Skowhegan, ME Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Skowhegan has no stand-alone stormwater ordinance. The rules sit inside two Town Meeting ordinances, and each applies only to the projects it covers. The Site Plan Review Ordinance (amended Town Meeting 6/8/26) sets the main standard in Section XIV, the Environmental Protection Criteria, under Performance Standards, subsection C, Stormwater Management. It requires adequate provisions for collecting and disposing of all stormwater that runs off proposed streets, parking areas, roofs and other surfaces, through a Stormwater Management Plan. The plan must retain stormwater on the site using its natural features where possible and cannot have adverse impacts on abutting or downstream properties.

The peak-flow rule is the numeric core: unless the discharge goes directly to the Kennebec River, the system must detain or retain water so the post-development rate of flow does not exceed the predevelopment rate. The applicant must also demonstrate that on-site and off-site downstream channel or system capacity can carry the flow without flooding or erosion of shoreland areas, or accept responsibility for the improvements or mitigation needed to add capacity. A project that needs a Stormwater Management Permit from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection must hand in a copy of the approved permit with the application. Projects with structural treatments must submit a Stormwater Maintenance Agreement showing how the facilities will be maintained through their projected life. For projects that need no DEP permit, Low Impact Development techniques from the DEP publication Stormwater Management for Maine are highly encouraged.

Site plan review itself is triggered by thresholds in Section V: a new non-residential building of five thousand (5,000) square feet or more or taller than thirty-five (35) feet, a new non-residential use occupying more than one acre, or construction or expansion of paved or other impervious surfaces of ten thousand (10,000) square feet or more within any five (5) year period. A single-family lot below those triggers is not pulled into the stormwater plan requirement by this ordinance.

The Road and Entrance Design Standards Ordinance (Chapter 38, adopted February 14, 2012, amended June 10, 2013) adds engineering detail for public roads in Section 3.4.7. Its system must be designed by a Registered Professional Engineer where a stream or surface drainage crosses the right-of-way. Components must limit peak discharge to pre-development levels for every storm between the two (2) year and twenty-five (25) year, twenty-four (24) hour frequencies, using rainfall data for Portland, Maine. Drainage easements must be at least thirty (30') feet wide, the minimum storm drain pipe is twelve (12) inches, and the design carries a surplus capacity factor of twenty-five (25) percent for upstream runoff. In curbed sections the Road Commissioner designates catch basin locations.