Low Impact Development TODAY and TOMORROW is a conference that will be held June 24 from 9:30–11:30 am at the Poulsbo North Kitsap Fire Station on 911 NE Liberty Road off of Hwy. 305 with a site visit planned immediately afterwards.

The event is jointly presented by the Liberty Bay Foundation and Kitsap Home Builders Foundation, and sponsored in part from a Department of Ecology grant through US EPA 319 Non-point source pollution funds for the “Nearshore Habitat Evaluation and Enhancement Project.”

Local planners, developers, builders, engineers and others are invited to learn and participate in the early stages of transitioning to an innovative approach to land development and stormwater management.

Presenters include Kathleen O’Brien and Alistair Jackson of the Sustainable Development Training Institute (SDTI), educators and nationally recognized leaders in sustainable design and construction training, consulting, and research. SDTI is a division of O’Brien & Company, providing practical training experiences to industry professionals and policy makers looking for day-to-day solutions. The firm, established in 1991 and located in Kitsap County, provides technical and educational support to the design and construction industry, to policy-makers affecting construction and development and to the public. Its staff brings over sixty years of experience, urban planning, environmental management, corporate sustainability, technical writing and education to the sustainable development of the built environment.

Christopher May, Ph.D., senior environmental scientist/engineer at the Battelle Marine Sciences Laboratory, affiliate research scientist at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington, adjunct professor at Western Washington University, UW-Tacoma, and Seattle University. Nationally recognized expert in urban stream habitat assessment, watershed/stream restoration, stormwater management, and currently doing research on the effectiveness of stormwater BMPs in mitigating the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems.

This approach — low impact development (LID) — offers potential and significant reduction of harm to the environment from development while accommodating the inevitable growth that is occurring throughout the region.

LID is a more natural approach to land development and stormwater management than conventional land development that typically involves clearing and grading a site, resulting in the removal of all vegetation. Pavement and other impervious surfaces greatly limit or prevent infiltration. High stormwater flows cause flooding, damage public and private property, and destroy habitat for salmon and other fish and wildlife. In contrast, LID design uses a site’s natural features and specially designed best management practices to manage stormwater.

The Puget Sound Action Team recently selected the City of Poulsbo and Kitsap County for an award to develop LID regulations. The Kitsap Home Builders Foundation was awarded an $183,000 DOE-EPA 319 grant to work with jurisdictions to develop uniform LID standards and assist in adapting and implementing these approaches into the permitting process while building the foundation for providing technical resources and guidance for developers to use “BUILT GREEN” in Kitsap. The Home Builders Association of Kitsap County has cosponsored several Low Impact Development workshops and regularly requested that the development of standards be enacted so innovative solutions can be utilized by developers.

For more information please call Kathleen Byrne-Barrantes at (360) 697-5815, Art Castle at (360) 479-5778 or visit the LBF website at www.libertybayfoundation.com and click on EVENTS or the HBA website www.KitsapHBA.com and click on Event Calendar.