Planning commission sends updated stormwater ordinance to City Council with favorable recommendation

The Michigan City Planning Commission on June 24 voted unanimously to send a revised stormwater ordinance and related zoning and subdivision amendments to the Michigan City Common Council with a favorable recommendation and a certification resolution.

The ordinance update, presented by Al Wallace, a stormwater consultant working with the Sanitary District, adopts a Purdue University LTAP model ordinance and updates local code to meet Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) MS4 permit requirements, Wallace said. "The best management practices could be filters and catch basins," Wallace told the Planning Commission as he walked through revisions intended to strengthen enforcement and clarify responsibilities.

The update matters because IDEM revised statewide MS4 and construction stormwater permits in late 2021 and required communities with MS4 programs to modernize ordinances. The Planning Commission—s action sends to City Council a package that includes the proposed ordinance text (Exhibit A), zoning and subdivision cross-reference changes (Exhibit B), and a Plan Commission resolution certifying the recommendation.

Commission discussion and staff responses focused on several implementation and enforcement questions raised in a prior meeting and in written comments. Commissioners sought…