Two proposals before the Town Council next month may establish a set of stormwater impact fees for developments in town.

The council will hold public hearings on the proposals on Monday, Sept. 10, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall chamber.

The first proposal would establish a "Community Fee Utilization Plan" for development in the northern part of Cape Elizabeth included in the Trout Brook Watershed. The plan would establish a fee system to compensate for the impact a development may have on stormwater runoff.

The second proposal would establish a similar "Stormwater Improvement Fee" for development elsewhere in town.

The proposal for a Community Fee Utilization Plan is a response to the state Department Of Environmental Protection's classification of the Trout Brook Watershed, which includes approximately 1,700 acres of South Portland and Cape Elizabeth, as an "urban impaired watershed."

As such, the DEP will require developers within the watershed to compensate for impact on stormwater runoff, either by individually correcting impacts elsewhere in the watershed; or, by paying a fee to an account established to mitigate impacts on Trout Brook.

The council is looking to establish a fee system for mitigating stormwater impacts, and to establish a list of projects that may be funded by the fee.

Town Planner Maureen O'Meara presented the draft plan and list of possible mitigation activities to the council Aug. 13.

"This proposal has been submitted to the Town Council because there is a project in the design stage in the Trout Brook Watershed," O'Meara wrote in a memo to the council, referring to a 45-46 unit condominium proposal that might be submitted next month.

The watershed includes a significant portion of Cape Elizabeth that has been targeted for growth in the town's comprehensive plan.

"The Town is not obligated to adopt a fee system, however, the fee system will begin to counteract how the (state's) urban impaired stream policy is contradicting local land-use policies," she wrote. Providing a fee system will make it easier for developers to comply with the DEP's stormwater mitigation requirement, she told the council. "I challenge you to find a developer who would be willling to try to find a (mitigation) project, instead of just writing a check. It's a lot easier," she said.

Because Cape Elizabeth's portion of the watershed is largely undeveloped, any new project will likely trigger the DEP requirement for stormwater mitigation. In general, developments that create 3 acres of impervious surface, or 20 acres of development, will require some kind of stormwater impact compensation from the developer.

The DEP would determine the fee using a formula based on potential impact, but a typical development with three acres of roads and parking, one acre of roofing and two acres of lawn would garner a $19,000 fee.

Included with first proposal for the watershed area is a list of stormwater projects that might be funded with the impact fees. They include:

• Collection of actual stormwater pollution data in the Cape Elizabeth portion of the Trout Brook Watershed;

• Restoration of buffers between the stream and developed properties;

• Stormwater outfall erosion control;

• Restoring the natural curves, or "sinuosity", of the stream;

• Purchase of an upgraded street sweeper; and,

• Treatment of road stormwater runoff.

Similar fee system proposal for development outside the watershed

While the proposed plan would be a first step in helping developers achieve stormwater mitigation in the watershed, there is still a disincentive for development in an area that Cape Elizabeth has targeted for growth. Consequently, the council will also be considering a local "Stormwater Improvement Fee" that would apply to similar size developments outside the watershed.

The local fee, which will be up for a separate public hearing Sept. 10, is being proposed to "re-establish equilibrium between areas within and outside the urban-impaired watershed"; and, to fund stormwater improvements that the Town will need to make anyway.

The fees would have uses similar to those collected from within the watershed, such as street sweeping. Specific uses would be determined by the Town Council  as part of the annual budget.

At the Aug. 13 meeting, Town Councilor Mary Ann Lynch said she would like to see both proposals go to public hearing. "It seems to me we are putting a fairly substantive as well as substantial impact fee through, which does distort the cost of new homes vs. existing homes," Lynch said.

The DEP has yet to approve the language of the Community Fee Utilization Plan, or the list of mitigating projects, but O'Meara said the wording of the plan is almost the same as a plan in place for South Portland's Long Creek. "This is really a great example of Cape Elizabeth and South Portland's working together," O'Meara said, adding that city staff have been helpful in developing Cape Elizabeth's proposal. "It's nice to have that cooperation," she said.