Title
Establishing the Heights Site Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management District and establishing ongoing operation and maintenance charges for property and uses served by the district's stormwater infrastructure.
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WHEREAS, the Heights Site is the location of the former Hillcrest Golf Course in the Greater East Side neighborhood of Saint Paul. The site is currently owned and controlled by the Saint Paul Port Authority (SPPA) who is identified as the Master Developer for the 112-acre The Heights parcel; and
WHEREAS, to inform redevelopment, The Hillcrest Master Plan (MP) was created under the direction of the City of Saint Paul, in collaboration with stakeholders from the community. The process was guided by a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and Community Advisory Committee (CAC); and
WHEREAS, the role of the TAC was to provide input to the formation of the Plan and to review the draft layouts and text prior to community engagement for technical and regulatory feasibility. The TAC met approximately monthly throughout the project discussing topics such as land use layouts, street and trail layouts and design, wetlands, transit needs, stormwater design, park needs, ownership and maintenance expectations, art, economic development trends, code interpretations, and more; and
WHEREAS, the role of the CAC was to help shape the Plan and to provide input in the public engagement process. Early in the process the CAC adopted a set of Community Priorities; and
WHEREAS, the Hillcrest Master Plan (MP) was adopted by the City Council in June 2022. The MP states runoff from the entire site will be directed to and managed in a district stormwater system concept, along the east side of Howard Street and south side of Arlington Avenue. Some of the site’s stormwater will feed into the district system, and some of the site’s stormwater will be handled through other means; and
WHEREAS, SPPA developed preliminary engineering designs utilizing shared stormwater systems to the degree possible, integrating or stacking public realm functionality on to those systems, and creating open water features to also collect and control treated stormwater in a naturalized way (collectively, the “Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management System”), all of which to serve the Heights Area; and
WHEREAS, the Heights is generally bounded by North Winthrop St on the west including a possible extension north to Larpenteur Avenue East, Ivy Avenue South to the south, McKnight Road to the east and Larpenteur Avenue East to the north; and
WHEREAS, the Heights excludes the existing 6 resident parcels in the northwest corner of the site, however should these parcels ever connect to the Heights Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management System, they would then become part of the Heights Green Infrastructure District; and
WHEREAS, the City studied various stormwater management systems and based upon those studies, determined representative standard costs for the construction and long-term maintenance of such systems as sustainable stormwater management systems; and
WHEREAS, on May 22, 2019, the City Council, by Ordinance Ord 19-29, enacted amendments to Legislative Code Chapter 81, to provide for the establishment of green infrastructure stormwater management districts by resolution and to authorize the establishment of charges to connect to and maintain green infrastructure stormwater management systems; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the amendments to Legislative Code Chapter 81 enacted under Ordinance 19-29 and Leg. Code § 81.08.1(b), the City’s sewer utility manager and the water resources coordinator have jointly recommended establishing a green infrastructure stormwater management district conterminous with the Heights and further establishing ongoing operation and maintenance charges, including the annual storm sewer charge pursuant to Leg. Code § 81.05, and the annual surcharge, pursuant to Leg. Code § 81.08.2(b), in connection with the green infrastructure stormwater management system serving the Heights; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Saint Paul, upon the report and joint recommendation of the City’s sewer utility manager and the water resources coordinator, a copy of which is deemed included herein by reference, hereby establishes the Heights Site Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management District conterminous with the Heights area as a green infrastructure stormwater management district; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the purpose of the Heights Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management District is to provide comprehensive stormwater management capacity via the District’s Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management System to benefit those parcels and uses within the boundaries of the District that are sources of stormwater; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each parcel of land within the Heights Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management District, as now established or as established in the future, and including future parcels and uses, shall connect to the District’s Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management System, and pursuant to Leg. Code § 81.08.2(b), each parcel or use within the Heights Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management District shall pay an annual surcharge for operation and maintenance of each green infrastructure stormwater management system. Each parcel of land or use also served by the District’s Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management System shall pay an annual storm sewer system charge pursuant to Leg. Code § 81.05. All annual charges and surcharges collected shall be deposited, dedicated and applied as specified in Leg. Code § 81.08.2(b) and § 81.08.3.