Received from resident Cindy Lewis from a letter she received from Diane Butler:
There is an Eco-Action committee that is very involved with the storm water runoff into Spa Creek and surrounding areas . They are very involved with this project and are leaning very heavily on the City regarding the intended tree removal of all the trees on the property.
Here is some information on an upcoming meeting.
Joint Eco-Action Committee – Annapolis Environmental Commission meeting Sept. 7th 7:00pm 145 Gorman Street 3rd floor Conf. room
Hi Eco-Action Committee members:
Since many of you wanted to hear South Annapolis Yacht Center’s plans for stormwater management and impacts to Spa Creek and the Annapolis Environmental Commission (AEC) will be meeting with the SAYC engineers at our next AEC Meeting on September 7th, we are combining the meeting. That means our August Eco-Action meeting is now moved to September 7th, at 145 Gorman Street, 3rd Floor Conference room. Our goal is to understand the projects environmental impacts and to educate the public and the city on those impacts. We might even have some helpful input!
A couple of things from the plan that are worth noting and which I am sure we will here more about on 9/7/16:
The applicant indicates that the plan will significantly improve the storm water management currently planned for the site by reducing the quantity, and the quality off the storm water runoff, into Spa Creek. The plan will include a large rain garden and some storm water detention planters, and planting over 100 new, native trees in the buffer areas around the site.
It appears that the current stormwater management plan will only meet the minimum requirement to treat only 50% of the existing impervious surface on site while other developments on the Creek have or will treat 100% of its existing impervious surface area.
The plan calls for the elimination of all trees on site including healthy trees. It will take decades to reproduce the ecological benefits of cutting all the trees down and replanting with 2 inch caliper trees on site. The City of Annapolis has included in its Comprehensive plan and Sustainability plan the goal to to increase its tree canopy goal of 50% by 2036.
State Phase I permits have a 20% restoration requirement, and MDE expects to issue these same permits to Phase II jurisdictions, like Annapolis, by March 2017. It will be almost impossible to restore 20% of acres in the City that have not been treated for stormwater because of the amount of asphalt and brick in Annapolis. Therefore, it seems clear that new developments must go beyond complying with the bare minimum stormwater requirements or residents will end up paying increased stormwater fees to remediate the damage to our waters.
Diane R. Butler
(443) 253-7263
eastport defined 
I am Kevin Campion, a local business owner (Campion Hruby Landscape Architects) and the landscape architect on record for the South Annapolis Yacht Centre. I am excited to join the meeting on Wednesday to review the environmental benefits of SAYC, and I look forward to seeing many of you there.
Just a few notes on the current plans:
We have worked closely with the city and the Critical Area Commission to meet all requirements for mitigation on site, and we feel that the combination of stormwater enhancements and tree planting will result in a development that is significantly better for the future of Annapolis. Our plans include the planting of 124 new trees as well as thousands of native shrubs and perennials. We are re-establishing a planted waterfront buffer, teeming with native plants, in an otherwise harsh marina environment. I can think of no other working marinas in the area that have integrated a planted buffer and rain gardens within the context of a working boatyard. To me, this is what progress means – applying a new set of contemporary conservation values to an environment that historically has been unkind to nature, with a result being the betterment of both marina and environment.
Of the 56 trees surveyed in the fractured canopy at SAYC, most are invasive, non-contributing, or declining species, including 14 black cherry, 14 black locust, and 8 mulberry. In total, 70% are non-contributing to local habitat and wildlife, and 21% are decaying or dying. There are many trees that are either in poor health, suffocated by vines, or broken by storms and lightning. Three independent arborists have reviewed the trees, and we have created a composite list of all trees and their current health. We have also worked with a local tree expert to identify 19 trees that can be transplanted on site. This is not a requirement, but we thought it made sense to save some indigenous trees that are viable for transplanting.
It has been the opinion of many experts that the value of saving a few large trees is dwarfed by the value of planting a new generation of healthy, native canopy trees on site. Trees contribute to the environment by providing oxygen, preserving soil, improving air quality, and supporting wildlife. A new generation of native hardwood trees at SAYC would provide a greater benefit to the environment, through increased food for wildlife, diversity of native fruits and berries, a larger footprint of soil preservation, and more sequestering of harmful chemicals out of the air. By planting a diversity of native trees at various sizes (including trees far above the 2” requirement), the plan will mimic a mixed-age forest over time and will create the maximum canopy for oxygen-generation and reducing the urban heat-island effect, resulting in a more comfortable environment with increased environmental and habitat benefits. The project will meet the City goal of achieving 50% canopy coverage by 2030. Very few, if any, projects in the City have achieved this mark so far.
