. The DEP granted the county an extension to the original June 30 deadline. Along with flooding issues, the requirements also are meant to address water quality. To ease the burden on residents, the regulations allow an exemption for construction of single-family residences not part of a large housing plan. Under the exemption, an engineered stormwater plan would be unnecessary if there is a building setback of 75 feet from downstream property lines. The state's model ordinance requires developments between 2,000 square feet and 5,000 square feet to have water volume controls, but not an engineered plan with water rate controls. Johnston said construction between 2000 and 2008 created roughly 17 acres of development diverting water from where it previously went into the ground. Municipalities with existing stormwater management ordinances must amend those regulations to meet DEP criteria. The county commissioners are set to vote on the resolution at their Aug. 18 meeting, which starts at 10 a.m. in the government center behind the Butler County Courthouse on Diamond Street.
