Best Practice Action Detail

Ordinances

• Stormwater and Erosion and Sediment Control Ordinance in Minnesota's 2009 Model Ordinances for Sustainable Development.
• The Smart Surfaces Policy Tracker can help you discover model ordinance language from peer cities, compare regulatory metrics in different communities, and understand the landscape of Smart Surface policy in the U.S. 

Street Widths

• North St. Paul, working with the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District and Barr Engineering, identified 22-foot streets with parking allowed on one side as workable in its 2011 Living Streets Plan. 
• The National Association of City Transportation Officials Street Design Guide states: "Lane widths of 10 feet are appropriate in urban areas and have a positive impact on a street’s safety without impacting traffic operations. For designated truck or transit routes, one travel lane of 11 feet may be used in each direction. In select cases, narrower travel lanes (9–9.5 feet) can be effective as through lanes in conjunction with a turn lane." 
• Cost-savings of 3.4% ($170,000) were projected for a 2015 Brooklyn Park street repaving and narrowing of 32' streets to 30' streets.
• The Urban Street Stormwater Guide (National Association of City Transportation Officials: 2017) provides cities with national best practices for sustainable stormwater management in the public right-of-way. 
• The Light Imprint approach to stormwater management and low-impact development promotes traditional neighborhood design and is scaled for the different density zones of the urban-to-rural transect.
• Consider how to better address flooding during street design. The Naturally Resilient Communities tool provides a set of solutions and case studies that use nature to address flooding.

Adopt A Storm Drain 

• A city-sponsored Adopt-a-Drain program has helped grow the volunteer opportunity for residents to adopt a stormdrain in their neighborhood and keep it clear of leaves, trash, and other debris to reduce water pollution. Many cities promote the program on their website or have expanded into other adoptions programs. 
• The City of St. Cloud offers a number of programs including: Adopt-A Drain, Adopt-A-Pond and Roadway, Adopt-A-Rain Garden, Stormdrain Stenciling, and Community Clean Up
• The cities of Columbia Heights, Andover, Fridley, and Blaine competed in a regional Community Adopt-A-Drain Challenge in 2022 to encourage the most residents to sign up. 
• Hamline University’s national Adopt-A-Drain program makes it easy for you to promote to residents! Residents can sign up online, get information on how to keep their drain clear, an annual reminder to track their impact, and learn about other ways for preventing water pollution.