Anne Arundel County, among 10 juridsictions affected by a new state mandate to impose a fee for stormwater management purposes, will discuss an initial proposal in the coming meetings of its County Council. From coverage in the Baltimore Sun (limited free viewings available):
Bill No. 2-13 is a measure that would impose fees on county residents in an effort to finance new projects to improve storm-water management. The funds would go toward protecting the Chesapeake Bay and other waterways from pollution caused by storm-water runoff, mostly in the form of capital projects.
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It would impose a fee of $34 per year for townhouses and condominiums, $85 for urban or suburban single-family homes and $170 for homes in rural and agricultural areas.
Nonresidential properties would be charged based on the amount of impervious surface present.
Those impervious surfaces — including parking lots, driveways, sidewalks and roofs — deflect water rather than absorb it, sending unfiltered runoff into drains and pipes rather than through the soil.
A commercial property with 56,000 square feet of impervious surface — about 1.3 acres — would have to pay about $1,700 per year under the measure, for example.