Storm water management is not a simple task in Millcroft

By Pepper Parr

April 7th, 2021

BURLINGTON, ON

Fourth in a series

When Allan Taylor, the Planner hired by Millcroft Against Development (MAD)to state their case against a proposed development that would result in a shorter golf course and 98 detached homes and 130 apartment units, he referred a few times to the storm water problem.

When the community was designed much of the storm water management was handled by the wide open spaces where the water would evaporate.

Start taking out some of the land and there is less space for the water to lie while it evaporates. The infrastructure in place to handle the water was predicated on the open space remaining open.

Storm water is a pretty dull subject – until your basement is flooded.

The people living in Millcroft provided a number of pictures to give you some idea as to just how much water there is to be drained away or left to Mother Nature to handle.

Credit for the pictures goes to Millcroft Against Development (MAD).

In his report as a planner Allan Ramsay said: “The Millcroft community was designed on the basis that the golf course lands would provide a benefit in dealing with rainfall and storm water by providing open storage of stormwater. Recent storm events have identified several flooding and storm water management issues in the Millcroft community.

“The redevelopment of the fairways in the Areas A-D with housing, roads and other hard surfaces will, according to our stormwater management review, increase runoff and worsen the flooding potential. In particular, Millcroft Greens’ proposed mitigation measures such as increasing the topsoil to 300 mm and disconnecting downspouts to rear yards will not likely achieve effective stormwater management.”

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