After Rollingwood City Council discussed a proposed drainage ordinance focusing on residential development Sept. 27 and Oct. 19, the council anticipates passing the ordinance at a special meeting Nov. 9, after this publication went to press, City Administrator Charles Winfield said.

The drainage ordinance gives city help to those residents whose properties are adversely impacted by storm water runoff and flooding caused by new residential development, Alderwoman Sara Hutson said.

“The problem we have right now is that the people who are being impacted by someone else’s drainage do not have a way to get that corrected,” she said. “Because we don’t [currently] have an ordinance, the city doesn’t have the ability to get involved.”

The ordinance would promote responsible development and prevent new flooding issues by properly estimating and managing runoff flows on a lot-by-lot basis, City Attorney Doug Young said.

“When you are developing a property, you have to do a drainage analysis,” he said. “When the analysis shows there would be an impact on the surrounding properties, you have to go to the next step and [create] a drainage plan and provide whatever might be necessary to address the change in runoff.”

If needed, a drainage plan, which would be part of the building permit process, would be developed based on the city’s drainage criteria manual, Young said. Residents would be required to maintain their property according to the design and standards established in the permit, he said.

The drainage criteria manual will also be up for City Council vote Nov. 9, Winfield said.

In terms of enforcement, the city does not plan on conducting annual inspections after a drainage plan is completed, but it will reserve the right to inspect a property if it is believed there is a problem and to issue a fine, Mayor Thom Farrell said. 

“For the ordinance to function properly [the city] has to be able to track down the problems,” he said. “If there’s a complaint, and [a neighbor says] there’s a problem downstream, the city has the right to go look at it and let the owners know whether or not they are still in compliance.”