Fayetteville, AR., has experienced significant growth in residential, commercial and infill developments over the past decade. In an effort to minimize environmental impact and encourage green infrastructure, the city developed an engineering low‑impact development (LID) guidance manual for individuals and developers. Some existing city ordinances and typical drainage design approaches described in the drainage criteria manual (DCM) posed substantial barriers to the implementation of LID practices.
Through the work of the FTN project team, city staff, and a group of external stakeholders, these barriers were identified and categorized. Throughout the development of the LID chapter and the DCM, these barriers were addressed or mitigated to encourage the implementation of LID in new and infill developments.
The project included the following:
- Evaluation of existing LID manuals from a wide range of localities to select methods and techniques that were best suited to Fayetteville;
- Thorough examination of existing city code and drainage design criteria to identify barriers to LID implementation;
- Participation with, and evaluation of comments from a city-organized stakeholder group;
- Update and enhancement of the existing DCM to address design criteria including channel protection, water quality, and flood prevention, as well as development of a stand-alone LID guidance chapter that included runoff reduction methodology with a wide range of suggested green stormwater practices for application to site-specific conditions.
