COM 0178.000 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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~ ) ~ • coastal zone programs, such as reviewing Special Management Area (SMA) major and minor permits, enforcement of SMA violations, and a number of studies and educational programs, such as public access to the shoreline. The Planning Department and Department of Public Works, in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State Office of Planning, have proposed a set of amendments to bring the County into compliance with the CZAItA. For the most part, these amendments continue practices that have been typical in the County for many years, but are not formally required by law. These amendments require that storm water runoff from developed areas be drained into drywells or other approved infiltration devices that will cause the water to soak into the ground, up to the anticipated one-hour, ten-year storm event. The Department of Public Works has typically made this a requirement in the past for new subdivisions and for other developments as a flood control measure so that a new development that adds impervious surfaces has to dispose of the one-hour storm ten-year event on-site, rather than allowing this water to flow onto neighboring properties. Although the original purpose of the drywe(I requirement was flood control, the drywell also works as an infiltration device under the CZARA because it will filter out sediments and suspended solids (by filtering the water through lava rock) before it reaches any natural bodies of water. The amount of rain in the anticipated one- hour, ten-year storm event differs in various parts of the island, from two inches per hour in Kailua-Kona, to five inches per hour in Hilo. This is well in excess of the amount that the EPA expects to be treated under the CZARA requirements. The proposed amendments to Chapters 23, 25, and 27 implement the CZARA as follows: 1. Chapter 23 (Subdivision Code) -The amendment to Section 23-92 would require that the subdivider construct a storm drainage system that will contain runoff and divert it to drywells or other approved infiltration devices, up to the anticipated one-hour, ten-year storm event. This will cover all new subdivisions. 2. Chapter 25 (Zoning Code) -The amendments to Chapter 25 would require that most new developments that need plan approval would have to first get a site -2-