Charter committee approves adding stormwater-rights language to preamble

The City of Edgewater Charter Review Committee voted March 31 to add language to the charter preamble declaring stormwater rights "to establish a foundation for legal action, policy alignment and future ordinances," a measure brought forward by committee member Patrick Fisher.

Fisher proposed the addition during discussion of the charter preamble, saying the statement would "establish a foundation for legal action, policy alignment and future ordinances" and urged the committee to include stormwater protections because current preamble language does not expressly address stormwater rights.

City Attorney Rollins cautioned that narrowly worded specific requirements are more likely to draw legal challenges under Senate Bill 180, but said preamble or aspirational language is less likely to be invalidated by courts than explicit regulatory line items. "A lot of the preamble language could be a basis for why the City chooses to do that," Rollins said, while noting severability and careful drafting could limit exposure.

Fisher’s motion to add the stormwater-rights declaration was seconded and approved by roll-call vote. The committee asked Fisher to provide drafting language and to email it to the attorney so Rollins can prepare ordinance/ballot drafts for committee review.

The committee discussed where the language would appear in the preamble and whether it should be a separate ballot question or included with existing items; Rollins suggested severability language and noted that the committee could split preamble items into separate ballot questions to limit risk.

Rollins will prepare the recommended language and the committee will review the final drafts at or before the April 14 meeting. The council will decide whether to present the language to voters and in which election.