2026-11-05 - Charleston Basin Flood Action Committee

00:01There we go. Everybody see that?

00:05So, uh you know, we start these meetings

00:08with a

00:09little flood stat presentation. And uh

00:13So, the end of September and October

00:15were pretty busy king tide months. And

00:19uh we got through all those. Uh

00:22Some of them weren't too bad because

00:23there there wasn't rain involved. A

00:25couple of them did have rain. And then

00:28uh

00:29there's one event that

00:31was influenced by the tropical system

00:33that was in uh the Gulf.

00:36But, NOAA releases their tide data about

00:3930 days after that month. So, we don't

00:42have the good tide data released yet,

00:44which makes some of the analysis of what

00:47happened and

00:48and how more interesting. So, I'm going

00:50to save the recap from those events for

00:52the next meeting, which could be a uh

00:55a 2026 recap.

00:58But, a reminder that uh the end of this

01:00month, we have another king tide month.

01:02So, just something to be aware of.

01:05So, instead of doing the the recap, um

01:08just some notable news from uh the GIS

01:10division is uh we've made some changes

01:13and improvements to uh

01:15our road closure system. And if you're

01:17not familiar with it, that uh

01:20the city maps all of our construction

01:23road closures, but during flooding

01:25events, we try to map closures in as

01:28close to real time as possible. And uh

01:30that those go to our road closure

01:32website and then uh the Tide Eye

01:34website.

01:36And uh

01:38it's interesting and I've I've kind of

01:40become more aware of this aware of it in

01:43uh in recent months, but uh of how many

01:46people go to these sites during uh

01:48events, especially if it's uh around the

01:51commute

01:52time. So, uh that I just pulled this

01:54from our Google Analytics for the site.

01:56That uh we had 18,000 unique users and

01:5937,000

02:01thousand

02:02and uh

02:03that number one and number two in the

02:06little table there is showing that the

02:08road closure website and Tide Eye are

02:10the number one GIS websites out there.

02:14So, it's a uh

02:16that I'm I'm proud of this because uh

02:18and it's interesting. It's uh the people

02:21of the city of Charleston using tools to

02:23adapt the best they can to uh to the

02:26situation we have.

02:29And uh the the recent improvement to our

02:31road closure

02:33system is uh that we're now

02:36much more directly integrated into the

02:39navigation apps. And that's Waze, Google

02:42Maps, Apple Maps, and TomTom.

02:45And uh that we haven't our our flooding

02:48closures would get into Waze in the

02:50past, but it was uh

02:52a little of a black box of how it was

02:54happening. I think they were

02:56uh ingesting our closure data, but

03:01that they want the format to be just

03:03right for it to actually show up. So, we

03:05we've got all that

03:07hammered down now and we our feeds go

03:09directly in real time into these apps.

03:11So,

03:13it's pretty cool that uh we just have a

03:15a

03:16drop box on our road closure to send it

03:19to Waze or not. And if we put yes, it

03:22goes instantly into these navigation

03:23apps.

03:25And

03:25uh that this is kind of what it looks

03:27like in all the different apps. And we

03:29use this during uh the October floods

03:31and it seems to work really well.

03:34And uh a powerful part of the Waze

03:38platform is it allows us to do warnings.

03:42And uh that I've had people comment that

03:45they were getting the warnings coming

03:46into work.

03:48That uh that you can put a warning on a

03:50road where it doesn't reroute people,

03:52but uh the Calhoun is a perfect example.

03:54That one of the lanes gets uh gets

03:56pretty inundated, but the road stays

03:58open.

03:59So, now

04:01I can uh with a click of a button put a

04:03warning on Calhoun and as people are

04:05coming over the bridge, their phone will

04:06say, "Watch out, there's

04:09potential for water on the road."

04:11And that might make people move over

04:13into that center lane sooner, you know,

04:14so hopefully that'll be helpful for

04:16people.

04:18And then additionally, on top of uh

04:22all this road closure data that we're

04:24collecting,

04:25um that we're able to do stuff with the

04:27data that uh

04:30Over the summer, we had uh

04:32Spence Cox, a uh Duke student, uh

04:36approach us looking for internship

04:39opportunity.

04:40And we really didn't have one, but he

04:42wanted to work on something anyway, so

04:44he put this together

04:46using all of our road closure data and

04:49uh that we get Waze flood reports and uh

04:52he spent the summer putting this app

04:53together and we kind of went back and

04:55forth on

04:57on things we could do that would be

04:58interesting and he came up with this uh

05:00street flooding analysis and the point

05:03is to

05:04kind of identify the driving factors for

05:07why a road floods and I'll I'll give a

05:09demo of it in just a sec and it's on uh

05:12the GIS website now.

05:14It uh

05:15maybe not 100% ready for uh prime time,

05:18that we're still kind of vetting some of

05:20the data, but it's uh it seems to be

05:22pretty solid.

05:23And then uh this other one,

05:26we had a request uh you know, leading up

05:28to the election for the the

05:31transportation sales tax to uh

05:35to do a little bit of a little bit of a

05:37close look at a

05:38specific road and uh that we did

05:41analysis on Lackland Drive and this is

05:43just another app that looks at the

05:47history of flooding and then uh

05:49additionally, looking into the future,

05:51what would that same road look like with

05:53sea level rise? So uh

05:56Let me uh get out of this presentation.

06:06And just give a super quick demo cuz I

06:08know we're uh

06:12got a lot on the agenda.

06:15Can you guys still see the Charleston

06:17street flooding analysis?

06:21I think so.

06:22So, the way this works is uh

06:25you click what you want to do and just

06:26let us look at Lockwood.

06:35Yeah.

06:37And uh he they put this all together uh

06:40he developed this whole site. I think he

06:42did some of the coding with uh AI and

06:44it's all very impressive. So,

06:46this is looking at a road closure data,

06:48historical tide data, and historical

06:50rain data, and uh just looking at the

06:52date that the road was closed in time

06:54and determining the driving factor that

06:56causes that road to flood. And Lockwood,

06:59of course, is uh is tidally in

07:01influenced. So, uh

07:03that all makes sense. And then uh to go

07:05to some cool charts where it shows all

07:07the events and uh

07:09that you can hover over things and and

07:11get the dates and the tide height and

07:13the amount of rain that day.

07:16And uh I apologize, I don't have a

07:18mouse.

07:19And it's uh

07:22I'm having a little bit of trouble.

07:25Um

07:26yeah, just lots of cool information.

07:28This is on uh the JS website and you can

07:30go explore it and you can type in uh

07:32any road that's had a closure and get

07:35all sorts of cool information about why

07:37it floods and uh

07:39just to give you another quick example

07:42is uh we can put in Ogier Street, which

07:44is a super low street right off of

07:47Calhoun, that I already know that it's

07:50uh rain causes it to flood. And if we

07:51get heavy rain bomb, it's uh the first

07:53road to flood.

07:56But, I know that by uh you know, just

07:58from personal experience. This this lets

08:01uh this lets us get a pretty good idea

08:03of what causes a road to flood um

08:05if you didn't know anything about the

08:07you know, where it flooded in the

08:08peninsula.

08:09So super cool and uh

08:13Let's see.

