Committee forwards stormwater ordinance to Board to align city rules with state permit

Supervisor Scott Wiener introduced an ordinance to update San Francisco's stormwater management requirements for private development, telling the Land Use and Transportation Committee the changes are meant to bring city rules into alignment with California law and reduce discharge of contaminated water to the bay and ocean.

Sarah Minnick of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's urban watershed management program summarized six years of implementation, saying the city has processed about 240 projects and issued 104 final approvals under the current ordinance. Minnick described the amendments as primarily technical and regulatory: a change in the threshold of projects subject to the ordinance (Minnick's presentation used an unclear numeric phrase in the transcript) and replacing "ground disturbance" language with a test based on the creation or replacement of impervious surface to align the city's definition with the regional board.

Minnick said the ordinance has produced tangible green-infrastructure outcomes — rain gardens, permeable paving and other measures — that treat or slow stormwater on site. "We're getting a lot of great stormwater benefits," she said.

Wiener asked that the item be forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation. The committee moved the item forward "without objection."

No substantive public opposition was recorded during the item. The committee action forwards the ordinance to the Board for full consideration; the text before the committee clarifies thresholds and the regulatory trigger (impervious surface) rather than ground disturbance, and staff said the changes are intended to have a low overall impact while improving clarity and compliance.

What's next: The Board of Supervisors will receive the ordinance for further deliberation and any required public notice and hearings.