I realize that there are dozens of concerned neighbors and City residents that simply want what is best for Spa Creek and their neighborhood. We are working hard to achieve this, and we look forward to continuing the dialogue on Wednesday night.
Thank you, Kevin, for your comment. It is published as a post today on eastportdefined.
Sent from my iPad
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My name is Terry Schuman, local business owner (Bay Engineering, Inc.) and the engineer of record on this project. I will be attending the joint meeting on Wednesday to review the environmental benefits of the SAYC project and look forward to discussing this project further. In reading the recent blog from Diane R. Butler I wanted to take the time to clarify some of the stormwater management issues raised by Mrs. Butler. A couple of clarifying comments and facts on the project are as follows:
The property is 4.56 acres in size and is formerly known as the Sarles and Petrini shipyards which have been in existence for over 100 years in Eastport. These boatyards and residential dwellings on the property currently have zero stormwater management and the 2.5 acres of existing impervious coverage is just running into Spa Creek unfiltered and untreated. The proposed redevelopment project from a stormwater management criteria requires a minimium of 100% treatment of any additional impervious area above the existing coverage and implementing Environmental Sensitive Design (ESD) to the Maximum Extent Practicable (MEP) to provide water quality treatment (1” of runoff) for at least 50% of the existing impervious area of the property. The plans for the proposed project as originally submitted to the City met and exceeded the minimum SWM requirements, proposing multiple ESD practices including one (1) Green Roof building, Permeable Pavement areas, six (6) Micro-Bioretention areas, eight (8) rain gardens and two (2) storm filters (Jellyfish Storm Filter manufactured by Contech). With these ESD practices the applicant has provided 83.7% of the water quality requirements for the redevelopment area which far exceeds the required 50% by 33.7%. A summary of the SWM plan as submitted:
Existing Impervious Area = 2.50 acres
Proposed Impervious Area = 2.90 acres
ESDv Required (100% new and 50% existing impervious area) = 7,378 cu ft
ESDv proposed (100% new and 83.7% existing impervious area) = 10,286 cu ft
In coordination with the Spa Creek Conservancy the owner was asked to assess the proposed Best Management Practices (BMP) for their pollutant removal that will be achieved with the project. The pollutant reduction is a critical objective of the EPA Watershed Implementation Plan to reduce nutrients (Nitrogen and Phosphorous) and Sediment to meet the goals set within the Total Maximum Daily Limit (TMDL) Program. A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that load among the various sources of that pollutant. The proposed reductions for the South Annapolis Yacht Centre project will assist in meeting the goals of the Spa Creek Conservancy (SCC) for the Spa Creek Watershed. These reductions will improve the health of the creek and the tidal waterway leading to the Chesapeake Bay.
The redevelopment will provide the following pollutant reduction:
Total Nitrogen Removal TN = 14.9 lbs./yr.
Total Phosphorous Removal TP = 2.3 lbs./yr.
Total Suspended Solids Removal TSS = 990 lbs./yr.
In addition it should also be noted that the owner in the design of the plan will also implement the following additional elements into the design which although not required will also provide considerable benefits to Spa Creek:
•Approximately 20,000 square feet of covered boat houses will be removed from the water frontage within Spa Creek, thereby reducing shading effects over potential submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) habitat by approximately 0.46 acres. This will allow for regrowth and support of marine life and a healthier Spa Creek.
•A Marina Boat Wash Wastewater Containment and Treatment system will be installed where there is none in the existing condition.
•There will be a reduction of impervious coverage within the 100-ft buffer by 17% (9,393 sq.ft.). Reducing impervious coverage in the buffer and replacing it with a planted buffer will provide a huge positive impact on the health of Spa Creek and the environment.
•The site will exceed the Critical Area 10% Rule for stormwater pollutant removal by 55% which is in stark contrast to the site’s current situation of zero pollutant removal.
I wanted to get the facts on the table of the project as submitted which exceeds the numbers as noted in several of the blogs to date from commenting citizens. The purpose of the meeting this week is to continue the dialogue and we look forward to discussing the project and listening to the members. I also encourage any citizens who would like to know the true facts of the project to visit the project website at http://www.RestoreSAYC.com