Development Bulletin Code and Policy Changes in Standards and Specifi cations this Issue:

Development Bulletin
City of Salem Public Works Department Development Services Section
September 2012
Code and Policy Changes in
this Issue:
• Trash Enclosures
• Stormwater Detention in Battle Creek Basin
• Monitoring Manholes
• Bridge Clearance
• Sidewalk Ramps
Stormwater Committee
The City of Salem Public Works Department
is forming a committee to advise the Director
and City staff on issues related to stormwater
management. The committee is envisioned to
include elected officials, local government staff, and
representatives from the business, construction,
industrial, and residential communities.
Membership on the committee is expected to be
a two-year commitment with monthly meetings.
Discussion items will include stormwater utility,
stormwater utility credit program, design standards,
code updates, and stormwater master planning.
Please contact Robert Chandler, Ph.D., P.E.,
Assistant Director, at [email protected]
or 503-588-6008 for further information on the
stormwater advisory committee.
Standards and Specifications
Trash Enclosures
The Public Works Director has established an
interim trash enclosure policy that modifies past
practice. Effective immediately, trash enclosures
no longer require a permanent roof covering as a
condition of development if a Trash Area Management
Plan is implemented by the user of the trash enclosure.
In the past, Public Works staff required roof
structures to be constructed over trash enclosures for
food preparation uses. In response to this requirement
for roofed trash enclosures, a number of interested
parties within the community approached City staff,
requesting that the policy be reconsidered. The
citizens, represented by architects, contractors, garbage
haulers, and restaurant owners, suggested that the
policy of roofing trash enclosures is not a cost-effective
approach to stormwater management.
Trash enclosures can be a significant source of
pollutants into the City’s stormwater system because
rainwater can be polluted by solid or liquid waste. By
constructing roofs over trash enclosures, the risk of
polluting the stormwater system is eliminated.
Public Works staff considered a number of
alternative solutions to minimize pollution from trash
enclosures, including installation of sanitary sewer
drains, stormwater treatment facilities, holding tanks,
or trash compactors.
Operators of food preparation facilities are advised
that without a roofed trash enclosure, there is a much
Continued on Page 2
Stormwater Detention in
Battle Creek Basin
The Public Works Director has determined that
Battle Creek has a history of flooding that warrants
additional detention requirements per section III.B.2.a
of the Stormwater Management Design Standards.
Effective immediately, stormwater detention facilities
in the Battle Creek basin shall provide flow control for
the entire 100-year flow discharge from the proposed
development. This standard applies to all new building
site work or public infrastructure permit applications
where detention is required.
Development Community News
Standards and Specifications
Trash Enclosures
Continued from Page 1
greater need for operational controls, regular maintenance, and staff training in order to keep trash receptacle lids
closed and to ensure that trash enclosures are swept clean. Without proper maintenance of trash facilities, stormwater
runoff can be polluted by solid or leaking liquid waste, which is a violation of City ordinance.
Group Mailboxes
Based on new provisions of state law, Public Works staff is developing standards
and specifications for group mailboxes. The new standards,
scheduled for adoption in 2013, are expected to specify where
group mailboxes can be located and how to make them ADA
accessible.
In the interim, new subdivision construction plans shall show
group mailbox locations and a detailed design for pedestrian
access. For more information, please contact Don Whitehurst,
P.E., Construction Engineer, at [email protected].
Sidewalk Ramps
Standard Plan No. 307 (Sidewalk Ramps) has been replaced with a series of five new Standard Plans numbered 307A
through 307E. The new standard plans are available on the Engineering Publications page of the City’s website.
Continued on Page 4
CODES
Unified Development Code
The Salem Code Cleanup
project is making good progress,
having seen a number of new code
provisions recommended by the
Planning Commission and adopted
by City Council. This phase of the
code cleanup process is scheduled
to be complete in 2013.
Plat-Related Code Revisions
A number of plat-related code
revisions are being proposed
in advance of the Unified
Development Code changes.
City staff will soon be finalizing
an initial draft of the proposed
ordinance to revise a number of
City codes related to platting of
partitions and subdivisions. These
changes correct a number of areas
that have unnecessary delays in the
plat approval process or otherwise
cause problems for City staff and
developers. The proposed changes
are described below:
• Modify SRC 63.052 to require
that final plats for single family
residential uses will not be
approved until City infrastructure
is constructed and operating
sufficiently to serve new dwellings.
This ensures that home builders
will be able to receive building
permits immediately after
purchasing newly platted lots.
• Modify SRC 63.053 to clarify
the limitations on performance
securities, especially related to
no-build agreements.
• Modify SRC 63.060 to require
conformance with platting
provisions of ORS 92. Currently,
the code is not clear about the
specific responsibilities of the City
Surveyor in approving final plat
documents.
• Modify SRC 66.070 to remove the
requirement to receive an Urban
Growth Area Development Permit
prior to application for tentative
subdivision plat.
Public Works staff will be
coordinating these proposed
changes with the Home Builders
Association and other affected
Continued on Page 4
Neighborhood and Environmental Impacts
Removing Barriers to Low-Impact Development
A committee of City staff is in the process of identifying codes and standards that create barriers to low-impact
development. The committee expects to forward an ordinance to City Council for approval in 2013.
In addition to identifying existing barriers, the committee is also identifying opportunities for implementing new
low-impact development techniques.
The first phase of implementation will include those minor textual changes that do not require substantive changes
to codes, standards, specifications, or master plans. These minor changes will allow for open channels instead of pipes,
pervious surfaces where feasible, and other low-impact techniques.
