After years of research, meetings and discussions, several Kitsap County jurisdictions have adopted Low Impact Development (LID) techniques in their development codes, and the rest are expected to do so soon.

LID is an innovative, environmentally friendly approach to stormwater runoff management that has been used on the East Coast for many years and has been slowly becoming more mainstream in the West in the last decade. In Kitsap County, up until now developers and builders were hesitant to use LID, which is not a single method but rather a collection of techniques that can be used separately or collectively. Even those who understood the benefits were not as likely to implement the idea because using LID almost certainly entailed longer permitting processes due to the existing regulations and builders having to prove the concept at every step.

All that’s changed in the past year, and LID has become almost a buzz word both in the world of builders and planners around Kitsap. While this is the result of a collective effort of many people and groups, all fingers point to one man who was able to bring the discussion to the table in an amicable way and pull things through: Art Castle.

“I call him the grandfather of low-impact development,” says Poulsbo Mayor Kathryn Quade.

Castle, the executive vice president of Homebuilders Association of Kitsap County (HBA), is credited with bringing together leaders from the building industry, local jurisdictions and state agencies to create not only LID regulations that can be adopted by the county and the cities but also to come up with a design guidelines manual. Earlier this summer, the manual was approved by the Department of Ecology.

Poulsbo was the first to adopt the LID regulations, Quade says, and the city has already done one demonstration project using pervious pavement and a so-called bioswale, and another project is under way. “LID standards will benefit everybody, they cost less and are good for the environment,” she says. “What the process (of developing the manual) did was bring everybody to the same table to talk about issues and ideas… Art did a superb job in taking the lead in a positive manner.”

Castle, in his 16th year with the HBA, says he doesn’t know of any other jurisdiction in the state where the private and the public sectors have worked together collaboratively to such extent, having leaders from across the board attending workshops and technical training. “Because of the breadth and depth that has occurred… I believe Kitsap County has become the low-impact development capital in Washington State.”

If that is true, then Castle must be the mayor. If anyone needs to know anything about this stormwater management strategy, Castle is most likely the go-to guy. But while many people give him credit for spearheading LID implementation in Kitsap County, he says many others were crucial in the process. “A lot of people were in the boat pulling on the ores together,” he says. “They all deserve the recognition.”

The buzz about LID

What makes LID so exciting to many are both its environmental aspect and its potential to reduce development costs once more developers and planners understand it. The techniques mimic the natural hydrologic functions of the site — in other words, they mimic Mother Nature — and do away with the need of building and maintaining expensive, not to mention unsightly, detention ponds. Instead, runoff is processed on site, then infiltrated back into the ground. So developers can maximize the land use because they don’t have to reserve large parcels for a stormwater-retention pond. There is also an aesthetic aspect because some of the methods include raingardens, vegetated rooftops and other eye-pleasing components.

“Instead of dumping stormwater as a problem, it’s now an asset — it can be recharged on site, which is more cost-effective, and better for the environment,” says Rick Courson, owner of Cedar Bay Homes who is a pioneer “built green” homebuilder, and former HBA board president.

Implementing LID

To move forward with the idea, the HBA created a nonprofit foundation, which secured a grant to develop an implementation plan. A broad leadership team had to come up with what Castle calls a “user-friendly cookbook” for LID. “When you change the paradigm on stormwater management, it takes a lot of people learning a lot of information,” Castle says.

The 220-page manual that resulted (plus another 100-some pages of annexed materials) goes into depth on how to use low-impact development, model, construct and maintain — a cookbook for developers and engineers, indeed.

“I think the hurdle is over and now it’s a matter of knocking off some of the rough edges,” Courson says.

Castle concurs. He says the work on LID implementation will not be done any time soon, because there are always things to tweak, and new techniques that are being proven and can be added in.

“The one thing about Art that stands out is his ability to see into the future and which direction things are going,” Courson says. “He’s very insightful and in tune.”

A second grant obtained by the HBA was used to fund a demonstration project at the organization’s headquarters in Bremerton. There, several types of pervious pavement were used in the parking lot and a rain garden was created — and got a major test during the heavy December 2007 flooding after it was installed. Castle has a video that shows water running off aplenty in areas with regular asphalt, while the rain garden infiltrated the water effectively, “as advertised” so to speak.

Since the HBA’s showcase project was installed, projects using various LID techniques have popped up around the county, with other jurisdictions, like Poulsbo, using them in their own projects. For example, Bremerton has used pervious pavements on its streets, and the planned SKIA connector road will use some as well. Castle says the Manette Bridge (slated for renovation) is also being designed so that stormwater is infiltrated on one side, and many other projects are “in the approval pipeline.”

“I believe low-impact development will be the tool of choice for stormwater management,” Castle says. “But it doesn’t work everywhere, on some sites it shouldn’t be used, which is why it shouldn’t be a requirement.”

Passionate about the job

Castle can speak enthusiastically on topics he cares about with tireless energy. Someone who knows him well jokingly says that if he had a meeting with Castle in the morning, he better be bringing a lunch brownbag. But it’s this passion that, in the case of LID, has earned him statewide credibility. Recently, 23rd Legislative District Rep. Christine Rolfes (D-Bainbridge Island) nominated him for two Department of Ecology LID committees.

While his work on LID has been the more prominent part of his job in recent months, Castle’s job consists of much more — his workload is somewhat visible in his office, filled with all sorts of paperwork. The association has 475 members and four other employees, and an extensive mission and agenda as well as a very active board of directors (whom Castle credits with the success of the association).

“He’s an incredible guy for the HBA and doing an incredible job keeping folks engaged,” says Mike Brown, owner of FPH Construction and former HBA president, noting that working with a large group of Type A personalities isn’t easy. “He is on the leading edge of what’s coming.”