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Speaker urges Escambia County to adopt stormwater ordinance, warns of flooding at proposed Mackenzie Estates
Summary
At the county’s public forum, Chris Curb, a member of the land development code task force, urged the county to restart work on a stormwater ordinance in light of new environmental resource permit regulations and warned a proposed Mackenzie Estates subdivision may flood because two creeks converge on the property.
Chris Curb, a member of Escambia County’s Land Development Code Task Force, told the county’s public forum that recent work collecting data for the Perdido Basin shows flooding risks that should prompt the county to adopt a stormwater ordinance and require floodplain analyses for some developments.
“I spoke to at the last public forum in Commissioner Berry's district was Mackenzie Estates, a proposed development where you have 2 creeks that merge on this property. Oh, Mackenzie Road, it goes underwater. And we just had a little flash flood, and it went underwater. That's another repeat of Bristol Park, brother. If your DRC doesn't require a flood plain analysis over those creeks, you're going to have a Bristol Park again,” Curb said.
Curb said he attended sessions on nature-based solutions presented by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and described plans to start similar data collection for the Perdido Basin. He said a new environmental resource-permit regulation—recorded in the forum as “chapter 20 20 24 2 75”—will require larger ponds and encourage green infrastructure to remove phosphorus and nitrogen. He urged the county to move forward on a stormwater ordinance that would incorporate those changes.
“It's also gonna bring in green infrastructure to remove phosphorus and nitrogen. Well, guess what? The SANUS didn't kill it this legislative session, so it's still on. So you might as well go ahead and adopt your stormwater ordinance,” Curb said.
Curb warned that without required floodplain studies and updated stormwater standards, new subdivisions could repeat problems seen at Bristol Park and Mackenzie Road. The transcript records no formal board action or directive during the public forum; Curb’s remarks were part of the public-comment period and would require referral to staff or the Board of County Commissioners for ordinance drafting or further study.
The transcript indicates Curb sits on the county’s land development code task force and is participating in local work on floodplain mapping and stormwater planning; the forum did not record specific deadlines, cost estimates or formal motions related to those items.
