Wilmington Subdivision Ordinance Update

On Monday March 29th, the City of Wilmington, in coordination with their consultant Duncan Associates, hosted a constituent consultation meeting regarding their Subdivision Ordinance Update. Mark Parker, P.E., Principal of Landmark/JCM was invited to be part of this meeting. The meeting was held at the City County building and included City Officials, other engineers and land use attorneys.

The goal of these ongoing meetings have been to seek input from those using the codes and making land use applications within the city. Duncan Associates is compiling comments and ideas from these meetings and shaping the ordinance update accordingly.

Some of the topics discussed yesterday included green technology practices for stormwater management, new and improved street cross sections and proper implementation, transportation issues including how to get multiple points of access on water-locked lands, pedestrian and bicycle facilities throughout the city, electronic submissions for all final approvals and even bonding or other surety for public improvements.

The meeting was very productive and these consultations continue to lend valuable input to the ongoing update process. To discuss how these changes may impact your current or future projects, contact Landmark/JCM. We will continue to participate in this process and keep our clients updated.

Pollution Control Strategy Lawsuit

An interesting article appeared in the News Journal this week describing the latest developments relating to the on-going Sussex County lawsuit against DNREC for their promulgation of the Inland Bays Pollution Control Strategies, most notably regarding buffers. While there is still considerable debate on the efficacy of buffers, the article did state that attempts to settle the dispute are ongoing. The implications being that some form of buffer regulation will likely prevail. As the “last word” regarding this subject has yet to be written, it is unclear how the final form of these regulations will affect proposed projects or agricultural land containing wetlands, streams, water bodies, forested areas, on-site treatment and disposal or tax-ditches for lands draining to the Inland Bays.



A link to all DNREC documentation is here: http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/water2000/Sections/Watershed/ws/ib_pcs.htm



A link to DNREC Summary is here: http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/water2000/Sections/Watershed/ws/FactSheet_IBPCS_101408.pdf



Additional regulations relating to water quality and limitations for discharge are currently being proposed at the Federal level that will ultimately be the responsibility for DNREC to regulate and enforce. We believe that the abundance of newly proposed and developing regulations coupled with the internal reorganization of DNREC recently announced will result in a significant departure from today’s status-quo. Landmark/JCM will continue to monitor these issues and how they may affect future development. Please contact us with any questions or to meet with us for your next successful project.

by Keith Rudy, Water Resources Branch Manager

Turbulence Over Storm Water Deal in Maryland

Reprinted for your information by LandmarkJCM:


March 16, 2010, Baltimore Sun

A deal to give some development projects a break from Maryland's new storm-water pollution regulations may not be settled just yet.

Sen. Paul G. Pinsky, presiding chairman of the legislative committee that reviews regulations, has written a letter to state Environment Secretary Shari T. Wilson saying the agreement announced last week raises "many questions," and he wants answers. His questions could cause trouble, since the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review has the power to veto emergency regulations, which are key to carrying out the deal.

Builders, local officials and representatives of some environmental groups said last week that they'd reached what they called a compromise on the regulations, which were unveiled last year. The rules, which require developers to do more to control polluted runoff, had riled builders and local officials, who complained they would make some projects too costly to construct. They said they'd have to revamp projects already begun using the current, less stringent requirements. And they warned that redevelopment would be discouraged, undermining the state's Smart Growth anti-sprawl efforts.

The parties agreed to "grandfather" an unknown number of developments already under way or with at least preliminary approval from local governments. They also agreed to ease requirements on some redevelopment projects. The changes would have to be made via emergency regulations to avoid the original rules from taking effect on May 4. Wilson's Department of the Environment sent the emergency rules to Pinsky's committee at the end of last week.

