Ridgewood, NJ Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Section 190-83, Stormwater management and flood protection, is Ridgewood's controlling stormwater ordinance, last amended December 11, 2024 by Ordinance No. 4025. Its policy statement commits the Village to flood control, groundwater recharge and pollutant reduction through green infrastructure best management practices (GI BMPs) and low-impact development, developed based upon each site's physical conditions and the anticipated quantity of potential pollutants. The section applies to non-residential major developments, the non-preempted parts of residential major developments, any major development the Village itself undertakes, and to minor developments as defined in Subsection B.

"Major development" is defined by numeric thresholds: disturbing one-half acre (21,780 square feet) of land, creating 5,000 square feet or more of regulated impervious surface, or 5,000 square feet or more of regulated motor vehicle surface, each measured since a 2004 or 2021 baseline date, or any combination of the two surface categories totaling 5,000 square feet. Every major development must incorporate a maintenance plan for its stormwater measures, and must avoid concentrating flow in a way that harms threatened or endangered species habitat identified in the state's Landscape Project or Natural Heritage Database, including the swamp pink and bog turtle. C. 2(f) control.