Neighbors and developers clash over stream-buffer relief for Brookhaven lots; board debates stormwater mitigation

The board spent a large portion of the session on AR/VAR 25-00014 and related AR25-0025, requests tied to two rear lots (identified as 2511 and 2517) that sit within a 5.4-acre watershed. Applicants and their engineers argued the properties suffer an exceptional hardship because of concentrated stormwater flows and a city-owned storm pipe that lacks an easement. They presented video evidence of significant runoff from a July 30, 2022 rainfall event and cited hydrology calculations estimating large volumes of water during storm events; the applicants said the proposed stormwater management system would not increase downstream flooding and would reduce sediment loads and improve water quality.

A wave of neighbors opposed relief, arguing the lots had been treated as undevelopable for decades, that prior water studies and a detention pond were…