08:15We do uh

08:17Let me go back to home. That those are

08:19looking at road closures, but then you

08:21can explore Waze reports, which those

08:24are uh anybody with the Waze app can can

08:27put a pin on the map saying that they

08:28see flooding.

08:30And it is useful because a lot of uh

08:33locations off the peninsula will show up

08:36and that that is typically where we

08:37don't have as uh

08:39our data would especially the road

08:41closures just isn't as great off the

08:43peninsula.

08:45And then uh this is really neat. The

08:47street forecast that

08:49uh it pulls

08:51NOAA's forecast for the next few days.

08:55And

08:57based on the conditions it sees, it'll

09:00uh try to guess what roads are at risk.

09:03And we can see we've got uh

09:05a decent tide

09:07in a couple days and then we've got uh

09:1014 roads at risk and you can hover it.

09:14And then uh we can look at these roads

09:16and the the roads we

09:18know are going to flood from uh

09:20the high tide Fishburn, Haygood.

09:22But some streets show up that uh are

09:25interesting that that I'm not super

09:27familiar with. Uh Central Park Road is

09:29one of them that it floods a lot, but

09:31I'm not super uh familiar with it like I

09:33am on some of the peninsula streets. So

09:36that's that app. That is on the city

09:38website and you can play with it.

09:40And uh then this other one was uh

09:43yeah, kind of leading up to the sales

09:45tax

09:46referendum. Um

09:49just to uh do a deep dive on one road

09:52and this could be applied to any road.

09:53It's just uh

09:55we're specifically kind of looking at

09:56Lockwood. Lockwood starts to flood at

09:597.2 ft and going back uh

10:03to 2015,

10:04like how many times did that road flood?

10:07Uh and this is looking at

10:10yeah, just that 7.2 ft. So, it's 443

10:13times 37 times a year.

10:16Um,

10:18403 days, and then uh, you know, almost

10:21800 hours

10:23of the road being past flood stage. And

10:25uh,

10:27Longest event, almost 8 hours. I'm

10:29pretty sure that's Irma.

10:31And uh,

10:33we got pictures, you know, different

10:35conditions.

10:37And I should say uh, that most of this

10:39was built with AI. So,

10:41uh,

10:42did a real impressive job. I just gave

10:44it these pictures, and it used the

10:45timestamp to to get the tide. And uh,

10:49It's just a cool way to look at uh, a

10:52specific location, and uh, and get all

10:55sorts of information about it. But,

10:58uh,

10:59more powerful thing about this app app

11:01is uh,

11:02you can see we have 443 events since uh,

11:062015,

11:08that you can add sea level rise

11:11to it. So, uh,

11:15Yeah, you just add point If the seas

11:17were point two feet higher, you know,

11:19which is uh, not that much higher,

11:22of just how quickly things uh, get a

11:24little bit out of control for this

11:26location.

11:27Which is why we need uh, mitigation

11:29measures.

11:30Um, so this is uh,

11:33a neat tool to look at, and uh,

11:34especially with the sea level rise to

11:36kind of peer into the future a little

11:38bit.

11:39But, uh, that is all I have. If anybody

11:41has any questions, I'd be happy to

11:43answer them. But, with that, I'll turn

11:45it back over to you, Cameron.

11:49>> Thanks, Robert. Does anybody have any

11:51questions for Robert?

11:53Think on it, and we can always um,

11:55share some questions later.

11:57So, we do have next on the agenda,

11:59resilience update. Um, I'm going to save

12:01that, cuz I want to make sure our main

12:03conversation today, um, Ron, so um, has

12:08has his time and space to have the

12:09conversation I know this committee's

12:11been interested about um, learning more

12:13about the stormwater um, design

12:15regulations and particularly some of the

12:17efforts as to what is existing in the

12:19city related to

12:22any wetland protections and how how that

12:26happens here at the city. So,

12:28Ron, I'm going to turn it over to you to

12:29take over if you'd like to introduce

12:30yourself. I think many folks on this

12:32committee obviously are city council

12:34members and mayor well aware of who you

12:36are and your role at the city.

12:38Please you should be able to share Ron,

12:40but let me know.

12:41>> For sure. I'm going to go to try and

12:42share right now and

12:46let it work.

12:50Let's see now.

12:54Okay, are you all seeing my full

12:56presentation?

12:58>> We're seeing your like preview one. If

13:01you share it on the main slide, yeah.

13:03>> I will stop sharing and try again.

13:14How about now?

13:17>> Yeah, there you go.

13:18>> Okay, great. Well,

13:20good afternoon everyone. Like Kaylin

13:22said, a lot of you may already know me,

13:24but my name's Ron Bucci. I'm the

13:26director of development services at the

13:27city of Charleston.

13:29Um one of the

13:31things that I oversee is the

13:34implementation of the stormwater design

13:36standard manual.

13:37It's gone through a few iterations in

13:40the years. 2013 was the first major one

13:43followed by a

13:45update in 2020 which really kicked into

13:48our more stringent requirements and then

13:49more recently in 2025 we made a another

13:53revision to the manual. Um so I

13:55previously created this presentation to

13:57kind of run through a manual overview

14:00and kind of highlight some of those

14:01changes. So it's an up-to-date

14:02presentation on you know what we enforce

14:05now. We did make a minor change in 2026,

14:07but that was just related to fees. So

14:10the last major revision that impacted

14:12design elements was in 2025. So with

14:15that I'll run through and Kaylin, just

14:17let me know about time if, you know, I'm

14:18running long, uh just let me know and I

14:21can

14:21>> Yeah, and I'll

14:22I'll I'd invite, you know, committee

14:24members, please

14:26raise your hand, interrupt if you have

14:27any question about what I'm presenting

14:29if that works for you, Ron.

14:31>> That would be great. That would be

14:32great.

14:33And if someone's hand is raised and I

14:34don't see it, please just let me know.

14:37>> Will do.

14:37>> Um so, a quick meeting agenda. So, kind

14:40of the purpose of the manual and then I

14:42cover some of the the highlights and I

14:45would say um

14:48the the things that we really want to

14:50stress when we're implementing our

14:51requirements to, you know, protect the

14:52city and also try and help improve

14:54flooding within the city, not just from

14:56capital projects, but from development

14:58as well. So, um the purpose of the

15:00manual, we cover some sea level rise,

15:03um the water quantity requirements and

15:05highlighting the special protection area

15:07requirements we have at the city.

15:09Um then I'll dive into Church Creek

15:11requirements. It's a uh it is a special

15:13protection area, but it has even more

15:15stringent requirements due to the

15:16flooding in that location. Um then I'm

15:19kind of going low over low impact

15:21development practices and how our manual

15:24encourages the use of it and try and

15:26incentivize it.

15:27Um and then wetland analysis, what we

15:29currently do when it comes to wetland

15:32impacts and what we require the design

15:34community to analyze when they do

15:36propose an impact that's been permitted

15:38by the Army Corps. And then I got some

15:40examples and then I kind of discuss some

15:42future revisions,

15:43um which I think I might taken out

15:45because I think it was just talking

15:46about the fees that we already put in.

15:47So, and then I'll open it up for more

15:49questions, but like Kaylin said, you can

15:51ask me questions whenever you have them.

