Foster City Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

The ordinance codified in this chapter shall be known as the “City of Foster City Stormwater Management and Discharge Control Ordinance” and may be so cited. (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)

The purpose of this chapter is to ensure the future health, safety, and general welfare of city citizens by:

A. Eliminating nonstormwater discharges to the municipal separate storm sewer;

B. Controlling the discharge to municipal separate storm sewers from spills, dumping or disposal of materials other than stormwater;

C. Reducing pollutants in stormwater discharges to the maximum extent practicable.

The intent of the ordinance codified in this chapter is to protect and enhance the water quality of our watercourse, water bodies and wetlands in a manner pursuant to and consistent with the Clean Water Act. (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)

Any terms defined in the Federal Clean Water Act and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, and/or defined in the regulations for the stormwater discharge permitting program issued by the Environmental Protection Agency on November 16, 1990, or state law (as may from time to time be amended) as used in the ordinance codified in this chapter shall have the same meaning as in that statute or regulations. Specifically, the definitions of the following terms included in that statute or regulations are incorporated by reference, as now applicable or as may hereafter be amended: discharge, illicit discharge, pollutant and stormwater. These terms presently are defined as follows:

A. Authorized Enforcement Official. The city manager or his/her designee is authorized to enforce the provisions of the ordinance codified in this chapter.

B. “Best management practices (BMPs)” means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, general good housekeeping practices, pollution prevention practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants directly or indirectly to waters of the United States. BMPs also include green infrastructure treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage.

C. “City” means the city of Foster City.

D. “City storm sewer system” means and includes but is not limited to those facilities within the city by which stormwater may be conveyed to waters of the United States, including any roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, manmade channels or storm drains, which are not part of the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) as defined at 40 CFR 122.2.

E. “Discharge” means (1) any addition of any pollutant to navigable waters from any point source, or (2) any addition of any pollutant to the waters of the contiguous zone or the ocean from any point source other than a vessel or other floating craft.

F. “Illicit discharge” means any discharge to the city storm sewer system that is not composed entirely of stormwater except discharges pursuant to a NPDES permit and discharges resulting from firefighting and other emergency response activities.

G. “Green infrastructure” means a range of natural and built approaches to stormwater management – such as rain gardens, bioretention, and permeable paving – that mimic natural systems by cleaning stormwater and letting it absorb back into the ground. Green infrastructure could reduce the amount of runoff that enters the traditional piped stormwater system below ground and could prevent overflows that pollute nearby water bodies. Green infrastructure elements are mandated and further defined under the municipal regional permit and the city’s green infrastructure plan.

H. “Green infrastructure plan” means the plan adopted by the city to implement the green infrastructure requirements in the municipal regional permit.

I. “Municipal regional permit” means the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region Municipal Regional Stormwater NPDES permit as it applies to the city of Foster City for implementation of NPDES Permit No. CAS612008 and any amendment or reissuance thereof and the term “municipal regional permit” (MRP) is used interchangeably with NPDES Permit No. CAS612008.

J. “Nonstormwater discharge” means any discharge that is not entirely composed of stormwater except those noted within an NPDES permit and the ordinance codified in this chapter.

K. “Pollutant” means dredged soil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, wrecked or destroyed equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharge into water.

L. “Premises” means any building, lot parcel, real estate, or land or portion of land whether improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.

M. “Stormwater” means stormwater runoff and surface runoff and drainage.

N. “Watercourse” means a natural stream, creek or manmade uncovered channel through which water flows continuously or intermittently. (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)

This chapter shall be administered for the city by the city manager and his/her designees. (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)

The ordinance codified in this chapter shall be construed to assure consistency with the requirements of the Federal Clean Water Act and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, applicable implementing regulations, and NPDES Permit No. CAS612008 and any amendment, revision or reissuance thereof. (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)

A. It is the intent of the ordinance codified in this chapter to protect and enhance water quality while respecting the rights of private property owners to economically viable use of land. It is not the intent of the ordinance codified in this chapter to prohibit all economically viable use of any private lands, nor to result in a confiscatory impact. Accordingly, the purpose of this section is to provide for an administrative procedure for a waiver or modification of a particular provision of the ordinance codified in this chapter in the event the strict application of the ordinance codified in this chapter would result in the denial of all economically viable use of real property.

B. An applicant for a waiver of a provision of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall file a waiver application with the director of the public works department on a form provided by the director identifying the provision sought to be waived or modified. The applicant shall file a complete form and shall provide all documentation and information required by the director to determine whether application of the provision in question will prohibit any economically viable use of the land in question or otherwise have an impermissible confiscatory result.

C. The director may approve, deny or conditionally approve a waiver application upon making all of the following written findings:

1. That the strict application of the provision for such a waiver or modification is sought would result in the denial of all economically viable uses of the real property in question;

2. To the maximum extent feasible, conditions have been placed upon such a waiver or modification in order to achieve the goals of the ordinance codified in this chapter as closely as possible while still allowing economically viable use of the real property in question;

3. Approval of such a waiver will not result in a public nuisance which would constitute a significant and direct threat to public health or safety. (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)