Activist involved in reaching the deal said it was needed to avoid the risk that worse changes might get pushed through the General Assembly this year. But the deal has split environmental activists, with some arguing that it was unwise to give in, considering the growing harm storm-water runoff is causing to streams and the Chesapeake Bay. They also contend that bills granting concessions to builders and local officials would never pass the Senate.
Pinsky, a Prince George's County Democrat, is one of the legislature's most ardent environmental advocates. He was not party to the negotiations, which were guided by Del. Maggie McIntosh, a Baltimore Democrat who is chairwoman of the House Environmental Matters Committee. Pinsky says he's troubled by the changes in the rules.

"I'm not real comfortable with them," Pinsky said. While developers had raised some valid concerns, he said he was concerned that the deal went too far. "As it is now, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night." Though he said he was not prepared to "blow up the agreement," Pinsky said he wants more information and possibly some tweaks to the rule changes. Of particular concern, he said, was how many development projects in the planning pipeline would be allowed to go forward under the deal using less stringent runoff controls, with up to seven years to actually begin construction. "Are there 75 or 7,500?" he asked. "I believe in data-driven decision-making. Here we are making a major change in the regulations and no one has a clue on how it changes things on the ground. It astounds me."

McIntosh, who had pressed for a compromise to avoid a legislative battle over the storm-water rules, said she hoped that Wilson, the environment secretary, would be able to provide Pinsky with satisfactory answers to his questions. She said she hoped that Pinsky would allow the rules to come before the committee. Asked if the deal could be revised without falling apart, she said, "It depends on what he's talking about."

DelDOT Subdivision Manual Changes

On Tuesday, March 16th, ACEC-Kent County met with Marc Cote of DelDOT to discuss some of the recent changes to the Subdivision Manual. Melissa Koenig, P.E., Associate of Landmark/JCM attended the meeting. The following were some of the changes that were discussed:

• Soon, there will be a GIS application available online.

• When calculating site distance, please use the JMT spreadsheet. When showing the site triangles on a plan, the decision point is 18’ from the edge of travel lane (can range from 14.5’ to 18’, but for the most part use the 18’). The spreadsheet can be found under the subdivision section at http://deldot.gov/information/business/

• The Subdivision Plan Review Schedules online are for Record Plans and Construction Plans. The engineer can attend the Plan Review Meeting if it will be helpful. The schedule for offsite improvements has not been determined yet. The plan review schedule is available online at http://deldot.gov/public.ejs?command=PublicPlanReviewSchedule

• Please note on the Site Plan Gate-Keeping Checklist one of the required items is a photo showing the proposed entrance staked. You will also need to provide calculations showing the minimum connectivity ratio of 1.4 is met. Marc said this will be covered in future training sessions by DelDOT. The Gate-Keeping checklist is available online at http://deldot.gov/information/business/subdivisions/Subdivision_Gatekeeping_Checklist.pdf

• The DelDOT ES2M Checklist should be completed for onsite and offsite submittals. (http://www.deldot.gov/information/pubs_forms/manuals/es2m/index.shtml)

• If the total open area of culvert pipes is > 20 S.F., then it is considered a bridge (see Appendix Q). If there are multiple pipes, all the areas must be added together.

• The Pre-Submittal Meeting (required for ADT>200) can be before or after the PLUS process. (http://deldot.gov/information/business/subdivisions/Subdivisions_Pre-submittal_Meeting_Requirements.pdf)

• Please submit the meeting request form when asking to meet with the subdivision section so that they can be prepared for the meeting. The request form can be found under the subdivision section at http://deldot.gov/information/business/

Carr Road/Marsh Road Intersection Improvements

DelDOT held a workshop on Thursday March 11th at Carcroft Elementary School for the I-95 & Carr Road/Marsh Road Interchange Improvements. Mark Parker, P.E., Principal of Landmark/JCM attended the workshop to review the project alternatives and talk with DelDOT Officials and consultants.

