burns watershed planning and regulation
DESCRIPTION
The Practice and Potential of Ecosystem-Based Management Applying lessons from land use and coastal management in Maine hosted byWells National Estuarine Research Reserve,Maine Coastal Program, Maine Sea Grant,the University of New England, and the Ecosystem-based Management Tools NetworkTRANSCRIPT
Streams, Watersheds andLand Use Regulation
Community Development DepartmentYork, Maine
Streams, Watersheds andLand Use Regulation
• Impervious Surfaces Policy
• Impervious Science
• Ecosystem-Based Management
York Community Development Department
Impervious Surfaces
It all started innocently enough…
– A proposal to overhaul the Zoning provisions dealing with impervious surfaces in October 2005
– A new Natural Resources Chapter for the Comprehensive Plan in May 2006
– A goal about protecting water quality in June 2006
York Community Development Department
• Why regulate impervious surfaces?
– Main Reason: • impervious surfaces are a primary determinant of
surface water quality
– Secondary Reasons:• Relationship to storm water volumes and flooding• Relationship to retaining open spaces
York Community Development Department
York Community Development Department
• Why change our requirements?
– Inconsistent use of terms
– Inconsistent application of standards
York Community Development Department
• Inconsistent Use of Terms:– “lot coverage”
– “maximum coverage”
– “foundation coverage”
– “coverage”
– “impervious surface”
– “impervious surface ratio”
York Community Development Department
• Inconsistent Application of Standards:
– In some zones, impervious surfaces are regulated the same way for every use
– In some zones, impervious surfaces are not regulated at all for residential uses
– In some zones, the calculation of impervious surface differs for residential and non-residential uses
– In the Shoreland Overlay District, impervious surfaces are defined differently than in the base zones
York Community Development Department
• Conceptual proposal rejected…
- No relationship between proposed standards and science
- Directed by the Board of Selectmen to go back to the drawing board, and to return with a science-based approach
York Community Development Department
Impervious Science
• What does a scientific approach require?
• We relied heavily on work by the Center for Watershed Protection
CWP.ORG
• Our bible: Rapid Watershed Planning Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Managing Urbanizing Watersheds (2001)
York Community Development Department
• Impervious surfaces should be evaluated at the second order watershed level
• Starting point is to generate a 2nd order watershed map of York– Had recently obtained 2’ contour data– Needed to generate new stream layer based on
contours– Needed to generate watersheds layer based on
streams and contours
York Community Development Department
Why the quad sheets don’t cut it any more…
• York Beach Quadrangle:– Prepared in 1956– Photorevised in 1973 – 35 years ago– Scale of 1:24,000– 20’ contours
• York’s GIS– Based on current (1998 -2005) aerial photography– 6” resolution– 2’ contours
York Community Development Department
Quad or Local Mapping?
York Beach Quad Sample York GIS Sample
York Community Development Department
York Community Development Department
York Community Development Department
York Community Development Department
York Community Development Department
• As we proofed our initial work, we found some significant flaws
• We have contracted with Tom Burns to take our streams and watersheds work to the next level– One big gap – missing the storm water system– Second problem – using GIS software to generate
watersheds without understanding the implications of the program settings
York Community Development Department
Ecosystem-Based Management
• The State of Michigan defines this as: “a process that integrates biological, social and economic factors into a comprehensive strategy aimed at protecting and enhancing sustainability, diversity and productivity of our natural resources.”
York Community Development Department
Ecosystem-Based Management?
York Community Development Department
Water Quality Testing Upstream
Septic Education & Enforcement
New Watersheds Mapping
New Streams Mapping
Impervious Surfaces Analysis
Storm Water Management Plan
New 2’ Elevation Contour Data
New Storm Water Management
Policies
Shoreland Zoning Revisions
Update the Buildout Study
Joint Purchase of Regional Aerial Photography
Riparian Corridors Analysis & Report
Revise Impervious Surface Regulation
Storm Water System Mapping
Water Quality Testing at Beaches
Stephen Burns, Community Development DirectorTown of York, Maine
363-1007
York Community Development Department