Parks and Open Space - 9-27-10 Attachment 1 — File 190232

General Information About Pervious Surfaces in Somerville from the Department of the Environment summarized by Martin Cline’s intern project

Summary of Intern Report by Martin Cline on Impervious Surfaces

Draft Policies and Actions from the Neighborhoods Committee of the Comprehensive Planning Process Environment    Goal:  Improve our shared neighborhood environmental quality.    Policy:  The City should provide information and support to help residents make sound  environmental choices.  Action:  Provide resources – written and on‐line – to help residents understand the  impacts of environmental choices.  Action:  Consolidate access to resources, including energy grants, in one place where  residents can understand eligibility.  Action:  Develop guides to landscaping that would be appropriate for Somerville’s  climate and development character.  Action:  Provide more access for residents to buy rain barrels and composting bins.    Policy:  The City should ensure that residents are aware of the environmental impacts of  activities on individual lots.  Action:  Increase public awareness of impacts of waste management and recycling.  Action:  Provide information to residents on impacts of paving surfaces and reduction of  tree cover.    Policy:  The City should protect neighbors from the environmental impacts of decisions made by  individual property owners.  Action:  Pursue a program to reduce pervious pavement, including but not limited to  developing a maximum impervious lot coverage requirement and incentives for more  plantings.  Action:  Develop a permitting process for paving of private lots to ensure that  development is consistent with zoning and stormwater policies.  Action:  Review and implement setback regulations for impervious driveways, requiring  a pervious buffer to eliminate runoff into neighboring lots.  Action:  Investigate shifting of a portion of the sewer fee towards a stormwater fee that  reflects off‐site runoff from lots. 

Pervious Driveways

Overview of the City of Lowell Paving Contractor Registration and Permit System ƒ Lowell City Council took two steps in 2008 to address this issue: o Authorizing a City Department (in Lowell’s case it was Engineering) to develop driveway permitting regulations and fees o Amending zoning to accept state stormwater standard citywide and limit paved areas on lots ƒ Permitting Process: o Driveway permit process integrated with curbcut permit process, but all driveway paving, even without a new curbcut, still requires a permit o Fees: Residential = $100, Commercial = $250; plus $50 inspection fee o Contractor required to post bond with city and register o Contractor responsible for securing permit o Applicant must submit sketch including scale, dimensions, lines of adjoining property and existing and proposed driveway. Survey plot plan is not required. Photos of existing site are also encouraged. o Driveways replaced in the same location require permitting. No permit required for crack-sealing operations ƒ Zoning Regulation: o Adoption of state stormwater standard citywide: no additional runoff to neighboring properties or to the street. Reduction in runoff required to the extent practicable. Required for all lots, not just those typically subject to review. o Landscape requirement is set on a per-unit basis for residential projects and landscaping is required to be in blocks of at least 225 square feet. o Front yards must be at least 50% landscaping

Recommended Strategy for Somerville Current System: ƒ Paving of lots requires no city permits (except curbcuts where applicable) ƒ Landscaping required to be 10% to 25% of lots, but landscaping can be impervious as long as a vehicle is not parked in a landscape area ƒ Parking areas may be pervious or impervious, but no benefit in zoning is established for impervious surfaces ƒ No clear regulation establishes that runoff from one lot may not impact other lots or city streets (although drainage reports are required for many projects and permit conditions usually address this concern) 1. Paving Contractor Registration and Permitting System ƒ Require registration of all paving contractors doing business in the City of Somerville ƒ Require permits for all paving work in the City of Somerville ƒ Identify responsible party (ISD? DPW?) for administration of the process ƒ Authorize department to establish regulations 2. Zoning Amendments ƒ Establish more clear regulations for number and size of curbcuts ƒ Establish new standard for on-site pervious surface that can include pervious driveways as well as pervious landscape areas ƒ Review landscape requirements ƒ Review existing regulations for runoff into neighboring properties and/or streets and make adjustments as necessary, including adoption of state standards 3. City Policies ƒ Establish, with DPW / Engineering / ISD a single policy for implementing the strategies above ƒ Merge with City curbcut policy if appropriate