15:53So, the purpose of the manual, the last

15:54major manual revision was in July 2020

15:57and then we revised it in 2025. Um

16:01we put a heavy emphasis on reduction in

16:03discharge rates and volumes for all

16:04projects that are in areas of known

16:06flooding, so targeting those areas where

16:08we know flooding is occurring or is

16:11within a watershed that would impact

16:13that flooding. Um

16:15we wanted to account for potential sea

16:17level rise, which I'll get into more

16:19detail. Um, we added additional

16:20requirements for publicly dedicated

16:22systems. That's systems that would be

16:24maintained by the systems. We want the

16:26city maintained by the city. We wanted

16:29to make sure they're meeting a certain

16:30standard. Um, we wanted to prevent

16:33adverse impacts to all surrounding

16:35properties, upstream, downstream, the

16:36public right-of-way, etc. And then we

16:39did additional what we call technical

16:41procedure documents to clarify the

16:44requirements. We wanted to keep the

16:45manual more more simple on what the

16:46requirement is, but then we wanted to

16:48provide

16:49more in-depth documentation to give to

16:51the um, designers and the engineers so

16:54that they have a better idea of what

16:56we're looking for.

16:59So with that, um, sea level rise is the

17:01first one I'm going to cover. So you may

17:02all be familiar with the title gauge

17:04data that we have. Um, and as you can

17:06see, this is all based on NAVD 88. Um,

17:09that's kind of what we use as engineers

17:11when we're looking at plans. So the mean

17:13high high water that you see here is

17:152.6.

17:17Um, that's not to mean that we don't get

17:18events that have higher than that. You

17:20know, we'll see 3.5, which we've seen

17:22recently, which will flood Calhoun.

17:24Perfect timing. Thank you, Robert, for

17:26um, setting me up for that. But when it

17:28comes to what we require, we want to

17:30build upon that. So going to the next

17:32slide kind of covers what we're

17:34requiring. So to accommodate sea level

17:36rise and storm surge, we require all our

17:38designs to account for a 5 and 1/2 NAVD

17:4188. So adding 2 ft on top of that 3 and

17:441/2 that we are seeing, you know, once a

17:47year, multiple times a year potentially.

17:49Um, we also require that our roadway

17:52elevation, so if you're going to build a

17:53new road and dedicate it to the city,

17:55um, that should be at 7 and 1/2 so that

17:59we are not flooding the road, also not

18:01flooding the road base and the the

18:03subbase material, so we're not damaging

18:06it. So we are trying to account for sea

18:08level rise

18:09um,

18:10that that could occur. And we do require

18:12that the applicants model it as if it

18:15was dynamic, so it actually shows the

18:17tides going up and coming down, and they

18:19need to account for that in their

18:20design.

18:24So, this is going into kind of our

18:26stormwater quantity requirements. So,

18:28all projects that are being reviewed by

18:31the city. So, we will review a project

18:33that is half an acre or more of land

18:35disturbance.

18:37So, any of those projects would have to

18:38meet our project discharge requirements.

18:40So, this is controlling the discharge

18:42rate

18:43from pre to post. So, if your site has a

18:46certain amount of water leaving its site

18:49in the post development condition, it

18:51needs to match that water. So, this is

18:53throughout the city,

18:54um even in

18:56uh non-special protection areas. So, it

19:00kind of it looks at certain storm events

19:02and make sure you're not making flooding

19:04worse during those certain storm events.

19:06And then we also require, if you're

19:08disturbing enough land, what is called

19:10the 1% of exceedance storm event

19:12analysis. So, it says here, you know,

19:15projects disturb one or more acre, we

19:16want you to look at even larger storm

19:19events, um up to what the 1% being the

19:22100-year event uh storm event that has

19:24the probability of hap- 1% probability

19:27of happening in a given year.

19:29So, we want to make sure that you are

19:31not proposing any adverse impacts during

19:34that event. Um

19:36if you increase the runoff, you need to

19:38show, "Hey, it's still not going to

19:40worsen flooding because everything's

19:42already flooded out during this large

19:43event." So, that will apply to any

19:45development within the city that's

19:47disturbing 1 acre or more, and the

19:49discharge rate requirement is for half

19:52an acre or more. And then going to the

19:53next slide, this goes into the special

19:56protection area requirements.

19:58So, if you're in a designated special

20:00protection area, that means there is

20:02either existing flooding in the area, or

20:05you your development is contributing to

20:09that flooding by being within the same

20:11watershed.

20:12So, if your parcel area is greater than

20:161 acre and you're disturbing half an

20:18acre, you have to reduce the flow rate

20:22and the flow volume by 20%. So, you

20:25actually have to improve the conditions

20:27of your site by holding the water back

20:29on your site and slow releasing it into

20:32whatever you're tying into. Might be the

20:34public right-of-way, might be a private

20:36road.

20:37Um we don't require sites to reduce

20:39below an assumed good condition woods.

20:42Basically, that is the best condition

20:45for stormwater runoff if you have a

20:47wooded site. So, reducing below that

20:49would be doing better than what is the

20:51best out there essentially. Um and this

20:53is I'll touch on this more later, but we

20:56do try to incentivize low impact

20:58development. So, if you utilize a low

21:00impact development, which is permeable

21:03pavers, uh rain garden, bioretention,

21:06instead of a 20% reduction, we would

21:09allow for just a 15% reduction. Um or if

21:13the project utilizes city funding, we

21:15allow this as well. But, low impact

21:17developments are much smaller, a little

21:19easier to maintain, and have a lot of

21:21added benefits like water quality. So,

21:23we want to incentivize the use of them,

21:25and this is just a small way where they

21:27may be able to provide less storage if

21:29they use these creative practices.

21:33>> Um question.

21:34>> Um Yes.

21:35>> Uh how many developers are taking you up

21:38on that um low impact development?

21:43>> Not as many as obviously we would like.

21:45Um I think we still are doing a lot of

21:47education on it. Um that that specific

21:50low impact development requirement just

21:52went in the 2025 manual. Um but we have

21:55seen a few, but I would say not as many

21:57as we like if I'm being honest.

22:00>> Thank you.

22:03>> Okay.

22:04>> Mr.

22:04>> Uh Councilmember Waring, yes.

22:06>> Thank you. Um

22:07So, to

22:08to account for the 20% additional

22:11runoff, that means the retention area

22:14would be 20% larger than it was prior to

22:16this update?

22:19>> Uh

22:19it depends really cuz it depends on like

22:21the the how the water is interacting,

22:23but that is a simple way to describe

22:25that. Yes. So, basically, in if you're

22:28not in a special protection area, if you

22:30have a fully impervious site previously

22:33and you have one now,

22:35you wouldn't have see any detention

22:37whatsoever.

22:38Um but, if you're within the special

22:40protection areas, you now have to

22:42provide storage, but it it's not a

22:44direct correlation of providing 20% more

22:47storage

22:48um because it's based on how the water

22:50is being held, how it's being released.

22:52So, it sometimes could be more than

22:54that, honestly.

22:55>> Mhm.

22:57Okay. Thanks.

22:59>> No problem. And I actually will touch on

23:01that a little later, too. Um

23:04With this actually, is this still

23:07requirement can you realize? Oh, yeah.

