Arcata Municipal Code Art. 1 General Provisions

A. The Council finds that due to its climate, terrain, and geographical location, the City is subject to damage from stormwaters, which, from time to time, overflow existing watercourses and drainage facilities. Accordingly, a system of stormwater drainage collection control and management must be maintained and operated by the City. The purpose of this ordinance is therefore to create a stormwater drainage enterprise and utility and to establish a fund with which to improve, operate, and maintain stormwater drainage facilities appurtenant to such an enterprise and utility.

B. The Council finds that storm and surface water runoff is increased due to impervious surface development. Consequently, each owner of a lot or parcel of real property within the City makes use of and is served by the City’s stormwater drainage facilities by contributing stormwater runoff in excess to that which would occur if the real property were undeveloped. The City’s existing drainage facilities must be improved, operated, and maintained in order to service stormwater drainage from existing development. In addition, new development will contribute additional stormwater drainage for which the capacity of the City’s drainage facilities will need to be increased.

C. The Council, therefore, finds that there is a reasonable relationship between the costs of operating and maintaining stormwater drainage facilities and existing development. Accordingly, existing development should contribute to the cost of operating and maintaining stormwater drainage facilities in an amount related to the amount of impervious surface area found on any particular parcel.

D. The Council additionally finds that a reasonable relationship exists between the costs of enlarging stormwater drainage facilities to accommodate increased runoff from new development and new development projects. Accordingly, new development should contribute on a one-time basis to the cost of enlarging or expanding the capacity of existing stormwater drainage facilities to service the new development. The cost imposed on new development shall be determined in an amount related to the increased capacity needs of the stormwater drainage collection system.

Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions in this section govern the construction of this chapter. The definition of a word applies to any of that word’s variants.

A. "Developed parcel," means any lot or parcel of land altered from its natural state by the construction, creation, or addition of impervious surface area.

B. "Development project" means any activity such as construction, development, paving, or grading which may result in a change to drainage patterns or existing impervious surface area.

C. "Impervious surface area" means any part or any developed parcel of land that has been modified by the action of persons to reduce the land’s natural ability to absorb and hold rainfall. This includes any hard surface, which either prevents or retards the entry of water into the soil as it entered under natural conditions preexistent to development, and/or a hard surface area, which causes water to run off the surface in greater quantities or at an increased rate of flow from the flow present under natural conditions preexistent to development. Common impervious surfaces include, but are not limited to, rooftops, walkways, patios, driveways, parking lots or storage areas, concrete or asphalt paving, gravel roads, or any cleared, graded, paved, graveled, or compacted surface or packed earthen materials, or areas covered with structures or other surfaces which similarly impede the natural infiltration of surface water into the soil.

D. "New development" means any development, improvement, alteration, or change to a parcel of real property, which increases the impervious surface area of such parcel.

E. "Stormwater drainage facilities" means the storm and surface water drainage systems comprised of stormwater control facilities and any other natural features, which store, control, treat, and/or convey storm and surface water. Stormwater drainage facilities shall include all natural and constructed elements used to convey stormwater from the first point of impact with the surface of the earth to a suitable receiving body of water or location, internal or external, to the boundaries of the City. They shall include all pipes, appurtenant features, culverts, streets, curbs, gutters, pumping stations, channels, streams, ditches, wetlands, detention/retention basins, ponds, and other stormwater conveyance and treatment facilities whether public or private. Regardless of whether or not the City shall have recorded rights-of-way or easements, it is presumed that the City has a prescriptive right of access to all storm drainage facilities for operation, maintenance, rehabilitation, or replacement.

There is hereby created and established a Stormwater Drainage Enterprise and Utility of the City which shall administer the City’s stormwater drainage facilities.

The Stormwater Drainage Enterprise and Utility shall be administered by the Director of Environmental Services, except where specifically designated otherwise in this chapter.

Fees for the use of the City’s Stormwater Drainage Enterprise and Utility shall apply to all developed parcels within the City, including those classified as nonprofit or tax-exempt for ad valorem tax purposes. Such fees shall apply to all government properties, to the full extent permitted by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of California, including developed parcels of the City, such as City-owned buildings, parks, and streets. Fees imposed by this chapter shall not be levied against undeveloped parcels that have not been altered from their natural state as defined herein under (c) "impervious surface area."

A. The Director of Environmental Services shall, as soon as practicable, formulate and develop a Master Drainage Plan for the City. The Master Drainage Plan shall describe all major natural and constructed drainage ways within the City, including the boundaries of natural drainage courses presently existing within the City, and shall identify all stormwater drainage facilities required to provide for the drainage and control of surface and stormwater runoff within the City to carry such waters to the designated points of discharge. The Master Drainage Plan shall evaluate operational and maintenance requirements and improvements needed to the City’s Stormwater Drainage Enterprise and Utility to insure adequate operation at existing levels of development. In addition, the Master Drainage Plan shall identify capacity limits of the stormwater drainage facilities and establish standards for determining additional capacity needs to service new development.

B. The Master Drainage Plan shall be revised and updated on a regular basis as needed by new development and/or changing conditions.

C. The Master Drainage Plan and all revisions thereto shall be adopted by the City Council after public hearing.