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Engineers outline MS4-driven stormwater regulation updates; residents and developers warn of small‑lot impacts
Summary
At a Sept. 25 workshop Scituate consultants presented draft regulatory changes to meet EPA MS4 requirements — including counting permeable pavers for thresholds and applying water‑quality targets (90% TSS, 60% phosphorus) — while developers and some residents warned the rules could be burdensome for small lots and single‑family projects.
Scituate planning staff and consultants held a public workshop on Sept. 25 to review draft changes to the town stormwater regulations intended to bring Scituate into compliance with the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permit. Consultants Michelle Waxman and Nick Cohen outlined the MS4 background, then described specific regulatory edits and performance targets the town is proposing.
Waxman, a senior water resources engineer, and Cohen, an environmental planner, said the town must update regulatory language to address construction and post‑construction stormwater management and to include water‑quality performance standards for new development and redevelopment. Cohen described the standard the draft applies to both new development and redevelopment: "the language here reflects 90% of the annual average total suspended solids and 60% of the average annual total phosphorus load," he said, noting Scituate is aligning its regulations with draft MS4 performance guidance.
The draft regulations include several notable technical changes: adoption of Noah Atlas 14 precipitation data for design storms, new or clarified definitions (including treating permeable pavers as impervious for threshold calculations unless proven otherwise), expanded inspection and certificate‑of‑completion requirements, and watershed‑specific water‑quality considerations for impaired waters.
Developers and contractors at the workshop cautioned that applying the water‑quality performance standards and some threshold changes to small lots could make routine single‑family work significantly more expensive. One developer estimated that requiring a formal stormwater permit for modest projects could add at least $10,000 in minimum upfront costs. Several attendees also noted practical constraints in Scituate — shallow groundwater in many neighborhoods and setbacks from septic systems — that can limit the feasibility of infiltration‑based BMPs on smaller parcels.
Planning staff and consultants said the immediate priority is to update the regulations to address MS4 compliance by the EPA target date; they recommended revising the bylaw at the spring town meeting to address jurisdictional/threshold changes for parcels smaller than one acre. The board scheduled a public hearing on the draft regulations for October and encouraged written comments from stakeholders.
Planning staff stressed the workshop was an opportunity to refine definitions and thresholds before a public hearing. "If town meeting wants to say you can expand jurisdiction to smaller lots, let the town meeting decide that," a consultant said. The workshop record indicates a mix of support for meeting MS4 obligations and concern about implementation burdens for homeowners and small developers.
