Goodyear, AZ Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Article 15-4 of the Goodyear City Code governs the streets, utilities and drainage improvements a subdivider must install before recording a final plat, and § 15-4-4(F) folds erosion and sediment control directly into that improvement schedule. Retention basins, channels and other drainage facilities have to be engineered to the City Engineer's specifications and to the post-construction sediment and erosion control measures spelled out in the City's Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (AZPDES) permit, the permit Goodyear holds under the federal Clean Water Act's Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program.

The section sets a concrete design trigger: a site has to retain or otherwise dispose of the runoff from a 100-year frequency storm on-site, and both structural controls (basins, channels) and non-structural practices have to be designed to maximize pollutant removal and cut flow velocities, with non-structural practices affirmatively favored. Before the City signs off on a final subdivision plat or issues any permit for land disturbance, the developer must record a binding covenant naming who is responsible for maintaining every stormwater facility, backed by an enforceable operation-and-maintenance agreement that includes the easements the City needs to inspect the system and perform routine upkeep.

This chapter works alongside Chapter 16's separate MS4 discharge program (§ 16-7), which polices what can enter city storm drains once a site is built out, so a construction site's erosion plan and a completed development's ongoing stormwater compliance are handled by two linked but distinct code provisions. The City Engineer administers § 15-4-4 review, approves the engineering plans required under § 15-4-2, and can withhold plat recordation until the AZPDES-referenced controls and the maintenance covenant are both in place.