Albemarle Tag

Stormwater Utility Fees Viewed as Solution for Albemarle, Rural Counties As Well

While stormwater utility fees may seem to many like the kind of program that only densly populated cities and areas highly concentrated with impervious land (paved roadways, parking lots and building sites),  Albemarle County has joined other localities in Virginia that have a variety of development densities and is looking further into such a fee as a way to maintain current stormwater programs as well as planning for regulatory compliance. [caption id="attachment_1054" align="alignleft" width="240"] James River near Scottsville[/caption] Cities including Charlottesville have recently adopted stormwater utility fees to help pay for necessary maintenance and improvement of existing stormwater infrastructure. In the case of urban areas like Charlottesville, this fee is intended to pay for repairs and replacement of infrastructure including damaged/deteriorating stormwater pipes, culverts, maintenace of stormwater management facilities (often referred to as BMPs), curb and gutter, inlets, drainage improvements and other programs. So why are counties like Albemarle looking to a stormwater utility fee?...