The purpose of this chapter is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the city residents by maintaining and improving the city stormwater system; managing and controlling stormwater runoff, protecting public and private property from damage caused by uncontrolled stormwater runoff or by pollutants conveyed by stormwater runoff, and preventing polluted water from entering the city stormwater system and other receiving waters to the maximum extent practicable as required by federal and state law. The principal objectives of this chapter are:
A. To regulate the discharge of pollutants into the municipal stormwater system;
B. To prohibit illicit connections and discharges to the system;
C. To guide, regulate and control the design, construction, use and maintenance of any development or other activity that results in the movement of soil within the city;
D. To minimize increases in nonpoint source pollution caused by stormwater runoff from construction sites, which would otherwise degrade local water quality;
E. To reduce stormwater runoff rates and volumes, soil erosion and nonpoint source pollution, wherever possible, through stormwater management controls and to ensure that these management controls are properly maintained and pose no threat to public safety;
F. To establish a viable and fair method of financing the construction, operation and maintenance of the stormwater system;
G. To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection, surveillance and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance with this chapter; and
H. To clarify permitting processes and identify responsibility to obtain certain permits required by the environmental protection agency (EPA), the state department of environmental quality (DEQ) and the city. (Ord. 2007-14, 11-7-2007; amd. Ord. 2018-02, 5-16-2018)