Stormwater Partners Network

Dear Stormwater Partners,

Breaking news items to report:

1) The Waterkeepers Alliance and Earthjustice sent a letter
to MDE yesterday requesting a “Contested Case Hearing” for the Montgomery County stormwater permit.The permit for 2009-2014 was set to come into effect yesterday, unless such a request was filed.  The letter from the two groups also asked that MDE not put the permit on hold during the appeal, but enable the new permit to be implemented. Meanwhile, DEP’s budget request for FY2010 is increasing slightly, in part due to new hires needed to implement the new permit. We support DEP’s commitment, led by Director Bob Hoyt, to implement the new permit even while it is being appealed. (For more on DEP’s budget request, go to:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/omb/FY10/psprec/PDFs/dep.pdf).

2) The Montgomery County Civic Federation has selected the Montgomery County Stormwater Partners Network to receive the “Sentinel Award.”  The Sentinel Award is given annually to an individual or group, typically outside government, for contribution to good government at the local level.

The award will be presented at the MCCF Annual Awards Banquet, to be held Friday, May 15, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at the New Fortune Restaurant in Gaithersburg (in the Walnut Hill Shopping Center on MD 355 just north of Shady Grove Road and I-370, the mid-county highway).  A group acceptance is not only do-able, reports MCCF officer Jim Humphrey, but encouraged.

You can make reservations for the May 15 banquet using the form which will be available in the April issue of the MCCF newsletter–I’ll send you a copy of the form, when available.  Please mark your calendars and plan to join me in a group acceptance of the Sentinel Award!  We have earned this through our teamwork!

The Montgomery County Water Quality Advisory Group, a diverse group of citizens that meets monthly to discuss and provide advice to the County on water quality issues, has delivered its 2008 Annual Report to the County Executive.

Some of the recommendations highlighted in this year’s report include how costly it would be to cut funding for the DEP at this time given the new MS4 permit, the need to reexamine the County’s Water Quality Protection Charge as a source of revenue, and the need for a champion to highlight water quality issues to the public.

A landscape architect regarded as a true innovator for her work on a 120-acre environmentally responsible townhouse development in Seattle, among other projects, will join the Montgomery County Planning Department on Tuesday, March 17 as part of its 2009 Growing Smarter Speaker Series.

Peg Staeheli, ASLA LEED, is president of SvR Design Company, a Seattle-based landscape architecture and civil engineering firm specializing in integrated and environmentally responsible design. Her work has featured sustainable solutions that incorporate natural features into the built environment. She also has worked to modify urban development building codes based on models in Sweden and Germany. Called the Green Factor, the codes are part of Seattle’s plan to bring more greenery to the streets of commercial districts and compensate for the limitations urban density imposes on green space.

Staeheli and her firm have installed specialized drainage systems – including such measures as rainwater harvesting, green roofs, porous pavements, grassy and vegetated infiltration swales, and zero import/export water management. Those measures combine to improve water quality and stream flows to environmentally sensitive watersheds, such as those with high salmon value.

Her signature project, High Point Redevelopment, showcased how to build innovative high-density, mixed income and affordable/market rate housing while improving water quality in a nearby creek. Working with the Seattle Housing Authority, Staeheli helped move the plan through subdivision and site plan reviews and set the stage for infrastructure improvements such as a network of swales, ponds and open space spanning 34 blocks.

The first phase of the 1,600-unit development was completed in 2006 and met an ambitious goal to limit overall paved, impervious surfaces on High Point’s 120 acres. The second phase is under construction.

Such low-impact development that also provides for diverse housing needs is a topic of interest to Montgomery County planners as they ink a new housing plan and form recommendations for the 2009-2011 Growth Policy.

Staeheli is the third of a series of speakers who will address the board this year as part of the Growing Smarter Speaker Series. She has presented on sustainable and low impact development approaches at numerous venues, including the annual Low Impact Development conference and the Society for Ecological Restoration conference.

Continuing education credits are pending for AICP members.

Who:
Montgomery County Planning Department

What:
Peg Staeheli
“Environmentally Sensitive Design: The High Point Neighborhood Case Study”
Growing Smarter Speaker Series

When: 
7 p.m. Tuesday, March 17

Where:
Park and Planning Headquarters auditorium
8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring

Delegate Al Carr has introduced House Bill 1210 that would require retailers to charge 5 cents for plastic and paper bags, with the proceeds to be divided between the business and the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund. Businesses will retain either 1 or 2 cents of the fee, depending whether they offer customers a carryout bag credit program for reusable bags. The remaining amount of the fee will be deposited into the fund to target environmental cleanup and restoration efforts in the Chesapeake Bay.  Please write to your legislators in support of this bill, and consider testifying at the hearing in the Maryland House Environmental Matters Committee in Annapolis, on Wed. March 11 beginning at 1 pm.  For more information see below, or go to:
http://mdelect.net to find contact information for your representatives in Annapolis.  (Thanks to Molly Hauck for the legislative alert on this item.)

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