23:09So, this is um

23:11kind of uh the requirement where we also

23:14wanted to provide a simplified approach

23:16for sites that were doing exactly what I

23:18was describing, "Hey, I have a fully

23:20impervious area site um in the existing

23:24condition. It's going to be fully

23:26impervious once we develop the site. Um

23:29the complicate the computations are very

23:31complicated. They take a lot of time.

23:33So, we said, "If you can document that

23:36you're not increasing runoff cuz you're

23:37just fully impervious,

23:39um

23:40you can provide storage volume of a

23:42stormwater practice that equals the

23:45runoff volume of half the existing

23:48runoff during a certain storm event, the

23:5025-year storm event." Um

23:53we have ran computations and collected

23:55project data within the area to show

23:57that by providing half the runoff volume

24:00for that 25-year storm event, that will

24:04essentially meets the 20% reduction. So,

24:08we wanted to give the opportunity for

24:10developers to just provide that storage

24:12instead of running through the

24:13computations when we know it is going to

24:15improve

24:17um on the flood conditions. It's not

24:19going to have a worsening of flooding.

24:21Um again, we try to incentivize the LID

24:23practices. So, we say, "For every one

24:26unit of storage,

24:27um

24:29you can get 1.1

24:31units of credit if you use LID LID

24:34practice.

24:36Um

24:38and then we developed because there are

24:39other requirements tied to stormwater

24:41practices, so we developed a simplified

24:43approach to deal with freeboard,

24:46recovery computations, um orifice sizes,

24:49basically different elements of your

24:51stormwater practice, we tried to

24:52simplify all of that with this approach,

24:54so try and streamline it because we know

24:56that we're going to have a situation

24:58that's better than it was after the

25:00project.

25:05Um the last special protection area

25:08requirement we have, like I previously

25:10said, we only um

25:11look and review for projects that

25:13disturb an acre or more for full

25:16in-depth review cuz if we did everything

25:18smaller, we it would just overwhelm us,

25:21but we do require the developers to

25:24still implement practices based on very

25:26simple computation and just using this

25:28table saying, "If you are increasing the

25:30impervious area by 500 square feet or

25:32more and you're not disturbing half an

25:35acre or more, you still have to do

25:36something like install rain barrels to

25:38offset that increased impervious,

25:40install a rain garden, um disconnected

25:43downspouts is running the water through

25:45an open space area instead of directly

25:47onto impervious area to slow the water

25:49down." So, we are even putting the you

25:52know,

25:53we are still looking for even the

25:54smaller developments to help improve the

25:56conditions of the watershed in a special

25:58protection area.

26:01Okay, Church Creek. Um so, this is a

26:05very I guess a special special

26:07protection area, I will say. Um we do

26:09know that there is significant flooding

26:11and it's been documented over the years.

26:13Church Creek Basin went through uh

26:15significant increase in impervious area

26:18and development in the 1970s. I'm trying

26:20to look at some of the facts I have

26:21here. Um approximately 1/3 of the

26:23watershed is low and medium density

26:27residential and it's about 30% of the

26:30watershed is impervious. When you look

26:31at the before conditions, there was

26:33almost no development. So, that rapid

26:35growth of development with

26:37that happened before a lot of these

26:39requirements were in place have caused

26:42some of the flooding and the the um

26:46I mean, that's really it. Just some of

26:47the flooding in some of those areas at

26:48the pinch points such as culverts. And

26:51then it it slowly drains because the

26:54water gets to these pinch points so

26:56quickly that it gets stored behind it.

26:58So, because of that, we have heightened

27:00requirements for Church Creek.

27:03Um

27:04And this is kind of Yes?

27:08Okay.

27:09Um these are kind of a list of those

27:11requirements. So, you have to detain the

27:13excess runoff volume between

27:15pre-development and post-development up

27:17to that 1% storm event. Normally, our

27:20enforcement for special protection areas

27:22goes up to the 4% storm event, which is

27:24the 25-year, but we are looking for the

27:261% the 100-year storm event when it

27:29comes to Church Creek. Um

27:32we actually look case by case on

27:34developments in Church Creek of how we

27:36want you to release the water because

27:38sometimes it's more beneficial to get

27:40the water out faster, sometimes it's

27:42better to hold that water on site. So,

27:44depending on where you are in the Church

27:46Creek basin, we may have

27:48specialized requirements.

27:50Um so, another thing we do when we do

27:53the 1% analysis that I failed to mention

27:55is

27:56fill displacement. If you are filling in

27:58area that floods, you need to then

28:00provide additional storage

28:03to offset that fill one to one so that

28:05we can document you're not worsening

28:07flooding. In Church Creek, we actually

28:09require 1.25 to one. So, if you fill a

28:12flooded area, we actually make you add

28:14to the storage to start slowly providing

28:17storage to the watershed and then adding

28:19that benefit.

28:20Um and then the last thing is we And And

28:22this is true with all development, to be

28:24honest. We encourage basin improvement

28:26plan participation over onsite storage.

28:29The benefits from a water quantity

28:31standpoint that the city gets from doing

28:33a basin improvement, upgrading a

28:36culvert, installing check valves,

28:38improving a drainage system,

28:41um far outweighs what a developer can do

28:44on their site. So, we always push people

28:48as long as it has an equal or better

28:49benefit to do basin improvements.

28:53Um and sometimes it may even save the

28:55developer costs. So, you know, I I we

28:57always have those conversations with the

28:58developers up front to see what can be

29:00done.

29:02Okay, now we're getting into the LID

29:04practice encouragement. So, this is a

29:06line from our manual. So, we require the

29:08designers to consider the incorporation

29:10of LID or green infrastructure. Um and

29:13we require them to go through the

29:15exercise of considering um

29:18the six site planning and design

29:20elements that we have listed and I'm

29:21going to go through each one of those

29:23and provide examples of where we've seen

29:26those. Um

29:28again, a lot of these have even done it

29:30before just based on us requiring them

29:32to go through the exercise before we

29:34even incentivize them. And now that

29:36we're incentivizing them with these

29:37additional credits, we hope to see more.

29:43So, first one is maintaining site

29:45resources and natural undisturbed areas.

29:47I mean, this is basically avoiding your

29:49natural resources, um avoiding drainage

29:52ways, wetlands. We basically make them

29:54go through the exercise and say, "How

29:55were you trying to avoid it? What did

29:57you do? Why couldn't you avoid it?"

29:59Um

30:00our mitigation requirements, like I was

30:02mentioning that do one-to-one fill

30:04displacement and 1.5-to-1 in Church

30:06Creek, also push people to do this. But,

30:08this is a affordable housing project

30:10that it's under construction off of

30:13Bernice Robinson where they had, if you

30:14look in the top right, a isolated

30:16wetland where they actually built around

30:18it and um created it as a feature to

30:21protect it and kind of walking trail

30:23around it. Um and I'll get into what we

30:26require from a wetland analysis

30:27standpoint later, but I thought it was a

30:29good creative design where they still

30:31found use in that area while not

30:33impacting the wetland.

30:38Lower impact site layout techniques. The

30:40goal is to fit design layout to follow

30:42natural contours, to limit your clearing

30:45and grading, and avoid steep slopes.

