Garner planning panel recommends ZTA 24002 to codify nitrogen-control stormwater rules in UDO

The Garner Planning Commission on March 6 voted 6-0 to recommend approval of Zoning Text Amendment ZTA 24002, a change that would duplicate the town—s existing nitrogen-control stormwater program directly into the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to improve enforceability, Planning staff said.

The amendment consolidates four post-construction requirements already in the town—s nitrogen-control program into the UDO: town inspection and acceptance of new stormwater control measures before turnover to the owner; a recorded operations-and-maintenance (O&M) agreement and memorandum of agreement; annual third-party inspections with reports submitted to the town; and a public access and maintenance easement to allow legal, drivable access to the device for future maintenance.

"The first basically says that when a new stormwater control measure is built with new development, it has to be reviewed, inspected, and accepted by the town, and then will be turned over to the owner for perpetual maintenance," Leah Harrison, the town engineering director, told the commission. She summarized the other elements as requirements already in practice but proposed to be written into the UDO to make enforcement clearer.

Harrison said the O&M agreement and memorandum are recorded at the Register of Deeds so maintenance responsibilities remain with the property after a sale. "Otherwise, we just document that it was inspected and is functioning the way it needs to to function, and that's due on an annual basis," she said, describing the annual inspection requirement mandated by the state program.

Commissioner Ralph Carson proposed two minor wording changes to the draft language—adding a clause to require compliance with the approved plan design in the review-and-approval section and simplifying redundant language in the maintenance-plan subsection—and moved that the commission recommend approval with those suggestions. The motion was seconded and passed on a 6-0 roll call.

The commission and staff discussed who may perform the required inspections. Harrison said the town does not require a professional-engineer (PE) license for inspectors; instead, it accepts certification under the North Carolina State SCM (stormwater control measure) inspection and maintenance program as evidence of qualification.

Commissioners also asked about the public-access easement. Harrison said it must be accessible by maintenance equipment and not exceed the state's maximum slope for such easements, which she said is 6 percent. She added that the O&M requirements list specific tasks and frequencies in the operations plan, and that some maintenance actions occur more frequently than annual inspection reports (for example, mowing versus occasional dredging).

Planning staff said they will draft the precise, commission-suggested language for submission to the Town Council. The commission—s recommendation is advisory; final adoption of the UDO amendment will be decided by the Town Council.

During later planning-director reports, staff addressed related stormwater questions but did not take other formal actions. Staff noted the UDO currently requires detention for the 1-, 10- and 25-year storms and that the 100-year storm can be required at the town engineer—s discretion; commissioners discussed a possible future "toolbox" of green stormwater infrastructure options rather than a universal 100-year-storm requirement.

The commission also briefly asked staff about the planned VA clinic; staff said they had not received notice of changes to the planned opening and had no new information to report.

Votes at a glance: ZTA 24002 (stormwater requirements for nitrogen control) —0: Motion to recommend approval of ZTA 24002, with Commissioner Ralph Carson—s suggested wording changes to subsections O and Q; mover: Commissioner Ralph Carson; second: not specified in the record; vote: Ralph Carson —1, Philip Jefferson —1, Geehan Hodges —1, Ben Mills —1, Sherry Phillips —1, Michael Voyland —1; tally: 6 yes, 0 no; outcome: motion passes and recommendation forwarded to Town Council.