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Planning commission approves change to stormwater detention rules for lower Turkey Creek watershed
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Summary
Farragut planning commissioners approved ordinance 26-O-6—amending local stormwater rules to allow removal of detention requirements in lower watershed reaches when engineering documentation shows an overall benefit to stormwater timing and peak discharge control.
The Farragut Municipal Planning Commission on Monday approved an amendment to the town stormwater code that lets properties in lower portions of the Turkey Creek watershed avoid detention requirements when engineering documentation demonstrates doing so will reduce overall peak flow.
Staff recommended adoption of Resolution PC 26-O-1, which forwards Ordinance 26-O-6 to the board. "Staff recommends approval of Resolution PC 26-O-1, which recommends approval of Ordinance 26-O-6," a staff member stated during the meeting.
The change narrows where detention is mandatory by allowing engineers to show that runoff timing from upstream reaches reduces the effective peak at lower locations, so requiring detention at those lower parcels can be counterproductive. Staff said the measure is intended to reduce unnecessary on-site detention in areas where coordinated watershed timing leads to lower net peaks on downstream reaches such as Turkey Creek, Little Turkey Creek and North Fork Turkey Creek.
Commissioner 8 pressed for precise, defensible language. "We're dealing with the weather here, and I don't think we're proving anything," the commissioner said, urging replacement of the word "proven" with language such as "documentation demonstrates." Staff and other commissioners agreed the wording change improved the ordinance's legal clarity.
The commission moved and approved an amendment to the proposed language and then voted to adopt the motion recommending the ordinance; the chair recorded the vote as unanimous. Commissioners noted some members experienced electronic voting-screen issues and voted verbally for the record.
The ordinance amends the Farragut Code of Ordinances, chapter 111, stormwater management control (section 111-7). With the commission's action, staff will forward the recommendation to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen for final consideration.
Details of the amendment are technical and based on hydrologic timing; staff said the ordinance language will rely on engineering documentation submitted with development proposals to justify any request to eliminate on-site detention in qualifying lower-watershed locations.
