Brief Info About Storm Water Management 
I’ve recently heard concerns regarding stormwater management regulations on property owners. There is a common belief that owners cannot improve their property without having to comply with modern stormwater regulations, requiring the owner to pay for costly stormwater infrastructure. This concern prevents owners from investing in their properties, and suppresses economic growth within our District.
With that in mind, I recently met with the City’s Department of Public Works to learn about stormwater management requirements, and to identify ways the Military Avenue BID may play a role in facilitating new investments in our properties and stormwater infrastructure. Here is what I learned:
- Stormwater management requirements are established by the Wisconsin DNR, and enforced by the City as required by State Law.
- To develop previously undisturbed land, developers are required to install facilitates that capture and treat stormwater to reduce flooding and water pollution.
- Because Military Avenue properties primarily developed in the 1960s and 1970s, most properties do not meet current standards for stormwater management.
- Military Avenue properties do not need to comply with current stormwater requirements unless they disturb one half-acre of soil through redevelopment.
- Remodeling your existing building will not trigger compliance with current regulations.
- You cannot piecemeal a bigger redevelopment project into several small projects to skirt the rules, as they will review recently approved development permits.
The City is and the Military Avenue BID want to be a resource and partner to property owners interested in addressing stormwater. There are several best management practices for stormwater management, some of which are fairly easy and affordable. Please check out these links below for more information and contact me if you’re interested in working together on a project.
I hope that this takes some of the uncertainty out of considering development in Military Avenue. Addressing flooding and water pollution, especially in the Green Bay area, is important and much more is known about what to do and how to do it today than when we were first constructed in the 1960s and 1970s. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help you in any way.
