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Engineering proposes ordinance change to let city review stormwater permits to speed approvals
Summary
The city’s engineering director presented language to amend the land‑development standards to add state stormwater (site law) provisions and asked the committee to move the proposal to a first reading and referral to the planning board.
Jeff Davis, director of engineering, asked the Business and Economic Development Committee to move forward a referral and first reading of an ordinance amendment that would add state stormwater (site law) provisions to the city’s land development approval standards.
Davis said the Maine Department of Environmental Protection has three categories of stormwater permits for land development and that DEP has experienced staff shortages causing long permit turnaround times. He said the city already reviews many land‑development elements and that adding the state stormwater review authority into local ordinance would allow the city to perform the review locally and shorten developers’ timelines.
The proposed amendment would add review authority under 38 M.R.S.A. Sec. 420‑D and cite DEP chapters referenced in the state stormwater program (transcript references to DEP chapters). Davis told the committee that the DEP would remain available to consult if the city needed technical guidance. The presenter asked the committee to advance the order so the ordinance could be referred to the planning board and later return for a second reading. The transcript records the presentation and questions but does not show a formal committee vote on the ordinance language.
