Correction Oct. 25, 2012 — An earlier version of the article below contained incorrect information regarding stormwater management fees. Lancaster city is the only municipality in Lancaster County now considering such fees.
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Facing the prospect of daily fines from the Environmental Protection Agency for allowing raw sewage to spill into the Conestoga River, Lancaster city is considering imposing fees on property owners to pay for stormwater management projects.
Fees would be based on a property's "impermeable surface," such as a roof, paved parking lot or other coverage area that does not allow rainwater to pass through into the ground.
The fee revenue, totaling an anticipated $4.8 million annually, would pay for repaving alleyways and basketball courts with porous asphalt, adding rain gardens to parking lots, vegetative "green" roofs to buildings and planting trees.
Lancaster city is the only municipality in Lancaster County now considering such fees. A City Council vote on whether to approve the plan is not expected until next spring.
Ultimately, city officials plan to spend $140 million over 25 years on "green infrastructure."
The alternative is spending an estimated $300 million on "gray infrastructure": construction of a massive holding tank that would capture sewer system overflows that occur during heavy rains.
Those overflows happen when stormwater pours into the system from curbside inlets and overwhelms the capacity of the city's wastewater plant to treat the water.
About 750 million gallons of stormwater, combined with the raw sewage from the sanitary sewer system, runs annually into the river and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay.
The EPA is leading efforts to clean up the polluted bay, and the city could face fines of $37,500 daily for failure to comply with environmental regulations.
Instead, the city is being held up as a model after studying the problem and determining that 750 million gallons of stormwater annually could be diverted from the sewer system through investments in green infrastructure.
Pilot projects began about two years ago, but for large-scale implementation, the city needs funding.
A Green Infrastructure Advisory Committee was named six months ago to recommend a funding plan. Committee member Peter Barber, of Two Dudes Painting, presented the committee's recommendations Tuesday to City Council members.
Barber said committee members considered adding a fee onto city property taxes, raising city sewer charges or establishing a fee based on a property's stormwater runoff.
Barber, citing his own business, noted that some properties have large roof coverage areas, yet pay little in sewer fees because they don't use much water. Commercial parking lots send massive amounts of rain water into the system, yet pay no sewer fees at all.
A stormwater management fee based on runoff seemed the most fair solution, Barber said.
For the average residential property owner, with 1,367 square feet of impervious coverage, an impervious fee would be about $10 per quarter, or $40 per year.
That compares to quarterly charges of $24 if the program cost were assessed based on the property tax or $20 if added to sewer charges.
For the average commercial property, with 17,882 square fee of impervious surface, a stormwater management fee would be $139 per quarter. That compares to $129 if assessed with the property tax or $51 if added to the sewer bill.
The commission also recommended that the city adopt an incentive program that would help property owners pay for projects that would reduce the amount of stormwater coming from their property.
Such projects could be as simple as adding rain barrels to capture water from downspouts or as extensive as putting green roofs on their homes.
Commission members also recommended that an appeal process be established to allow property owners to challenge their assessments.
The proposals will be presented to groups of property owners beginning as early as next month, according to Charlotte Katzenmoyer, city Public Works director. Groups will be those with similar properties or similar circumstances, such as commercial or industrial property owners, churches and residential landlords, Katzenmoyer said.
Input from those groups will help shape the ordinance, which likely will go before council members next spring, she said.
Lancaster County planners also have developed a stormwater management plan recently. In addition, Manheim, Warwick, East Cocalico and West Lampeter townships and Lititz and Mount Joy boroughs are considering stormwater management fees.
