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Sea of green may replace gray pavement in Mission
Nathan Dayani, Staff Writer May 26, 2005
Mission, a city that paved a flood plain and put up a parking lot, may undo some of its work.
City leaders are considering several new proposals to reduce flooding along Rock Creek and redevelop the surrounding business district, mostly along Johnson Drive. Two of those proposals include substantial additions of green space around the creek to absorb storm water run-off and reduce the rate at which it travels. City leaders are also considering ways to reduce impervious surfaces, namely pavement, upstream in the western portion of Mission.
Martin Rivarola, the city's community development director, estimates paved parking lots comprise 50 to 100 acres in a small portion of the business district just west of Lamar Avenue. When that district was built, he said, "there were no requirements, as far as the city was concerned, of storm water retention or detention."
Now, city leaders are taking a different approach. The philosophy that more pavement is good for business appears to be becoming passé because city leaders realize the vitality of the Johnson Drive business district largely depends on alleviating flooding.
The City Council last year approved a storm water utility fee that took effect this year. One component of the fee is taxing the amount of impervious surface on a property. Councilman Phil Perry, chair of the city's redevelopment task force, said the tax gives property owners an incentive to increase pervious surfaces, and that the city could abate the tax for those who increase the amount of pervious surfaces on their property.
Rivarola suggested another tax incentive to reduce pavement: mandating conditions in tax-increment finance districts that would require businesses to limit the amount of impervious surfaces. The city is expected to establish such districts to encourage redevelopment as it moves forward with the Rock Creek project.
Rivarola said plans to replace pavement with green space would be most effective if they included vegetation that would absorb storm water. Such options include bioswales and rain gardens, he said. Bioswales are sloping trenches with plants; rain gardens also feature vegetation, which helps absorb storm water.
Rivarola and Perry both said although they expect the city to reduce pavement, several years may pass before the council adopts policies to achieve this goal.
"It's going to take a while," Perry said, noting redevelopment plans could take about 20 years to fully implement.
©The Johnson County Sun 2005