Stormwater Manual Under Development

Pinellas County is currently in the process of developing a Stormwater Manual that will consolidate all stormwater quality, quantity and conveyance requirements in one central location. The manual will also provide a number of mechanisms to meet these requirements that include Low Impact Development techniques in addition to traditional techniques.

The manual does not deviate from typical stormwater quantity and conveyance requirements however, in an effort to incentive redevelopment, promote urban regeneration and provide adequate water quality treatment, the County is proposing a pollutant reduction methodology when calculating the required water quality treatment. This will enable the development community to utilize a variety of BMPs, not just typical wet or dry ponds, to meet their water quality requirements.

Current Status:

The County worked with a stakeholder group that includes representatives from the development community and other public agencies to develop comments and suggested changes to the County’s Stormwater Manual. The first stakeholder meeting was held on January 30, 2015 and the Stormwater Manual was distributed to the group after the meeting. Comments were received from the group and incorporated into the manual.

The second stakeholder meeting was held on May 26th at 9:30 am at the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and comments from that meeting were also incorporated into the manual.

Case studies were also developed to demonstrate the use of the Manual. The case studies included a cost analysis of implementing these techniques as well as other benefits associated with the new standards and mechanisms to meet those standards.

The County in moving forward with adopting this manual and will be presenting the Stormwater Manual to the Local Planning Agency on January 12, 2017.

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