[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Denton 2-7-2011 by Ord. No. 617; amended in its entirety 3-3-2022 by Ord. No. 731. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
The management of stormwater within the Town is a matter that affects
the health, safety, and welfare of the Town, its citizens, and businesses.
B.
Failure to effectively manage stormwater may create, among other
things, erosion of lands, damage to homes and businesses, and create
sedimentation and environmental damage, including degradation of water
quality, to waterways within the Town and to the tributaries of the
Chesapeake Bay.
C.
A system for the collection, conveyance, storage, treatment, and
discharge of stormwater provides services and benefits all properties
within the Town of Denton and surrounding areas.
D.
In order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public,
the Town Council establishes a Stormwater Utility and authorizes the
establishment of a fee in connection therewith.
E.
The Town is acting under the authority contained in § 4-204(d)
of the Environment Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
F.
Those elements of the Stormwater Utility which provide for the management
of stormwater and the improvement of stormwater quality are of benefit
to all real property within the Town.
G.
The costs of operating and maintaining the Stormwater Utility and
financing land acquisition, necessary repairs, replacement, improvements,
and extension thereof are, to the maximum extent practicable, allocated
to property owners within the Town in direct relationship to the contributions
to the demand for the stormwater management system and services.
H.
The fees established herein bear a reasonable relationship to the
service provided by the Town's Stormwater Utility.
I.
The area of impervious surfaces on each property is the most important
factor influencing the cost of the stormwater management services
and the stormwater system provided by the Town of Denton, and the
area of impervious surfaces on each property is therefore the most
appropriate parameter for calculating a periodic Stormwater Utility
fee.
J.
The existence of privately owned and maintained on-site or off-site
systems, facilities, services, or activities which reduce the quantity
or improve the quality of stormwater discharged from a particular
property and have a positive impact on the Town of Denton's Stormwater
Utility's cost of providing stormwater management services and/or
a stormwater management system should be taken into account to reduce
the Stormwater Utility fee on that property either in the form of
a direct reduction or credit, and such reduction or credit should
be conditional upon continuing provision of such systems, facilities,
services, or activities or assets in a manner complying with the standards
and codes as determined by the Utility Commission and as set forth
herein.
It is determined and declared to be necessary and conducive
to the protection of the public health, safety, welfare, and convenience
of the Town to collect charges from users of the Town's stormwater
management system and services, to fund the management and maintenance
of its stormwater management system and services, including reinvestment,
maintenance, improvement of existing infrastructure, construction
of infrastructure and other improvements to the system that will reduce
pollution in stormwater runoff consistent with federal and state regulations,
as well as for other purposes provided for in § 4-204(d)(1)
of the Environment Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
A.
The operation, management, and control of the Stormwater Utility is vested in the Denton Utility Commission pursuant to § 8-1 et seq. of the Code. All records of the Stormwater Utility shall be kept by the Town Clerk in the Town Hall or other officially designated place.
B.
The rules, regulations and rates hereinafter set forth shall be considered
part of the regulations applicable to every property in the Town.
Said rules, regulations, and rates may be changed from time to time
as determined by the Town Council, and the right is reserved to make
special rates and contracts in all proper cases.
C.
The Town Council places within the Denton Utility Commission the
responsibility for operation, maintenance, and regulation of the stormwater
management system and stormwater management services, previously performed,
owned and operated or maintained by the Town of Denton, and other
related assets, including, but not limited to, properties, other than
road rights-of-way, upon which such stormwater management systems
are located, easements, rights-of entry and access, and certain equipment
used for stormwater management. This responsibility is placed with
the Denton Utility Commission as the Town Council has determined that
the Denton Utility Commission has been sufficiently organized, staffed,
and funded adequately to carry out such responsibilities.
D.
The cost of any convenience or public improvement provided by the Stormwater Utility and not paid for by special assessment shall be paid from the Stormwater Utility fund under Subsection E.
E.
The costs shall be spread over the customer classifications as determined
by the Town Council.
Unless this chapter specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning
of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:
Real property which has been altered from its natural state
by the addition of any improvements, such as a building, structure,
or impervious surface.
A single unit or apartment providing complete, independent
living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions
for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.
The statistical average amount of impervious area per single-family
property. One EIU equals 4,125 square feet. The impervious area includes,
but is not limited to, all areas covered by structures, roof extensions,
patios, porches, driveways, and sidewalks.
