Kalamazoo NFP Board approves Reed Avenue stormwater restoration at 433 Reed Court

The Natural Features Protection (NFP) Review Board on Oct. 28 approved the site plan for a stormwater restoration and habitat project at 433 Reed Court (Reed Ave) after a presentation from city staff and the project engineer.

City engineer Tom Palomo told the board the project is “a project that's funded by, NRDA, damage assessment funding from the from an old paper mill site” and is intended as a wetland restoration rather than redevelopment of the brownfield parcel. Palomo described the site as containing Portage Creek and about 4.3 acres of land, of which roughly 1.5 acres are delineated wetlands; he said previous EPA dredging and remediation work affected portions of the wetland.

Staff and the project team said the primary on-site features include bioswales and vegetated stabilization, micro pools, hibernacula, a sand pit intended as a turtle nesting area and a short mulch trail and boardwalk for public viewing. Palomo said the design also routes the dirtiest “first-flush” stormwater through a manufactured treatment device that is “rated for 80% TSS removal,” trapping sediment and floating debris and reducing downstream phosphorus and nitrogen loads.

Board members asked how removing invasive understory would affect sight lines from the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail (KRVT) and whether lighting or safety features would be installed. Palomo said no lighting is proposed and that the boardwalk footprint is small; he said the project team has discussed safety with public safety and parks staff and that invasive-removal could increase short-term sight lines while native vegetation establishes.

On trees, the project team reported a vegetation survey of trees larger than 10 inches in diameter that identified 165 trees; the plans list six trees to be removed to execute the work, primarily for construction access and safety. Palomo said the design routed bioswales to avoid tree removals where possible.

At the meeting the board made and seconded a motion to approve the NFP site plan for the 433 Reed Court/Reed Avenue stormwater restoration project, conditioned upon final site plan review; the motion passed on a roll-call vote with all members voting yes.

Next steps identified by staff include completing the concurrent site plan review and implementing the tree protection and construction fencing measures shown on the approved plans. The project team and staff said they would follow the site-plan and permitting process required by Kalamazoo City before construction begins.