Promoting Code-Required Projects
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Northwest District Headquarters is a highly flexible and sustainable redevelopment of a restored 4.6-acre former brownfield site and warehouse building along the Duwamish River.
This $165 million hospital expansion project to meet growing service demand was designed to achieve LEED® certification. Sustainable features include two landscaped indoor courtyards, a green roof, and a rainwater harvesting system.
The purpose of this regulation is to protect life, property, and surface waters from harm caused by stormwater runoff. Seattle has had a municipal Stormwater Code in place since 1979 and adopted the current Code in 2016. The city must also comply with state and federal law, including the Clean Water Act.
Our city’s current Stormwater Code includes requirements for pollution prevention on existing sites and construction sites.
Stormwater Code projects are required when public or private land is redeveloped. The Municipal Stormwater Code defines the project requirements, and projects are developed and funded by the developer. The developer may be a private entity or a public agency, such as Seattle Department of Transportation. Roughly one percent of Seattle’s land is redeveloped every year, according to the Department of Planning and Development.
For development or redevelopment of roads, trails and sidewalks, single-family residential, and all other parcel-based projects, the current Stormwater Code includes requirements for flow control, water quality treatment, and on-site stormwater management. On-site stormwater management includes the GSI practices and the flow control and water quality treatment requirements state that GSI be implemented to the maximum extent feasible to meet the requirement.