Southaven, MS Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Title II of the Southaven Code is the city's stormwater program. Section 2-4 has the City of Southaven administer and enforce it, with the Mayor able to delegate the work in writing to an enforcement department called the AEA. Section 2-5 made enforcement effective March 1, 2006.

Section 2-22 sets the trigger. The performance standards apply to any land disturbing activity or construction activity disturbing one (1) or more acre, and to smaller activities that belong to a larger common plan of development. Listed exemptions cover logging and agriculture consistent with an approved soil conservation plan or timber management plan, additions or modifications to existing single-family structures, developments that do not disturb more than one (1) acre, and repairs to any stormwater treatment practice the AEA deems necessary.

For a covered site, § 2-25(a) requires practices designed to meet the storm frequency storage volumes in the stormwater design manual, and it names recharge, water quality, channel protection, twenty-five-year and one-hundred-year volumes. Section 2-24 adds that annual recharge from the post development site must at a minimum mimic pre-development recharge, and it requires applicants to consult the AEA before design.

Section 2-23 lets an applicant file a written request to waive stormwater management. A waiver can be granted if a listed condition applies, such as management at an off-site facility, and it can require a fee in lieu or a land dedication. A waiver does not relieve the applicant from preventing illicit discharges.

Under §§ 2-56 and 2-57, the application needs a final stormwater management plan signed by a licensed professional engineer and a non-refundable review fee, and must be filed at least two (2) weeks before disturbance begins. The AEA has fifteen (15) business days from a complete application to approve or disapprove. Permits last no longer than twelve (12) months. Section 2-58 lets the AEA require a performance bond equal to estimated construction cost plus twenty-five (25) percent.

After construction, § 2-68 requires at least an annual inspection of every stormwater management facility and three (3) years of maintenance records. Section 2-17 requires owners of property through which a watercourse passes to keep it free of trash, debris and excessive vegetation.