Guest opinion
Proposed new rules for stormwater drainoff could restrict housing growth
by Holly Schroeder, CEO Building Industry Association - Greater Los Angeles/Ventura Chapter, Santa Clarita Bill Buratto, President/CEO Ventura County Economic Development Association, Camarillo

The Greater Los Angeles/ Ventura County Chapter of the Building Industry Association is made up of approximately 500 member companies involved in every aspect of building and providing homes in Ventura County and a majority of Los Angeles County. The organization is committed to increasing homeownership opportunities in our region by working with elected officials, community leaders and organizations to find credible solutions to the housing crisis and by providing leadership on public policy issues that promote the development of quality communities.

The Ventura County Economic Development Association, established in 1949, is a regional business organization and recognized as a credible political force. The association is tackling some of the most complex issues facing Ventura County: land use and open space, the need for workforce education and housing, water availability and quality, city and county regulations and disaster. The organization also monitors and opines on state and federal legislation that effect Ventura County businesses.

Ventura County- and much of Southern California- is in a housing crisis.

Over the years, we have failed to provide enough homes for our region's growing and diverse population- a population that continues to increase each year. It's time for us to focus on ways in which we can fundamentally boost supply through a healthy mix of suburban homes and welldesigned infill developments to properly address our housing needs. Beyond that, we also need to find ways to work together to properly address our growing infrastructure needs.

Right now, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board is proposing new stormwater requirements in Ventura County that would dramatically change how builders, developers and businesses manage stormwater runoff. The proposal, the MS4 Stormwater Permit, would go far toward exacerbating the housing crisis we already face and would threaten the county's longterm economic vitality- all without doing much to improve water quality.

We already face significant issues in bringing new housing online, but the proposed permit would further discourage infill development and growth by incentivizing the development of large amounts of land dedicated to stormwater retention. This is land that is rarely available in infill projects, which would mean that developers and cities would be faced with utilizing undeveloped land. Land use decisions in Ventura County have made that an impossibility. This means that, in spite of our growing population, there would be no housing growth.

The permit also irrationally prohibits construction during the "wet" season, defined here as from October 1 to April 15. That means that construction will not take place for more than half of the year, every year, which will significantly limit the number of houses that can be constructed. Not to mention the fact that the limited construction period will also eliminate jobs and drive up construction costs.

Developers will also have to transfer the responsibility of maintaining post-construction stormwater control devices to the homeowners' associations and/or the homeowner. The ramifications of this will be felt as individuals face rising home prices and association fees.

The potential consequences of the proposed permit aren't limited to residential development. Stringent construction requirements will also make it more difficult for businesses to grow and expand, and increasing construction costs may cause them to consider expansion in areas outside of Ventura. This threatens to stifle the county's economic growth and restrict the construction of important public works projects, such as fire stations, schools and hospitals.

We believe that a healthy, clean water supply is vital to the successful growth and vitality of any region, and we support smart practices that promote water quality and protect this vital resource. But the current Ventura MS4 Permit under consideration has us asking some serious questions about the cost and effectiveness of such a proposal.

Perhaps the most egregious feature of the proposed permit is that it won't actually improve water quality. The concept was developed using old data and bad science, packaged into a onesizefits-all approach that isn't relevant to the make-up and needs of Ventura County.

In our view, the Regional Water Quality Control Board has conducted no economic or costbenefit analyst to determine if the proposed requirements can be met in individual cities and will properly address their needs. Instead, it is telling cities how to do their job by forcing them to spend their money on the specific, unfunded mandates of the Regional Water Quality Control Board rather than on the priorities of the cities.