30:48Trying to use non-traditional design to

30:50limit impervious areas,

30:53and utilize energy dissipation to avoid

30:55erosion. So this is parcel K. It's out

30:57in Daniel Island, where the old, I

31:00believe, soccer stadium was, I I

31:02believe. Basically, they they had two

31:05approaches to kind of

31:07meeting this requirement. They were

31:09doing, if you can see the grading in a

31:10lot of the the parking islands, they

31:12used those as bioswales

31:14that collected the water and slowly

31:17released it to the downstream. And

31:19you'll see this detail, which was a

31:20level spreader. So basically, the water

31:22would

31:23go through it, and then it was very

31:25flatly graded with riprap, so the water

31:27would spread out before going to the

31:30adjacent wetlands.

31:31It's not your traditional pipe to

31:33outfall, where you create a ditch.

31:36They they really wanted to protect the

31:38buffers around the site. So we thought

31:40it was a pretty creative solution, and I

31:41do have photos of of this site later.

31:45All right, minimum minimization of

31:47impervious cover. This is always a tough

31:49one, because people want to maximize

31:50their built-upon area, but we want them

31:52to do it in a strategic way.

31:55This is just a parking lot for

31:57um

31:58I think it was one of the car

31:59dealerships in West Ashley, but the

32:01entire thing is permeable pavers, and

32:04they used the permeable pavers to

32:06provide storage to meet the

32:07requirements. The only area, if you see

32:10the red line to the left of it, is that

32:13is not permeable pavers, because that's

32:14where the heavy trucks are doing

32:15drop-offs. So

32:18you know, you can't really drive over

32:19permeable pavers and do certain turns

32:21over them. So they saved it for the

32:23smaller cars in the lot where they're

32:25going to be stored. So it it was also a

32:27great way to minimize the impact to the

32:28trees that they were trying to protect

32:30in this area.

32:32So I thought it was a

32:33a a great solution, where that was their

32:35only stormwater BMP. They didn't need an

32:37expensive underground detention system,

32:39something along those lines. So,

32:41that was a great way to minimize

32:43true impervious cover.

32:45Councilman Ware.

32:49>> Mr. Butchy, where did you say this is

32:51again?

32:52>> Uh this is in

32:54it's in West Ashley. It's right near the

32:56526 ramp um on the south side of 17.

33:00Um I think it's called the Azalea

33:01parking. I could send you the location,

33:04but um it's gated. There's a gate right

33:07where the red is, so you can't even

33:08really see it, but I actually have a

33:10photo of it. I

33:12my short body just looked over the had

33:14to hold the phone over the gate to get

33:15the picture, but um yeah, it's really

33:17cool site.

33:18>> Yeah, if you can give me a call on the

33:20other side of the meeting about that,

33:21I'd be

33:22>> Absolutely.

33:23Absolutely.

33:27Um and then this is the the use of

33:30natural features for storm water

33:31management, so utilizing your

33:33undisturbed natural buffers, your

33:34vegetated swales, and avoiding the

33:37impacts to the major spillways. Um

33:40This is off of Folly Road. It's just a

33:43uh

33:43uh

33:44subdivision, small subdivision. Um you

33:47can see in this the image on the bottom,

33:50there was a channel, and previously they

33:52were

33:53uh bridging it and trying to build

33:55additional homes or something on the

33:56other side. And then after going through

33:58this exercise, they're like, "Really, we

33:59shouldn't be impacting this drainage

34:01way. Let's just cut it there, you know?"

34:03I think really maybe it was just a trail

34:05and and maybe a small building. I don't

34:07know if they did a home, I can't

34:08remember, but but that was a great

34:10exercise of seeing this and and

34:12realizing the impacts that it would have

34:14and kind of cutting it short. And then a

34:16lot of the created storm water storage

34:19is kind of ex- uh created wetlands is

34:21what they did here to connect and create

34:23kind of like a treatment train of

34:25wetlands cuz they were trying to

34:27um not only use the natural feature of

34:29the downstream wetland and channel, but

34:32also replicate it in this case.

34:38And then the last one uh no, this isn't

34:41the last one, we have one more, but

34:42engineered proprietary devices. So, the

34:44city is aware of the potential benefits

34:46of using these, you know,

34:47space constraints. So, these are your

34:49underground detentions, your

34:51manufactured devices.

34:53Um sometimes linear projects where you

34:55just don't have room.

34:56Um they're better solution. They do a

34:59little sometimes do a better job of

35:00targeting specific pollutants depending

35:02on what you're using. Um the city will

35:05review each one for is it going to meet

35:09the performance requirements,

35:10requirements. What is the maintenance?

35:13Does it put it too much maintenance? Is

35:14it reasonable? Is it realistic? And does

35:18it make sense in this situation?

35:20Um and we do have language in our manual

35:22that we reserve the right to require

35:23that certain devices be installed or

35:25certain devices be prevented from use.

35:28Um

35:29inlet inserts are an example where it's

35:31basically just a bag within the inlets.

35:33People try and use that for water

35:34quality, but they rip, they they are

35:37very tough to maintain, they need to be

35:38replaced constantly. So, the city has

35:40made the decision to not allow those.

35:43And um John, I do see your hand is

35:44raised.

35:45>> You have any examples of what these

35:47engineered devices might be?

35:49>> Yeah, so underground detention systems

35:52and above ground detention systems are

35:53considered engineered devices. Um

35:56a lot of times what we see at the city

35:58are what we call pass through devices.

36:00So, the water goes through the

36:04essentially looks like a manhole.

36:06And the water flows through it and all

36:08of the sediment settles to the bottom

36:09usually using like a vortex system where

36:12the fines and the sediments and the

36:14trash will settle out and clean water

36:16passes through.

36:17So, we normally see it used for water

36:19quality. Um and that's probably the most

36:21popular and like I said, we we've seen

36:23people try and use inlet inserts.

36:26But they they just don't function the

36:28way that the city feels is acceptable.

36:36Okay, green infrastructure. So, you

36:38know,

36:39>> A lot of these requirements don't apply

36:40to just

36:42development

36:43uh

36:44to city projects and even stormwater

36:46projects. So, this is Barbary Woods out

36:48in Johns Island. This was a huge

36:50drainage project. I'm sure you may all

36:51be familiar with it, but um

36:54it was it it's a project that really the

36:56purpose of it is to hold water and

36:58release it and and divert it away from

37:00the neighborhood to allow it to drain

37:02better.

37:03There's nothing stopping this project

37:05from just being a series of ponds.

37:08Um it could just and it could accomplish

37:10the same thing from a stormwater

37:11management standpoint, but because of

37:14our pushing for green infrastructure and

37:15you know, give credit to Matt Fountain,

37:17our director of stormwater, um coming up

37:19with a better solution that adds

37:20additional benefits by doing these

37:22created wetlands,

37:24um

37:25creating habitat, creating more water

37:27quality benefits

37:29uh through through

37:31water uh you know, trees and wetlands

37:34and infiltration and removal of

37:37pollutants. So, it it I think it's just

37:39a good reminder that the city is also

37:41going through this exercise and looking

37:44at what we can do better to

37:46implement low impact development as

37:47well. And I felt like this was a really

37:49good example of that.

