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Emeryville
has turned its brownfield problem into an example of pedestrian-friendly
mixed-use development while integrating stormwater runoff control. |
By Ignacio Dayrit
Emeryville, California is a 1.2-square- mile city-by-the-bay once packed with
acres of brownfields that dragged down the economy and quality of life.
In the 1990s, Emeryville began an aggressive brownfield redevelopment program
that resulted in the reuse of more than 200 acres, creating jobs, housing, recreation
and infrastructure. Emeryville’s new challenge is to complement the economic
growth with environmental protection of a different kind.
As a member of the Alameda County Stormwater Project, Emeryville requires developers to reduce stormwater pollution. In a previously industrial and highly urbanized area, where brownfield redevelopment involves capping or “no surface infiltration” as engineering solutions, this can be difficult.
Hardscape solutions (e.g., parking lots, paving, roofs and downspouts) are the norm. However, these solutions contribute to stormwater surface runoff, which leads to declining surface and groundwater quality, not to mention that parking lots do not always enhance the quality of the pedestrian environment.
New Handbook to Have the Answers
Because Emeryville has contaminated soil, high land values and an urban setting,
traditional stormwater pollution reduction methods are not all that useful.
So, in 2004, Emeryville received a smart growth grant from the U.S. EPA to develop
integrated and sustainable solutions to redeveloping brownfields.
The cooperative agreement with the U.S. EPA will help the city to develop a handbook that mitigates stormwater runoff and improves the pedestrian environment in a dense urban brownfield environment. Called “Emeryville Design Guidelines for Green Dense Redevelopment,” it is part of EPA’s Smart Growth in Brownfield Communities program.
The purpose of the grant is to develop a handbook to help developers meet stormwater requirements in a dense brownfield-heavy city. Other strategies include site design, source control and stormwater treatment.
The handbook will specify requirements, instructions and recommendations for the development community to integrate stormwater runoff control and pollution prevention measures. It includes a thorough numeric sizing methodology for various facility types, and will enable city staff, planners, designers and developers to implement sustainable design on many scales throughout Emeryville. Likewise, it will also encourage pedestrian-friendly mixed-use development. The city is also studying the best ways to integrate shared- and structured-parking programs and combine them with a mix of transportation options such as shuttles, bicycles and carpools.
Timing on the grant also segues neatly with the city’s development of a new general plan. In that plan, Emeryville hopes to develop land use and infrastructure components that are supportive of smart growth principles, and that flow seamlessly with the design guidelines.
Ignacio Dayrit is the brownfields program director for the City of Emeryville.