Unified Development Ordinance

Sec. 8.8.2. Piping of Watercourses

Sec. 8.8.2. Piping of Watercourses aaron.sheppard… Tue, 05/23/2023 - 13:21
  1. This section applies to all storm drainage piping of watercourses except those crossing public or private streets.
  2. The City encourages retaining stormwater onsite through rainwater harvesting, infiltration, and/or evaporation and through preserving natural drainage features. All natural watercourses shall remain open and unaltered unless piping, enclosing or altering is requested and justified by the developer or required by the Engineering Services Director, but then only when the following conditions are met:
    1. Where the Engineering Services Director has determined that an existing public or private storm drainage system is reasonably available, the developer must either connect the development pipe system to said storm drainage system or, during the administrative site review meeting for the development, propose options for using GSI practices as a part the site’s stormwater management plan;
    2. The developer must do all grading and provide all structures necessary to properly connect to the existing storm drainage system;
    3. All design and construction must be to City standards;
    4. Pipes and open channels must be designed in accordance with the Stormwater Management Design Manual;
    5. Storm drains and culverts used in conjunction with streets must meet the standards of Sec. 9.3.8. and Sec. 9.3.9.;
    6. To preserve the screening function of CM Districts and protective yards, pipes which traverse any CM District or protective yard for a distance of at least 50 feet or more shall be built with a bend to prevent direct sight view through the yard provided that the bend must not exceed a 90-degree angle. The requirement of a bend within a CM District or a protective yard may be waived or modified waived or modified by the City Council where the
      gradient will not permit gravity flow or where the CM District or a protective yard fails to contain a vegetative screen;
    7. Where natural drainage systems are used or where an approved pipe drainage system cannot be connected to an existing public pipe drainage system, a developer must grade to assure positive flow of runoff from design storms and provide drainage structures that are necessary to properly carry stormwater to locations which are acceptable to the Engineering Services Director. Such grading shall not preclude the use of practices that retain the stormwater onsite;
    8. The watercourse is located outside natural resource buffer yards of a -FWPOD, -SWPOD, UWPOD, -MPOD or CM District and outside riparian water surface buffers unless a variance is granted; and
    9. The watercourse buffer standards of Sec. 9.2.3., whenever applicable, are met.