37:54Um so, again, LID practice

37:57encouragement. So, I covered a lot of

37:59the water quantity encouragement

38:01previously, but water quality is another

38:05one.

38:06Uh this is a tiered approach for So, we

38:08require each developer to provide a

38:09certain amount of water quality. Um if

38:12they use a traditional pond, they have

38:15to treat 2.8 inches of rainfall

38:17essentially for water quality.

38:20Um but if they use a specific green

38:22infrastructure practice, if it has

38:24underdrain, we've allowed them to treat

38:26for 2 inches. If it's a green

38:27infrastructure that provides

38:29infiltration, it would just be 1 inch.

38:31So, again, we're just trying to create

38:33those incentive incentivize the

38:35developers to to look at different

38:37approaches because it could save them

38:39costs, could provide smaller practices.

38:45And then I added this in. This is our

38:47wetland system modeling and baseline

38:49functionality. So, this gets triggered

38:52whenever it's not just triggered if you

38:55are impacting a wetland. It is

38:57physically impacting a wetland by

38:59actually needing an Army Corps permit.

39:01It's triggered every time you change the

39:03drainage to that wetland. So,

39:06all applicable permit Obviously, all

39:08applicable permits must be provided to

39:10the city prior to any of physical

39:11impacts to an existing wetland.

39:14But, uh and we also say that your

39:15wetland can only be used for stormwater

39:18conveyance. You can't take credit for

39:20the wetland to provide your quantity

39:23quality requirements. You must do that

39:24before the wetland cuz we want to

39:26protect that wetland and treat it as an

39:28existing condition.

39:30But, what I'm saying that we do on top

39:33of that is

39:35we must account for the impacts to any

39:37wetlands in your actual stormwater

39:39model. So, when you do your existing

39:42conditions model, you're going to give

39:43the city this is how high the water in

39:46that wetland stages and this is how long

39:48water is held in that wetland. After we

39:50develop the site, these are the proposed

39:52changes to that wetland. So, we require

39:55a baseline functionality documentation

39:57from a wetland scientist to say, this is

39:59how it currently functions. The engineer

40:01gave you the computations of staging and

40:03inundation.

40:04Then, we say, here's the proposed

40:06results. All right, we're increasing the

40:08water elevation in that wetland or the

40:10wetland's holding water for an

40:12additional 10 minutes, however long it

40:14might be, maybe an hour. We need that

40:16wetland scientist to sign off and say,

40:18based on the results of that stormwater

40:20modeling looking at all those storm

40:22events, the health of this wetland will

40:24not be impacted and this wetland will

40:27remain a wetland even after the

40:29development. We Our manual does not

40:32currently restrict them impacting the

40:35wetland, but even if it's impacted, we

40:37want to make sure that whatever is to

40:38remain will still function properly and

40:41be a wetland.

40:43Um we do know that the Charleston County

40:45is going through, you know, uh similar

40:48manual revisions and I have been in talk

40:50with them directly on what they're

40:52looking at and what they're proposing.

40:54So, it is things for consideration

40:56moving forward if there's anything else

40:57we want to really do different.

41:03Um, okay. Now, I just got some example

41:05projects. Um,

41:07and and this is kind of the green

41:09infrastructure's one we're seeing. Um,

41:11you know, John, to your question, like

41:13we don't see them as much as I'd like. I

41:14was more answering that question. I

41:15should have said during in the downtown

41:17area, right? A lot of times in the

41:19downtown where people want to maximize

41:21their space, that's where they we really

41:22see the more traditional approaches. Um,

41:25but we do see people using their open

41:27space pretty effectively outside of the

41:29downtown area, for sure.

41:33So, this looks

41:34very simple, but it basically is a

41:36protected what it's called a vegetated

41:38filter strip. So, uh, it's it's not

41:41buildable area, and it basically filters

41:43out pollutants for any runoff that would

41:45flow through it. Um,

41:47it it not only minimizes the amount of

41:49impervious area, we get a basically

41:51almost a what you would call a

41:52restrictive covenant on this

41:54um, that would protect this area in

41:56perpetuity because it's using for water

41:58quality benefits. So, it's to stay open

42:00space. They usually do it along for rear

42:02lot drainage to provide treatment before

42:05going into the next downstream system.

42:11This is American Gardens downtown. Um,

42:14they have a lot of permeable pavement

42:16and they have used a lot of planters um,

42:19to basically try and get some

42:21groundwater recharge wherever they can.

42:23Um, but also filter the water out

42:25instead of doing a traditional

42:27underground detention system underneath

42:29the whole park. I thought it was a much

42:30more creative way. And and

42:32aesthetically, I mean, I think it really

42:35fits and works.

42:40So, this is a garden and pavilion. It's

42:41right near Revery Brew Brewery and Cool

42:44Blow. Um, I think this is built by

42:45Clemson.

42:47Um,

42:47and basically they they They a rain

42:50barrel. They tried to use more permeable

42:52pavement than

42:54than impervious area where possible. And

42:57all another thing that we talked about

42:59is offsite. There was an area of

43:02impervious area adjacent to here that

43:04wasn't being utilized. So as a part of

43:05this project, they removed that

43:07impervious area to offset the increases

43:10that were being shown here.

43:15Um the specific boxing crate downtown

43:19um

43:20near Edmonds Old Brewery. Um they have a

43:22lot of rain gardens, permeable pavement

43:25that you can see in this photo. And I

43:26think another really cool thing they did

43:28with their uh parking islands

43:30are

43:32um

43:32robust parking islands with with

43:34additional landscaping and kind of

43:36letting it grow and and not just mowing

43:38it down to provide that water quality

43:40benefit that we like to see. Um slows

43:42the water down to from a water quantity

43:45standpoint as well. So I I think it

43:46looks great.

43:50So this is the parcel K grass swales not

43:52as robust yet. This was right after

43:54construction, but you could see they do

43:56the long linear hold the water, tie it

43:59into the next one, heavily plant it. Uh

44:01this becomes an education of the

44:03landscaping crew to say, "Hey, don't cut

44:05the these. They are supposed to grow."

44:07So that's something we are constantly

44:08doing.

44:09And then in this next photo you could

44:11kind of see that level spreader. So they

44:12built it up. It has a little um weir

44:15wall that it overtops and then it flows

44:17into the downstream system and flows

44:18through a grassed area instead of

44:20concentrating that flow

44:22uh and causing erosion.

44:25So this is where I had to get on my

44:26tippy toes, get over the fence, uh get

44:28that permeable pavement picture Azalea

44:30parking um

44:33and then they strategically placed their

44:35parking islands to you know protect some

44:36of those larger trees that you'll see

44:38there. So

44:39um I felt like I I knew they needed a

44:41lot of surface area and it does look

44:44like a lot of impervious, but to use

44:45permeable pavement in an effective way

44:47really worked here.

44:52And this is a just a downtown site. This

44:53was under construction so when I

44:55actually reviewed one of the first ones

44:56I reviewed, but I thought it just showed

44:58even though you have a tight site, you

45:00can still do LID practices like

45:02permeable pavement. Um we see rain

45:04barrels and things like that a lot as

45:06well. I mean this site was under

45:08uh you know, under half an acre, but

45:09they did their whole drive aisles with

45:10permeable pavement.

