Groton Open Space Association

Thoughts On Climate Change and Stormwater Regs: Sidney Van Zandt

 GROTON–Below is a condensation of a talk by GOSA Vice President Sidney Van Zandt.

 My name is Sidney F. Van Zandt. I live at 3 Front St, Groton. I pay taxes to the Town of Groton. I address the Zoning Commission and Mr. Murphy and Mr. Davis of the OPDS.  January 5, 2011.

 On Dec. 2, 2010, the day after the last zoning meeting, there was a presentation at the Town Hall Annex on climate change by ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability — and the Department of Environmental Protection. Groton has been dubbed a “model city” for studying climate change adaptation. Mr. Murphy went to Bonn, Germany, to promote that effort. Unfortunately, his proposals for stormwater management do not reflect the lessons learned during Groton’s study of climate change.  

 The Dec. 2 presenters said they came first to Groton to work on this project right after the March 2010 storm. They characterized that as a 500-year storm. Their presentation Dec. 2 said in part:

 –Precipitation intensity, or the average amount of rain that falls on any given rainy day in the Northeast, is projected to increase 8 or 9 percent by mid century and 10 to 15 percent by the end of the century.

 –The number of heavy precipitation events is projected to increase by 8 percent by mid-century, and 12 to 13 percent by the end of the century.

 The re-write of our P& Z regs needs to take these numbers into consideration. Right now, Section 6.12 of the zoning regulations covering the Water Resources Protection District (WRPD) is not among sections that the OPDS is allowing us to review. Section 6.12 considers only a 25-year storm. Yet we have had multiple “100-year” storms in the past few years.

 For Groton, the presenters predicted more frequent river and coastal flooding and increased occurrence of sewer overflows.

My comment is that overflow already occurred in that March storm from the pump station on Route 215. It dumped overflow into the basement of the abutting residence and also into Beebe Cove. OPDS has made no changes to take the above into consideration.

 Recommendations of the presenters:

 –Stormwater runoff reduction program (My comment is that we need serious approaches to having pervious surfaces so that the bulk of stormwater is absorbed on site.)

 –More stringent building and engineering design standards that anticipate future climate conditions, as opposed to just existing conditions.

 –Integrate climate preparedness into the Capital Planning process, Master Plan of Conservation and Development update process, the zoning regulations revisions…

 –Integrate climate change considerations into all Town-wide planning…

 When the presenters arrived in Groton after that March storm, they were overwhelmed by the amount of effort it would take to deal with the inland runoff that inundated many parts of this town. This was not from any hurricane storm surge; it was all from runoff from the land. Most hurricanes provide a huge amount of rain, so our new regulations should provide that it be absorbed on site, planning for zero runoff.

 These are the actions we need to incorporate into this re-write.  Unfortunately, the OPDS is turning a deaf ear to what’s needed to modernize our antiquated regulations.

 In June 2009, Groton Public Works sent out their “Stormwater Management Plan,” which doubled as the 2008 annual report. The report contained many pages describing what they would/should be doing. But the last two pages showed the deparment has implemented many requirements years late and as of  June 2009 was still behind on many others.

 I have copied for you some of the pages from the Drinking Water Quality Management Plan (DWQMP).  The DWQMP task force met every month for over two years at Groton Utilities. (I was a member, as were Mr. Murphy and Deb Jones, Groton’s Environmental Planner). Some of the plan’s recommendations for Groton for improving stormwater management included “zero net increase” in total suspended solids in stormwater, runoff rates and volumes, and restricting the clearing of steep slopes.

 Section 5.2 of the DWQMP report says: Drinking water quality can be affected by runoff from the most distant reaches of a watershed.  One of the maps in this section shows Proposed Water Quality Monitoring Locations and Future Watersheds.  It depicts below the Groton-Ledyard boundary the Red Brook stream that did so much damage to the towns of Old Mystic and Stonington: $2 million for one bridge, and they still have another bridge to replace. Any new proposed development in Groton on that brook might galvanize attorneys for the Town of Stonington if Groton has not improved its regs for dealing with stormwater runoff.

