The City is required by the NPDES Phase II Stormwater Discharge Permit to adopt a new or Ecology compliant Stormwater Manual. The 2023 City of Gig Harbor Stormwater Management and Site Development Manual (Stormwater Manual), which is based on the Pierce County 2019 Stormwater Management and Site Development Manual, was adopted on April 24, 2023 by Ordinance 1511 and will become effective May 3, 2023.  

Stormwater requirements in our NPDES Phase II Discharge Permit are state and federal laws and therefore do not vest. However, depending on specific criteria, there are instances where an existing project may continue to use the City’s previous (2016) Stormwater Manual.  This includes:

• A Hearing Examiner decision on a project that used the 2016 Stormwater Manual and cited the 2016 Stormwater Manual on the approved plans or in the approved Stormwater Drainage Report.
• City-approved civil plans, which included stormwater with an “EN” permit prefix.
• An approved written agreement with the City that used and cites the 2016 Stormwater Manual or other superseded stormwater manual.
• A City-approved land use permit where stormwater is specifically incorporate into the approval.

An applicant may request a meeting with the City to discuss how your project may be impacted by the adoption of the 2023 Stormwater Manual.

For further questions, please contact Dean Zavack.  To schedule a meeting with the City’s Planning Division to review your project to see if it will be required to update to the new 2023 Stormwater Manual please contact the Planning Division at: Planning Intake.