45:13And then I just got some fun Barberry

45:14Woods wetland creation photos. Again,

45:17this could have been a traditional pond,

45:19but it this is an old photo. You should

45:21definitely go by if you're in the area

45:23and see how how it's grown and and

45:25really taken off.

45:27Um

45:28They even did a permeable pavement for

45:30their path connection. That's all

45:32permeable pavers.

45:33Um and then they have the short bridge

45:35to connect the two neighborhoods.

45:39This is Hal Ave. This is another uh

45:42storage with wetland plantings. Again,

45:44trying to just go above and beyond by by

45:46providing additional benefits uh to

45:49these projects.

45:51And this is going to be another city

45:52project. This is Bridge Point um in West

45:55Ashley.

45:56Again, creating habitat and wetland.

45:59And then the last one I had

46:01um

46:03Is it I think this is the Old Town. Oh

46:05my god, I'm blanking on the name. Sorry,

46:06everyone. Um it's out in West Ashley.

46:08It's the new building that's next to the

46:10new ca-

46:11Old Country. Thank you very much, John.

46:13Um

46:14But but you know, they did a lot of low

46:16impact development too and and really

46:19just tried to build around the

46:20environment that they have with uh they

46:23didn't do a full asphalt road. They have

46:25a center island with plantings.

46:28Um

46:28so so I feel like they did a really good

46:30job. Good example of

46:31trying to restrict impervious area

46:33wherever they could.

46:38So this is uh future

46:40ch- revisions that we're thinking of. So

46:43we do uh want to continue to make

46:45revisions even if they're minor and

46:47clarification revisions on a yearly

46:48basis if we can. Um we're always

46:50learning new things. We're always seeing

46:52what works, what doesn't work. Um and

46:55like we said, we want to

46:56include additional LID encouragement if

46:59we can.

47:00Um the fees was the revision from 2026

47:04and

47:05we understand that a lot of these

47:06changes

47:07take a lot of communication with the

47:09engineers and developers. We've had

47:10really great meetings with them and

47:12continue to and continue to get feedback

47:14from them for cuz they're the ones

47:17telling us what works and what doesn't

47:18work. Um they are just as experienced

47:21and they they have a ton of knowledge of

47:22the area.

47:24Um so it's a constant conversation with

47:27them that we try and have throughout the

47:29year.

47:32And that is all I have.

47:34Um

47:34and I will open it up to any more

47:36questions.

47:39>> Great, see you.

47:40Good.

47:41>> Hey Ron, I really appreciate seeing this

47:43presentation again here.

47:46I'm curious about like when you have an

47:48opportunity to provide feedback on a new

47:51project and whether you think the timing

47:54that you're able to get involved in that

47:56project is allowing for you to

47:59make the greatest impact on that or is

48:02forced more into

48:05kind of dealing with what's already been

48:06permitted in other stages.

48:09>> Yeah, I know, it's a great question. Um

48:11I I will say our sketch plan process

48:13that we have here at the city has been a

48:15huge help to get in that ground floor

48:18cuz that's before they even make a

48:19technical review submittal. So we have

48:22that the conversation with them up

48:24front.

48:25Um

48:26and I would say our reviewers do a

48:28really good job of just communicating

48:29options. Like we we aren't afraid to

48:31make suggestions. Of course, our manual

48:33doesn't allow us to require certain

48:35practices. If you meet the requirements,

48:36you meet the requirements.

48:38But um I do think we we have the time

48:40because of the sketch plan. That kind of

48:42gets our foot in the door before it

48:44before they even submit something for

48:45review.

48:51John, I see your hand raised.

48:52>> I've got two questions. One is

48:54you know, all of this is based upon

48:56modeling. Do you ever come back after

48:58the fact and say, oh, we've just had a

49:00100-year storm and this is what actually

49:01happened versus the modeling?

49:04>> Yeah, that's a great question. It's

49:05something we absolutely are looking

49:07into. I'm you know, I think one thing we

49:10can definitely do and and look into is

49:12getting more

49:13gauges in downstream systems to to model

49:17the potential impacts. We do have them

49:19in Church Creek. That's something we can

49:21look at.

49:22The hardest part of it, I will say, is

49:24you never get the same storm twice,

49:26right? So, it's a hard to make that

49:29apples-to-apples comparison of oh, it

49:32flooded like this, but because even a

49:35difference in an hour of rainfall and

49:37intensity can have such a major impact,

49:39but that is something um

49:42we we absolutely been talking about and

49:44and trying to come up with creative ways

49:46to to see the benefits we're having.

49:48>> Yeah.

49:49>> I will say for for the stormwater

49:51projects though, like Barberry,

49:53I'm sure that that those are can be a

49:55little more targeted cuz they have much

49:56greater impacts.

49:58>> Mhm. The other question is you um said

50:01uh and I know the county's updating

50:02their stormwater manual

50:04um are you guys in any way trying to

50:06align them? I.e. make the county as

50:09stringent as the city or what's

50:10happening there?

50:11>> Yeah, I mean that's we've I've met with

50:13them. I sat down with them. I think a

50:15lot of their updates were spurred from

50:18us making those 2025 updates. So, they

50:20they are bringing a lot of their

50:22requirements in line with ours.

50:25Um there were a few that they they felt

50:27like going a different direction and

50:29they basically were like, hey, what are

50:30your thoughts on this? How have you been

50:32seeing this implemented? I would say

50:34they're they're very aligned.

50:36Um

50:37but there were a few preferential things

50:40that that they did differently.

50:42>> Have you seen where um in a donut hole

50:45where someone may be in a county and

50:47they did a different stormwater um you

50:50know, regulations than you that has

50:52impacted the city properties?

50:58>> I would I would say because the

50:59requirements are pretty aligned

51:01especially with water quantity

51:03requirements. I would say our water

51:05quantity requirements are are

51:07you know, almost exactly the same. I I

51:09would say no.

51:10>> Okay, thank you.

51:16>> All right.

51:17Wait, Andrew.

51:20>> Ron, thanks for that. Um

51:22just wanted to

51:24really commend you all. I mean, I think,

51:25you know, it's the detail work that's

51:27important in a lot of this stuff and um

51:30you know, figuring out how to implement

51:31it and how to get developers to do it

51:33and what works and what doesn't.

51:34>> Yeah.

51:35>> It's really important. Um wondered if

51:36you all one, I guess, you know, you

51:38mentioned the reception, you know, kind

51:40of downtown

51:41has been not as good as the reception,

51:43you know, in the development community

51:45and some of the other areas. You know,

51:47in the areas where the reception's been

51:48generally positive, can you talk a

51:50little bit more about how developers are

51:51looking at this? Are they looking at it

51:54in terms of like, oh, this is just

51:55another set of rules I need to comply

51:56with or are they looking at it from the

51:58sense of like, hey, you know, these

52:00things kind of add an element um

52:03to my project that

52:05is an improvement over a basic storm

52:07water pond or a drain you know, basic

52:09drainage infrastructure?