This first phase is required to be completed by 2014 as specified in the City’s MS4 permit. Later phases will include
more substantive changes involving major policy decisions.
Floodplain Management Plan
The City has embarked on a community-wide effort
to create a Floodplain Management Plan. Such a plan
will guide Salem’s floodplain management policies,
which will help reduce negative impacts of flooding
throughout the community.
A key component to the planning process is creation
of a citizen committee to provide community input
regarding a wide variety of proposed activities. The
12-member committee has been meeting monthly
through most of 2012, and is nearing completion of its
planning efforts.
By the end of 2012, City staff expects to have an
initial draft of the Floodplain Management Plan
available for public comment and hopes to forward the
plan to City Council for approval in 2013.
The overall goals of the plan are to identify flood
hazards, establish a program of activities to mitigate
the hazards, and coordinate mitigation activities to
prevent conflict with other needs of the community.
Creation of the Floodplain Management Plan is
a recommended action item in the City’s Natural
Hazard Mitigation Plan. Benefits of the plan may
also include additional discounts on flood insurance
premiums citywide through FEMA’s Community
Rating System.
For questions about the Floodplain Management
Plan, please contact Glenn Davis, P.E., C.P.M., Chief
Development Engineer, at [email protected].
Oregon Erosion and Sediment
Control Workshop
The EOS Alliance is sponsoring an all-day training
course at Hampton Inn and Suites in Salem on
September 11, 2012. You may register by contacting
the Northwest Environmental Training Center at
425-270-3274 or through the web address below:
http://www.eosalliance.org/schedule/event/
oregon-erosion-and-sediment-control-workshop
In this full-day workshop, attendees will learn
details of the changes to the 1200C and 1200CN
permits permit and study the most up-to-date
best management practices in sediment and
erosion control. Upon completion students will
have a better understanding of how to simply and
confidently comply with Oregon’s 1200C NPDES
Construction General Permit.
From a review of the origins of stormwater policy
and NPDES structure, to a discussion of permit
requirements and BMP’s for Source Control,
Conveyance and Treatment, NWETC’s Erosion and
Sediment Control Workshop is designed specifically
to address the needs of Oregon’s stormwater field
personnel and managers.
The intended audience is field personnel and
managers from businesses and municipalities who
implement and oversee the Oregon 1200C
and/or 1200 CN permits permit. This workshop is
appropriate for attendees who are new to the field as
well as seasoned experts.
Codes
Continued from Page 2
community groups. The code revisions are scheduled to be forwarded to City Council in 2013. If you have questions
or concerns about the code revisions or the plat approval process in general, please contact Glenn Davis, P.E, C.P.M.,
Chief Development Engineer at [email protected].
Stormwater Code
A subcommittee of City staff has nearly completed the initial draft of a new SRC chapter dedicated solely to
stormwater management. As required in the City’s MS4 permit with the State of Oregon, the new code chapter
provides proper legal authority for the City to enforce its strategies for improving water quality through the
management of stormwater runoff. The proposed code language will be available for public comment by 2013.
Bridge Clearance Reduction
City Council approved a modification to the floodplain ordinance, reducing the minimum clearance of new bridges
above the base flood elevation. The new code provision requires one foot minimum clearance for new vehicular
bridges and requires bridge replacements or new pedestrian bridges to be constructed in a manner that does not cause
a rise in base flood levels.
Standards and Specifications
Continued from Page 2
Design Standards Update
Public Works Engineering
Division is leading an ongoing
update to the City’s Design
Standards. Major changes
include Streetscape Standards
in the Downtown Core and new
Stormwater Quality and Flow
Control Standards as required in
the City’s MS4 permit with the
State of Oregon.
Other Standards for water,
sanitary sewer, and streets are
scheduled to be updated in phases
over the next couple years. For
more questions about updates
to Design Standards, please
contact Ken Roley, P.E., Facilities
Engineer, at kroley@cityofsalem.
net.
Monitoring Manholes
The following information is
intended to assist engineers and
other development professionals
in the design requirements and
specifications for monitoring
manholes. City staff intends
to formalize the policies below
through an administrative rule
process in the near future:
• Monitoring manholes are required
based on the types of uses being
conducted on the property.
Regulated uses are described on
the Public Works Environmental
Services Section web page on the
City’s website.
• The general standard for a
monitoring manhole is a 48-inch
diameter manhole per Standard
Plan 101. Smaller-diameter
manholes may be approved on
a case-by-case basis depending
on type of effluent and depth of
manhole.
• Monitoring manholes are private
structures to be located on the
private sewer lateral, at the property
line (right-of-way or easement line)
nearest to the connection to the
public sanitary sewer main. Access
shall be provided to this manhole
to ensure year-round access for
monitoring by City staff and/or
property owner representatives.
• This monitoring manhole
standard does not modify the
current Sanitary Sewer Design
Standards, which also require
construction of a manhole where
sewer laterals eight inches or
greater in diameter connect to the
public main. Sewer laterals six
inches or smaller connect to the
public main by a standard tap/wye
connection.
• If you have any questions
regarding monitoring manhole
requirements, please contact
Nitin Joshi at njoshi@cityofsalem.
net.
Credits
Editor—Glenn Davis
Articles—Development Services Staff
Layout/Design—Vanessa Strode-Johnson
503-588-6211
http://www.cityofsalem.net/
555 Liberty Street SE Room 325
Salem OR 97301-3513