In addition to taking up the proposed amendments that would bring the Town into compliance with the MBTA 3A zoning requirements, voters at the November 18 Special Town Meeting will be asked to vote on three other articles.
One article will ask voters to approve $250,000 from the Community Preservation Fund to help fund a $3 million land conservation project that will forever protect 330 acres of land that straddles the Manchester/Gloucester boundary line. Another will seek approval for funds to pay a bill from the last fiscal year for consulting services related to the Town’s defense of the ZBA’s decision to deny the Shingle Hill 40B project (state law requires voter approval to pay bills from a past fiscal year once that fiscal year is “closed out.”)
A third article seeks to update the Town’s stormwater management bylaw to bring it into compliance with EPA requirements. Two years ago, voters approved moving a set of updated stormwater management regulations from the zoning laws into the general bylaws to capture projects that did not have to go before the ZBA or the Planning Board. At the time, the Town utilized a model bylaw that the state had developed in response to new federal requirements for stormwater management. EPA has since determined that the communities that used the state’s model bylaw need to do some additional updating to fully meet the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act and so-called MS4 regulations (municipal separate storm sewer system.) The EPA has asked Manchester to make the changes by December 1st.
The needed updates are technical in nature. The basic parameters of what voters approved two years ago remain in place. Projects that involve disturbance of an acre or more of land must develop a stormwater management plan that is reviewed and approved by the DPW. Smaller projects that could directly impact waterways are covered as well. If the project also requires a special Permit from the Planning Board, the Planning Board shall review and approve the stormwater management plan.
The regulations are quite detailed in what the stormwater management plan is to contain and the protections to the environment the plan must provide. Over 20 design standards are spelled out, and the state’s stormwater design manual is incorporated by reference. These strict standards are aimed at maintaining high water quality even where development occurs.
Rather than go through the cumbersome process of having voters review updates to 22 pages of regulations, and any future updates that come along, the proposal being put forth is to replace the current lengthy bylaw with a simpler 3 ½ page one. This proposed version states that the Town, through the Department of Public Works and the Select Board, will promulgate regulations for the management of stormwater in compliance with applicable state and federal regulations. The regulations to be promulgated are as described above and are to be adopted at a public hearing that the Select Board conducts.
Under this approach, needed updates in the future can be readily accomplished through the DPW and the Select Board hosting a public hearing and the Select Board adopting the necessary changes. This process is very similar to many other regulations that protect the public health and welfare in Town.
The existing stormwater management bylaw, Article XXIII of the Town’s General Bylaw, can be reviewed on the Town’s website. The proposed new regulations can be found on the website on the November 18, 2024, Special Town Meeting page. The Select Board will be reviewing this at their November 4 meeting and will plan on holding the formal public hearing on the regulations on November 25th assuming voters agree to adopt the new approach.