52:11Uh that's the first part of the

52:12question. Then the second part of the

52:13question is, you know, has there been

52:14any discussions about the possibility of

52:16linking these things together to get

52:18after like, you know, cumulative

52:20benefits to like, if I'm doing LID here

52:22in this project, you know, the

52:23development next door is going to also

52:25do LID and we can link these things

52:26together, you know, to kind of create

52:29restored natural systems, so to speak.

52:31Um

52:31I know a lot of times with storm water

52:33and flooding issues, you know,

52:34cumulative impacts don't get considered

52:36maybe as well as they should. So.

52:39>> Yeah, I'll answer this. Yeah, of course.

52:41Thanks for the question. I'll answer the

52:42this second one first. Um

52:45absolutely. We we always push as it's

52:48tough because different developers,

52:50different properties, you have to get

52:51those people to negotiate, but when it's

52:53similar property owners, we're pushing

52:55them to do that, especially with the

52:58basin improvements where it's, hey,

53:00why don't you don't have to do your

53:02improvements directly on your parcel?

53:04You can do them somewhere else, um, you

53:07know, in the public right away or

53:09something creative. Um, so we do have

53:11those discussions, especially I would

53:13say with, um,

53:15you know, people who own a lot of

53:17property in in the general vicinity

53:19like, um,

53:21if it's the same property owner. That's

53:22really the challenge we have. If it's

53:24not the same property owner and they're

53:25having to negotiate and work on

53:27timelines with that. But it is important

53:29to remember that in a sense these

53:32systems do tie into one another because

53:34they all are within same watershed. So,

53:37um, but we are always pushing for these

53:39treatment trains and connections and

53:41things like that. Um,

53:42and then for your first part of the

53:43question, was that specific to, um,

53:47the LID? Cuz I do think that the manual

53:50in general is well received from a

53:52requirement standpoint. I think the

53:53developers and the engineers understand

53:56the good that it does. I was only trying

53:58to speak to like

53:59they're a little less receptive to do

54:01some of the LID practices because that

54:03they can get a little more space doing

54:06some more little more built upon space

54:08when they do more, um, traditional

54:11practices, right? So,

54:14>> Yeah, I'm more thinking about, and maybe

54:16this is a difficult question to answer,

54:17but the psychology of the development

54:19community, right? Like to me, you know,

54:22a project with these LID components is

54:24way more valuable than a project with a

54:26basic storm water pond.

54:27>> Mhm, absolutely.

54:28>> And, you know, they can almost be sold

54:30as, you know,

54:31you know, amenities so to speak. I'm not

54:33sure what they are called.

54:34>> Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, that I think

54:35that's right.

54:36>> Right, are folks looking at it that way

54:38or they looking at it like, you know,

54:40okay, LID's good, I understand it's

54:41impact for storm water flooding and all

54:43that's positive and you know, water

54:45quality and so on and so forth. You

54:46know, are they looking at it like, hey,

54:48this is an opportunity to really make

54:49this project, you know,

54:51obviously it's to make it more in tune

54:53with the natural environment. This is

54:55something I can sell as an amenity.

54:57>> Yeah, no, I think they are. I really do.

54:59I think again,

55:01it just comes down to space and and what

55:03they're trying to build. But even the

55:04downtown ones, you know,

55:06you got you just got to get more

55:07creative though, right? There's green

55:09roofs, there's

55:11there's internal, you know,

55:13uh there's tree wells that you could put

55:16into um inlets. Like we've actually saw

55:18those, I think Charleston Place is doing

55:20those. Um basically you plant a tree in

55:23the inlet so it can have uptake of

55:25water. So, um

55:27it it's just sometimes it gets

55:29challenging, especially with the ground

55:30water elevations and things like that

55:32downtown, but I do think when the people

55:34who are doing it are looking at it as a

55:36money cuz that is exactly how the city

55:38does look at it. It's it it adds to the

55:41aesthetic, it adds to it's something you

55:43can also sell to the the people, "Hey,

55:45look at us contributing in such a

55:47positive way to the surrounding area."

55:49So,

55:50um

55:51I I do think they are looking at it like

55:52that. Um I think sometimes it's just

55:55is a little bit challenging, but that's

55:57why we're trying to come up with those

55:59creative ways to simplify the

56:01computations for them, to make it easier

56:03for them to implement.

56:07>> Thank you.

56:08>> Thanks, everybody. I you know, I we're

56:11close cut on time right now, but I did

56:13want to um

56:14do an opportunity. I know we had our

56:16resilience update and storm water update

56:18still on here. Um the resilience update

56:21um you can actually I did it at a

56:23resilience and sustainability advisory

56:25committee this morning, so go to our

56:26YouTube channel, you can see that. Um

56:28it's it's pretty duplicative of what we

56:30would have shared here, but I think

56:31we've got a lot of really great things

56:33moving with the Army Corps of Engineers

56:35and our community adaptation planning

56:36that I've been um bringing you all up to

56:38speed on and I know Matt just wanted to

56:41highlight that as one of our Army Corps

56:42projects, we are under construction with

56:44the pump station upfit over at MUSC, so

56:47I know that was one of the exciting um

56:49um highlights. And then I did want to

56:51just give a moment if if the mayor

56:53wanted to have a moment of an update

56:54before we kind of close our meeting, but

56:58he's available.

57:01He may or may not be, but um

57:03I did want to remind everybody

57:05>> I was on mute.

57:06>> That's okay, Mayor. Did you want to have

57:07any um words for this committee? This is

57:09actually our final committee meeting as

57:12the makeup as this existing committee.

57:13If you can believe it, we've been

57:14already under operation for 2 years. So,

57:17we'll probably have some new members in

57:19the next year. But so, obviously thank

57:21you all for your service. But Mr. Mayor,

57:23please go ahead and any updates you want

57:25to provide with this committee before we

57:27sign off.

57:28>> Yeah, I just

57:29appreciate all the hard work that Ron

57:31and the

57:33stormwater department have done.

57:36This was a huge undertaking just

57:38updating the manual. And we're trying to

57:41be thoughtful.

57:43Um

57:44you know, not overly restrictive, but at

57:46the same time making sure that

57:50we do address these increasing

57:53needs when it comes to runoff. So, and

57:56being being thoughtful about it. So,

57:58really we just want to say give my

58:00compliments to Ron and his team for all

58:02the work they've done for this. And

58:04I mean,

58:05it really I think is making our city a

58:08better place. So, that's all I really

58:10have to add. Appreciate everybody that's

58:12on the committee

58:13for your service.

58:15Kim, with that I'll turn it back over to

58:16you.

58:17>> Yeah. Okay, thanks everyone again.

58:19I mean, I'll ask one more time. If

58:21you're interested in serving again,

58:22there's that opportunity. So, just let

58:24me know. And then for those of you that

58:26offered yourselves to return again, we

58:29we are very happy for that. And you'll

58:30probably see some messaging from you

58:33from the new year. And then you always

58:35know how to get a hold of any of us here

58:36at the city for any of these resources

58:38that's been shared. And we

58:40very much thank you for your service and

58:42representation of your neighbors and

58:44community. And if you can't serve again,

58:46please please

58:48get out the word that we're looking for

58:49folks. Cuz we want to keep moving on

58:51this. So.

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