Engineering Services for Stormwater Services, RFQ # 24-256
Pender County, NC is issuing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) seeking qualified professional engineering firms to provide third party stormwater review services to assist the County with technical review of stormwater plans related to proposed development projects, including both residential and commercial development.
The County’s UDO describes the scenarios in which a proposed development triggers the need for stormwater plans to be submitted as part of the application for a development proposal. Specifically, article 7.9 of the UDO discusses stormwater management and the applicability of the regulations therein. Most frequently, stormwater plans are submitted within the applications of a proposed commercial development or proposed major subdivision.
Pender County, located in southeastern North Carolina, is the state’s fifth largest County based on land area (approximately 870 square miles), with only 4.5% of that land encompassed by incorporated municipalities and their extraterritorial jurisdictions (ETJs). The County is faced with development pressure as the region continues to see rapid population growth, predominantly expanding from the Wilmington Metropolitan Area.
The majority of the development pressure is felt in the southern and eastern portions of the County, specifically the Rocky Point and Hampstead areas. As these areas transition from a rural past to a more developed future, the community continues to seek to find the balance of protecting and preserving the natural environment, while ensuring development does not have a detrimental impact on the existing fabric of the community.
As noted in the Pender 2.0 Comprehensive Land Use Plan (the Plan), top public input priorities included avoiding development in environmentally sensitive areas and limiting development to areas not prone to drainage issues. The Plan goes on to state that the community has identified the most important role for the County to play in influencing development is the protection of natural resources and environmental quality. Finally, 58% of respondents to a survey shown in the Plan stated that stormwater runoff was the most important issue regarding growth and development in the County.