The project will entail the following upgrades:

1. The I-95 Northbound off-ramp to Marsh Road will be widened to provide two (2)-left turn lanes with signalization at Carr Road;

2. Carr Road, depending upon the selected alternative, may or may not see improvements. Improvements would include widening to allow for two (2) left turn lanes at Marsh Road and potentially even widening to allow for an I-95 Northbound on-ramp;

3. The Marsh Road underpass would see improvements to allow for upgrades to the travel and turn lanes and provide for a five (5)-foot sidewalk and a 10-foot sidepath;

4. The I-95 Southbound on-ramp from Westbound Marsh Road, depending on the alternative, would be widened to allow for immediate or future two (2)-lanes; and, finally,

5. The I-95 Southbound off-ramp to Marsh Road Eastbound would be widened to provide for two (2)-left turn lanes.

The goals of the improvements are to upgrade the levels of service and to reduce the accidents around this interchange. The design process, scheduled to last approximately two (2)-years has begun. Construction funds are scheduled in the CTP for 2012 and 2013.

Landmark/JCM will continue to monitor the improvements and how they will affect future development. Please contact us with any questions or to meet with us for your next successful project.

All of these updates are reviewed here:
http://deldot.gov/information/projects/carr_rd/index.shtml

The workshop presentation, which provides graphics, is presented here:
http://deldot.gov/information/projects/carr_rd/pdf/marsh_rd_pub_wksp.pdf

PLUS Revisions

Wednesday morning March 10th, Connie Holland Director, Office of State Planning Coordination and Cleon Cauley, Deputy Legal Counsel to Governor Markell hosted an information and question & answer session on the recent Preliminary Land Use Service (PLUS) revisions.

Mark Parker, P.E., Principal and Melissa Koenig, P.E., Associate of Landmark/JCM attended this session held in Dover at the Department of Agriculture’s main office. Connie and Cleon provided an upbeat presentation providing information on the changes to the PLUS application and review process.

The main points were:

1. The Office of State Planning and Coordination (OSPC) now reports directly to the Office of the Governor;

2. Applications are still due on the first of every month to be considered for that month’s meeting. If the first falls on a weekend, then the first working day following is the deadline. All PLUS meetings are still on the last Wednesday of the month. If there are too many applications to be heard in one day, the following Wednesday will be utilized as well;

3. The application is scheduled for some streamlining and should be online soon. In the meantime, all of the forms, links, etc. can be found here:
http://stateplanning.delaware.gov/plus/plus.shtml#forms

4. Applicants are encouraged to use the PLUS process at any point in their development process to get comments and recommendations;

5. All comment letters from PLUS will now separate code related comments from recommendations provided by the PLUS agencies, allowing for more concise responses from the consultant. Repetitive comments will be eliminated through an internal review prior to release of the comment letter; and,

6. PLUS promises to bring to the table the decision makers from the various PLUS agencies. They expect the same from the developer and engineer. This common courtesy from both sides is why the PLUS process was so successful at its inception. Bringing together those who can and should make decisions will eliminate some of the iterations in the process.

Landmark/JCM continues to watch these changes and how they affect your land development endeavors. Please contact us with any questions or to meet with us for your next successful project.

Superstars in Business Video

LandmarkJCM was proud to be honored in 2009 as arecipient of the Marvin Gilman "Superstars of Business" award. Here is the video that was produced as part of the awards presentation:




For more information, contact Ted Williams at LandmarkJCM at ted.williams@landmarkengineering.com

Cash for Caulkers

On the heels of the successful "Cash for Clunkers", the Obama Administration has unveiled "Cash for Caulkers" to provide up to $3000 in rebates to homeowners for energy efficiency upgrades.

Contact Howard Fortunato at LandmarkJCM for more information at howard.fortunato@landmarkengineering.com

Click here to see the "Builder" magazine article with details.

Do You Need a Topograhic Survey?

I know it seems hard to believe, but the leaves will be out on the trees again soon, making it impossible to fly aerial topograhy on wooded sites until November.

Aerial topography can save a tremendous amount of money over traditional surveying techniques but time is running out. It takes time to set control, schedule the flight and get the data collected.

Additional cost savings can be realized by just flying the topo and not actually processing the data until a later date when you actually need the topo data.

For more information, contact Earl at LandmarkJCM.

Earl.Cottrell@LandmarkEngineering.com