The Kohl condominium proposal for the North Street area of Northampton promises to add impervious surfaces to an area lacking any currently. Is this a necessity? Maybe not.
According to the University of Connecticut’s Planning for Stormwater website, Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO), there exist alternatives to traditional stormwater management techniques. NEMO asserts that "paved parking lots can generate heat, raising the surrounding temperature of the first flush of stormwater, creating significant ecological impacts."
What can be done to mitigate such impacts?
Some examples of stormwater mitigation included:
- Landscaped islands can be used as bioretention areas to help slow and treat runoff coming off of large parking lots.
- Driveways can be shared, shortened and constructed in narrow fashions or ribbons.
- Various types of porous pavers can be utilized, including asphalt, concrete and plastic.
- Curbing can be left out in order to encourage sheet stormwater drainage.
- Grassed swales can be installed along paved driveways in order to provide pollutant renovation and infiltration.
"NEMO was created in the early 1990’s to provide information, education and assistance to local land use boards and commissions on how they can accommodate growth while protecting their natural resources and community character. The program was built upon the basic belief that the future of our communities and environment depend on land use, and, since land use is decided primarily at the local level, education of local land use officials is the most effective, and most coste-effective, way to bring about positive change."