 Pages 5-16 of the DWQMP states that Low Impact Development practices for stormwater management make use of creative site planning and design tools intended to preserve or reduce changes to a site’s hydrology, rather than simply providing “end of pipe” treatment or highly engineered management systems. 

 I would like to show you a picture of what the Crosswinds development off Route 215 looked like after the houses were built. OPDS may say that the Noank zoning was responsible for that. Noank should change their regs, too, but this is what the Town of Groton regs presently permit. Cut it all down and plunk down the house.  Everything is runoff.

 I am one of the volunteers who have tramped along most of the streams that run into Birch Plain Creek and Baker Cove. The cove is fed by water flowing from as far north as “The Ledges” off Drozdyk Drive and beyond. We still have to check it out beyond the entrance ramp to I-95 north of Route 12 where we were stopped as we climbed through the rough rock-strewn underbrush. Hydrologically, the Ledges development is an unvegetated hill covered with the impervious surfaces of roofs and roadway. What is left of the hill reminds me of a carved out coal mine, leaving the remains of a naked hill. 

 I would like to correct comments from Mr. Murphy Dec. 1, in response to Mr. Martin’s presentation that Pine Island Bay does not count because it is in the city.  First of all, Pine Island may be in the city, but the waters in the Bay are fed by the Poquonnock River and Baker Cove, and Birch Plain Creek, not to mention Long Island Sound. Water comes from Washington Park in the city, and from north of the Ledges and various sources in and around the Post Office, the Big Y, and CVS.

 Forty-six years ago when I was leading tours on the Haley Farm to raise the funds for its purchase, I turned the corner down by Jemima’s Rock and looked at the formerly wooded hillside across Palmer Cove in an area now called “Tanglewood.” The developer cut down everything, essentially scraped off many feet of topsoil, which he then sold. What was left was a few big trees with a thin skirt of soil around the base extending about three feet above the newly lowered ground level. What was left was a naked field of sub soil.  I vowed then that such practices must change.  I am very serious when I say that we now have a chance to eliminate those archaic ways of doing things.   

The changes that need to happen go beyond our Coastal Area Management boundaries (I served on that CAM Advisory Board).  The changes need to embrace all the land of Groton, our drinking water and the runoff into the rivers and the Sound. There needs to be a TOTAL REWRITE of our Planning and Zoning Regs such as we envisioned in 2008 and before.  We need to see the whole enchilada, and present the whole plan — both Planning and Zoning together — so that it can be considered in its entirety.

 As things stand now, no one knows if OPDS is going to even include Zoning Regulations Section 1.1 called “Purpose and Authority,” much less an update of that section, or the Water Resource Protection District, Section 6.12, with an update. We need to see the whole thing and not pieces. In today’s hearing, you commissioners are charged by OPDS to review pieces of the pieces that were only parts of the plan in the legal notice. Neither you, the volunteer commissioners nor the public — we are all taxpayers of the Town of Groton — can possibly make any judgment about what OPDS has in mind, particularly after the many dozens of pages you received before this meeting.

 We need to design ALL new development regulations so that there is NO RUNOFF. None of that has been addressed, and it is important.  We have a yellow canary flopping around here.  The western end of Long Island Sound is DEAD, caused by runoff.  The Shellfish Commission is telling us that beaches have been closed to swimming to the west of the Connecticut River.  How can we be a “Model City” when we are contributing to the decay of Long Island Sound? Remember that the Sound has a huge economic value. Over $5 billion flows annually from various commercial activities related to the Sound, not to mention that it is a major food source.          

In the hefty 11-page “Review and Responses” put out by Mr. Murphy and Mr. Davis, they stated that most of the dialogue in the Dec 1 hearing did not apply as it “would exceed the scope of the legally noticed proposal”– or is “outside the scope of the present proceedings.” I cannot understand most of what they are talking about. 

We need to make OPDS come forward with a “Model Plan for a Model City.” Everyone who attended those Climate Change conferences is counting on us; and we turn to OPDS to make that model plan something we can be proud of. But since that does not seem possible, then I propose that we scrap what has been written so far (that includes Kendig Keast, who are writing regs promoted by OPDS) and start again by hiring a new consultant who understands what is needed and would have the imagination to come up with some regulations that Groton can be proud of.