Borough adopts stormwater plan

By: Cara Latham
ALLENTOWN — The Borough Council last week established a stormwater management plan, as directed by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
   The ordinance, adopted at the council’s Nov. 14 meeting, establishes minimum stormwater management requirements and controls for all major development. Because of recent amendments to the DEP’s stormwater rules, the borough spent the last year working on the plan to keep up with those requirements.
   According to Councilman Daniel Wimer, the state also provided borough officials with example ordinances, which they used to create the plan.
   The council had previously established rules for yard waste collection, litter control, wildlife feeding and pet waste removal. Last week’s ordinance "will replace those (older) ordinances in our code book," he said. Some of the ordinances replace and supplement older ordinances and others replace the previous ordinances in their entirety. The new ordinances spell out more advanced versions of the older ordinances, and have been forwarded to the county for review.
   Under the new plan, "stormwater management measures for major development shall be developed to meet the erosion control, groundwater recharge, stormwater runoff quantity, and stormwater runoff quality standards," the ordinances states. The measures "shall avoid adverse impacts of concentrated flow on habitat for threatened and endangered species."
   The ordinance states that the standards apply only to new major development and are intended to minimize the impact of stormwater runoff.
   Under the ordinances, residents are prohibited from sweeping, raking, blowing or otherwise placing yard waste that is not in a container at the curb or along the street before the seven days prior to collection. Also, the waste cannot be placed closer than 10 feet from any storm drain inlet.
   Residents also cannot spill, dump or dispose of materials other than stormwater to the municipal storm sewer system. The discharge of pollutants to that system is also not allowed.
   The new rules also prohibit feeding of any wildlife, including animals that are confined to a zoo or park, and requires that pet owners and keepers immediately and properly dispose of their pet’s solid waste left on any public or private property, not owned or possessed by that person.
   Illicit connections — any physical or non-physical connection that discharges domestic sewage, non-contact cooling water, process wastewater, or other industrial waste into the municipal sewer system — is also prohibited.
   Sweeping litter into a gutter or road, throwing litter from a car or boat, and bringing litter from outside places to the borough for disposal are prohibited by the new regulations in the litter ordinance.
   Mr. Wimer said that the regulations cover the entire borough, and that "in Allentown, we don’t really have a lot of open space that can be developed." So, the regulations "will definitely apply to new construction."
   While he is unsure of the total cost for implementing the new plan within the borough, "it’s cost us engineering fees and legal fees," he said. Township Clerk Julie Martin said the borough is waiting for those bills to arrive.
   The state might add requirements to the plan in the future, but for now, the new ordinances will take precedent over those that were previously in place, he said.
   Also, the borough recently took an inventory of its facilities, and is looking to see which repairs have to be completed or which changes have to be made in order to comply with the regulations, Mr. Wimer said.
   But the plan is "a very positive (move) towards clean water, streambeds and rivers, and controlling the runoff and litter," he said. "It will benefit the streams and waterways."