All costs of extension, addition, and capital improvements
to the system, the renewal and replacement of capital assets, or purchase
and installation of new equipment for the system, or land acquisition
for the system, or any related costs thereto, or payment for extraordinary
maintenance and repair, including the costs of construction, or any
other expenses which are not costs of operation and maintenance.
A surface which has been compacted or covered with a layer
of material so that it is highly resistant or entirely resistant to
infiltration by precipitation. It includes, but is not limited to,
surfaces such as compacted clay, gravel, as well as streets, roofs,
sidewalks, parking lots, and other similar surfaces.
A single residential unit (mobile home) within a mobile home
park.
A residential property with two or more dwelling units.
Any developed property not used, primarily, as a dwelling
unit, such as an agricultural, commercial, or industrial property,
or an institutional property (schools, churches, hospitals, fraternal
organizations, parks, municipal facilities, etc.).
Estimated revenues and the estimated costs for operations
and maintenance, extension, and replacement of the system and provision
of services for each fiscal year, along with costs associated the
purposes provided for in § 4-204(d)(1) of the Environment
Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
The current expenses, paid or accrued, of operation, maintenance,
and current repair of the system, as calculated in accordance with
sound accounting practice, and includes, without limiting the generality
of the foregoing, insurance premiums, administrative expenses, labor,
executive compensation, the cost of materials and supplies used for
current operations, and charges for the accumulation of appropriate
reserves for current expenses not annually incurred, but which are
such as may reasonably be in accordance with sound accounting practice.
The user fee charged on each EIU. The rate is determined
by the Town Council for each fiscal year.
A property with exactly one dwelling unit.
The stormwater system of the Town and all improvements thereto,
including, but not limited to, inlets, conduits, manholes, channels,
ditches, drainage easements, retention and detention basins, infiltration
facilities and other components, which by this chapter are constituted
as the property and responsibility of the Town to be operated as an
enterprise to, among other things, conserve water, control discharges
necessitated by rainfall events, incorporate methods to collect, convey,
store, absorb, inhibit, treat, use or reuse water to prevent or reduce
flooding, overdrainage, environmental degradation, and water pollution
or otherwise affect the quality and quantity of discharge from such
system.
The operation of the Denton Utilities Commission to collect
fees, consistent with § 4-204(d)(1) of the Environment Article
of the Annotated Code of Maryland, for the maintenance, operation,
improvement, and enhancement of the Town's stormwater system
and services.
The Town of Denton.
The Mayor and Council of Denton.
Any real property which is not developed land.
The charge established by the Town Council on developed property
in the Town to pay for operations and maintenance, and extension and
replacement for the stormwater system and services.
A.
The user fees hereunder shall generate adequate annual revenues to pay costs for the construction needs, operation, and maintenance of the current stormwater system, the cost of capital improvements to the Town stormwater system, including the costs of street sweeping, water quality protection, permits, administrative costs, and all other costs and expenses related to stormwater management in the Town as provided in § 105-2 above.
B.
Fiscal year-end balances in the account shall be carried over to
the same account in the subsequent fiscal year and shall be used for
these accounts. Moneys which have been transferred from other sources
to meet temporary shortages in the Stormwater Utility shall be returned
to their respective accounts upon appropriated adjustment of the user
fee rates. The user fee rate shall be adjusted such that the transferred
monies will be returned to their respective accounts within the fiscal
year following the fiscal year in which the monies were borrowed.
A.
User fee. The Town Council will establish fees by resolution. The
Town Council shall require that adequate revenues are generated through
user fees to provide for a balanced operating budget. The Town Council
hereby authorizes the imposition of user fees on all developed property
in the Town.
B.
Rate schedule. The Town Council may, by resolution, establish a rate
schedule for purposes of the imposition of the user fee. The rate
schedule may consider the following classifications of developed property:
single-family residential, multifamily residential, and nonresidential.
C.
Minimum charge. The minimum EIU calculations for any user other than
undeveloped properties shall be not less than the rate of 1/2 of one
EIU.
D.
Construction or expansion. For all classifications the construction
of new or expanded buildings, driveways, or other structures shall
be subject to an increase in the number of EIUs assigned to a lot
or parcel. The Town shall recalculate the number of EIUs upon completion
of construction or expansion on a developed property.
E.
The Town Council may pass an ordinance to designate certain areas
of the Town to be subject to fees for the Stormwater Utility as pilot
programs prior to the Town's implementation of the Stormwater
Utility throughout the corporate boundaries of the Town.
All user fees established hereunder shall be a lien upon the
property served pursuant to § 4-204(d)(3) of the Environment
Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
