Somerset council continues hearing on 5401 Uppingham addition after neighbors press stormwater concerns

Somerset, Feb. 24, 2025 — The Somerset Town Council on Monday continued a public hearing on a building‑permit amendment for 5401 Uppingham Street after neighbors raised questions about how the project’s stormwater measures will affect adjacent yards.

Town staff summarized the application: the owners, Wonyoung Kai and Wu Yong Chang, proposed a one‑story front addition, a two‑story rear addition, a new driveway and two HVAC units. Staff told the council the site plan meets town setback and height rules and includes nonstructural environmental site design (ESD) practices — notably a landscape infiltration facility and permeable pavement — intended to infiltrate runoff from new impervious surfaces. Staff and the project surveyor said the proposed infiltration facility provides 450 cubic feet of storage and that the plan reduces the area contributing runoff to a nearby neighbor by roughly 4,000 square feet.

Neighbors said the on‑site solution, while elegant on paper, raises practical concerns during construction and in early operation. Joanne Stellar, who lives at 5407 Greystone Street, said she and her husband have spent decades building rain‑gardens to manage runoff and asked what would happen if the new infiltration feature did not establish as planned. "We are a little shaken by the fact that the permit's been issued," Stellar said, and asked about temporary protections during construction and who will be responsible for long‑term maintenance.

Applicant representatives and the project surveyor, Shane Green of Potomac Valley Surveys, said the design directs overflow to an earthen berm and swale that will route any excess to the public right of way rather than onto the Stellers’ property. Green said the facility will pond about 6 inches before overflowing and that soils testing included with the permit package passed for infiltration. The applicant also agreed to coordinate deliveries around the nearby school bus schedule and to hold construction coordination meetings with town staff.

Councilors pressed for specific commitments on construction‑period controls (silt fencing, sequencing to install drainage early, and contractor coordination) and for a completed arborist and technical report to be placed in the record. Town staff and the town attorney noted that stormwater maintenance is enforced by a recorded entry and inspection agreement that allows the town to inspect and require maintenance if the device is not functioning as approved.

Given outstanding neighbor concerns and the desire for the town arborist to finalize recommendations about tree protection and reforestation, the council voted to continue the hearing to a date to be scheduled (the town attorney noted the legal minimum 10‑day notice requirement for a continued hearing). The continuance gives staff time to finalize the arborist memo and gives neighbors and applicants a short window to pursue construction‑period protections.

The council did not take a final vote on the permit. The hearing will be reopened at a rescheduled date after the town posts the continued‑hearing notice.