NFP board backs variance to allow stormwater treatment and wetlands restoration at 433 Reed Court

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Natural Features Protection (NFP) Review Board on April 22 recommended that the Zoning Board of Appeals grant relief from the board’s wetland and water-resource setback standards so a stormwater-treatment and wetlands-restoration project at 433 Reed Court can move forward.

City staff said the project, on land now owned by the Kalamazoo Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and proposed for transfer to the City of Kalamazoo Public Works Department, would treat runoff from about 12 acres of city streets that currently discharges untreated into Portage Creek. The board voted 5-0 to forward the request to the ZBA; recorded yes votes were Fredrickson, Fuller, Mergia, Leto and Martin.

The variance is needed because the project places engineered stormwater best-management practices (BMPs) inside the NFP code’s setbacks for wetlands and water resources. Nolan (city staff) told the board the current design would place treatment devices and bioswales inside those setbacks; the site would return to the NFP board for full site-plan review if the variance moves through ZBA and the development process.

Tom Palumbo, the project presenter, summarized the design as “environmental…