Prompted by the Ellicott City flood in July, local and state lawmakers are exploring a series of changes that would help the 244-year-old river town control the flow of water and give relief to local businesses.
July's flood devastated the historic town, which sits atop a river in the Tiber-Hudson watershed. More than half of the businesses on Main Street have not reopened since the July 30 flood.
Del. Bob Flanagan, a district 9A Republican, is seeking to permanently exempt businesses in historic Ellicott City from property taxes, a move Flanagan said is necessary to preserve the historic district.
"There are special burdens and responsibilities associated with having businesses in the historic district, including flood risk. We need to encourage businesses to stay there," Flanagan said.
Flanagan is also seeking $500,000 in state funds, matched by the county, to fund stormwater management projects. A majority of the Howard County delegation must approve both bills before they are formally introduced in the General Assembly.
Since the flood, the county has shifted from focusing on managing the quality of water to managing the quantity of water, said Councilman Jon Weinstein, a Democrat who represents the area.
"Because of limited flexibility in the watershed to do these projects, we are essentially being forced to do some things that have less of an impact," Weinstein said. "That has to change."
The county is working with the state's Department of the Environment to carve exceptions in state guidelines that would allow the county to build large facilities to hold floodwater away from Ellicott City.
For the last 15 years, state guidelines have focused on controlling the quality of runoff that enters the Chesapeake Bay. Counties can build bioretention ponds that naturally filter water. But state guidelines limit the county's ability to build large structural flood management facilities that manage the quantity of water.
"There are significant regulatory and legal hurdles to create the large-scale solutions that the county and the state needs in Ellicott City," said Josh Greenfeld, vice president of government affairs for the Maryland Building Industry Association. "Moratoriums aren't the solution. There is a deeper root cause that has to be addressed."
But with more than 90 percent of the Tiber-Hudson watershed developed, the county is scrambling for space to find bigger and deeper facilities that can hold large amounts of water.
"In the bigger scheme of things, an area like Ellicott City may need some special criteria to figure out what in the world to do," said Jim Caldwell, director of the county's Office of Community Sustainability.
The council is considering several measures that aim to tighten stormwater regulations.
A bill proposed by Weinstein and Council Chairman Calvin Ball, a Democrat, would bar developers from seeking waivers on wetlands, flood plains, steep slopes and other environmentally sensitive areas.
The duo has also proposed to increase the amount of water stormwater management controls, like ponds, can hold. The change updates the county's design guidelines to manage 100-year storms. That bill would also require the county to review design guidelines for stormwater management tools every three years.
Weinstein's move to halt development for nine months in the area was tabled earlier this year as the council works through a series of changes that could mute the impact of the bill.
If passed as amended, the halt would only affect one current project for nearly a dozen houses on Church Road, according to a county analysis.
Councilman Greg Fox, a Republican, said the council did not buckle to pressure from developers.
"Some things may sound good as a fix, but then you realize it doesn't accomplish the fix," Fox said. "That's what happened here."
Weinstein said the halt got developers' attention and pushed some to present "innovative ideas" to tackle ongoing flooding challenges.
"We created the space for a conversation," Weinstein said.
One possible option is a proposal by David Woessner, of Bohler Engineering, to build large embankments along streams and a bottomless culvert that would allow water to flow through. During storms, the water would back up to the flood plain instead of crashing down Main Street, Woessner said.
Woessner, who is working with the county and the state, said the county should also consider enlarging existing stormwater management ponds so they can handle 100-year-storms.
The legislative proposals before the council do not address the sleeping giant in Ellicott City: Old development that predates stormwater management. Most of the development in the watershed was built when little to no stormwater management guidelines existed.
Before taking major steps to include stormwater management in older developments, local officials say they're waiting for final verdicts from ongoing hydrologic and hydraulic studies, which will help determine factors that contributed to the flood.
Those studies are expected to be released in the middle of next year.
This story has been updated.