City of Redmond
The City of Redmond, through its NPDES Municipal Permit, is responsible for ensuring proper maintenance and operation of all public and private stormwater systems within the City. These include 363 miles of pipes, 23,500 catch basins and manholes, 940 vaults, 304 bioswales, 68 miles of streams, and 328 ponds throughout the City.
Maintenance
Public stormwater ponds are maintained by City crews. Private ponds are maintained by private landowners and inspected by City staff. Regulatory required maintenance is focused primarily on water quality benefits and ensuring that ponds have adequate sediment storage and inlets and outlets are not blocked by plants or debris. At times, these maintenance activities may detract from pond aesthetics, but efforts are made to reduce any such negative impact.
Stormwater crews are limited by budget constraints, so resources are focused primarily on functional pond attributes like storage, access, and water quality, and less on pond aesthetics.
Private Drainage Inspection Program History
The City’s current private drainage system inspection activities focus only on those commercial, industrial, manufacturing, and multi-family residential properties with stormwater drainage systems installed after 2009. Inspection of these newer stormwater drainage systems is a minimum requirement of Redmond’s municipal stormwater permit issued by the Department of Ecology
Redmond Municipal Code
All storm water drainage systems in the City of Redmond shall be maintained according to this chapter and the minimum maintenance standards detailed in the City of Redmond Stormwater Technical Notebook or another maintenance standard approved by the City.
All storm water drainage systems shall be inspected by the City on a periodic basis, as described in RMC 13.06.130 (Inspection Schedule). If, during an inspection, a facility is found not to be in compliance with the minimum maintenance standards, inspection may be scheduled more frequently in order to assure the storm water drainage system functions as designed.
Where abatement and/or repair is found necessary to correct health or safety problems, to control pollutants from entering the storm water drainage system, to prevent surface water or groundwater quality degradation, or to remove pollutants that have entered the storm water drainage system, such work shall be completed immediately by the owner or operator of the storm water drainage system.
Where maintenance and/or repair is found necessary during inspection, and the maintenance is not of emergency nature as detailed in subsection D of this section, maintenance shall be performed in accordance with the maintenance schedule established by the NPDES Western Washington Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit. (Ord. 3031 § 2, 2021; Ord. 2859 § 2 (part), 2016: Ord. 2473 § 2 (part), 2009).
13.06.080 Compliance Required
Property owners are responsible for the maintenance, operation and repair of storm water drainage systems and source control BMPs within their property. Property owners shall maintain, operate and repair storm water drainage systems and source controls in compliance with the requirements of this chapter and the City of Redmond Storm Water Technical Notebook. (Ord. 2859 § 2 (part), 2016: Ord. 2473 § 2 (part), 2009; Ord. 1870 § 1 (part), 1996).
13.06.090 Inspection Requirements
The Director and/or his or her designee is authorized to develop inspection procedures and maintenance requirements for all storm water drainage systems in the City of Redmond which do not have a maintenance manual developed by the storm water drainage system design engineer. (Ord. 3031 § 2, 2021; Ord. 2859 § 2 (part), 2016: Ord. 2473 § 2 (part), 2009; Ord. 1870 § 1 (part), 1996).
13.06.110 Inspection Procedures
- Prior to making any inspections on private property, the Director and/or his or her designee shall present identification credentials, state the reason for the inspection and request entry.
- If the property or any building or structure on the property is unoccupied, the Director and/or his or her designee shall first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or other person(s) having charge or control of the property or portions of the property and request entry.
- If after reasonable effort the Director and/or his or her designee is unable to locate the owner or other person(s) having charge or control of the property, and has reason to believe the condition of the storm water drainage system creates an imminent hazard to persons or property, the Director and/or his or her designee may enter.
- Unless entry is consented to by the owner or person(s) in control of the property or portion of the property or unless conditions are reasonably believed to exist which create imminent hazard, the Director and/or his or her designee shall obtain a search warrant, prior to entry, as authorized by the laws of the State of Washington.
- The Director and/or his or her designee may inspect the storm water system without obtaining a search warrant provided for in subsection D of this section, provided the inspection can be conducted while remaining on public property or other property on which permission to enter is obtained.
- The City of Redmond shall investigate illicit discharges in an effort to identify the source. If such discharges are tracked to a specific connection to the public storm water drainage system, or directly to surface water or groundwater, inspection and investigation of that site will be initiated in compliance with the inspection procedures defined in this section. If the discharge is an imminent threat to public safety or the environment, emergency action shall be taken in accordance with this section. (Ord. 3031 § 2, 2021; Ord. 2859 § 2 (part), 2016: Ord. 2473 § 2 (part), 2009; Ord. 1870 § 1 (part), 1996).
13.06.140 Inspection and Maintenance Records
Private storm water drainage system owners shall keep a maintenance log and maintenance manual on-site or within reasonable access to the site. Maintenance Manuals, as defined by the City of Redmond Storm Water Technical Notebook, shall be transferred with ownership of the property, clearly indicating the party responsible for maintenance, and include a log of maintenance activities. Maintenance logs, and any record drawing or drainage system plan, shall be provided to the director and/or his or her designee upon request. (Ord. 2859 § 2 (part), 2016: Ord. 2473 § 2 (part), 2009; Ord. 1870 § 1 (part), 1996).
13.06.180 Penalty for Violations
Any person who violates or fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter or who fails to conform with the terms of an approval or order issued by the Mayor, the Director, and/or his or her designee, shall be subject to a civil penalty as provided in RMC Chapter 1.14. Each day of continued violation shall constitute a separate violation for purposes of this penalty.
Any person who, through an act of commission or omission, aids or abets in the violation shall be considered to have committed a violation for the purposes of civil penalty.
The procedure for notice of violation and imposition of penalties under this chapter shall be the same as for other code violations as described in RMC Chapter 1.14; provided, that such procedures may be initiated by either the Director and/or his or her designee.
In addition to the penalties to be imposed by the Code Compliance Hearing Examiner, the Director and/or his or her designee may impose a re-inspection fee for any account or storm drainage facility found not to be within compliance of this chapter. This inspection fee shall be independent of any current or future penalties that may be incurred by the property owner for noncompliance of this chapter. Re-inspection fees shall be applied if re-inspection occurs beyond the normal routine of inspection and verification of maintenance or correction of non-storm water discharges to the storm water drainage system, surface water bodies, or groundwater.
In addition to any other penalty imposed, the Director and/or his or her designee may seek revocation of any business license held by the person violating this chapter. The Director and/or his or her designee may request that the City Clerk revoke a person’s business license for any of the following reasons: (1) noncompliance with this chapter; (2) not allowing for inspection of their storm water facility; and (3) nonpayment of any fines or inspection fees incurred by the owner of the utility account. The procedures for revocation shall be those described in RMC Chapter 5.04.
The City of Redmond may require implementation of additional source control or treatment BMPs/facilities to reduce or eliminate pollutants and non-storm water discharges.
If the City of Redmond utilizes Storm Water Utility funds, equipment, or staff to correct a non-storm water discharge, abate pollution from the storm water drainage system, or remove/disconnect an illicit connection, the Storm Water Utility will charge the responsible person for those expenses, and overhead costs, incurred. (Ord. 3031 § 2, 2021; Ord. 2859 § 2 (part), 2016: Ord. 2473 § 2 (part), 2009; Ord. 2180 § 1 (part), 2003: Ord. 1870 § 1 (part), 1996).
Additional Resources
Redmond Municipal Code
Redmond Stormwater Inspection Website
