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The city of Lacey requires a 10-foot separation between public water and public sewer, a state and local code provision. When a sewer lateral crosses a water main or vice-versa, a З-foot vertical separation must be maintained. This occurred in The Park, but Phillips was unable to make the З-foot vertical separation.

One of the most prohibitive local residential land development regulations requires placement of all utilities in public rights-of-way. A viable, less costly alternative is installation of utilities outside of the ROW in easements. Following are guidelines for utilities and utility easements: • Place utilities in easements instead of rights-of-way where appropriate. • Use plastic piping […]

Alternatives to traditional standards, materials, and procedures used in residential water supply systems are often more cost efficient. Following are guidelines for water supply: • Consider alternative materials for water mains and service pipes. • Use multiple connections to one common service where feasible. • Size water distribution pipes to meet the projected need. • […]

Residential neighborhoods often have overdesigned, underutilized sewer systems which local officials must review for cost reduction possibilities. Various sanitary sewer system alternatives are available today to communities using traditional, outmoded procedures, designs, and materials. Following are guidelines for sanitary sewers: • Use curvilinear sewers where feasible. • Increase maximum manhole spacing. • Use cleanouts as […]

Portland, Oregon In North Meadow Village, developed and built by Black Bull Enterprises in Portland, Oregon, the developer proposed changes deleting 630 feet of storm sewer pipe and adding an effective means of groundwater recharge. A system of swales was designed to convey runoff into three on-site sumps where it could soak into the soil. […]

Gutters, which are discussed in the previous section, are just one component of the complete storm drainage system. However, important economies can be achieved in the construction of entire storm drainage systems. Following are guidelines for storm drainage systems: • Use performance requirements in place of prescriptive standards in all components of storm drainage design. […]

Curbs and gutters convey rainfall into storm drainage systems, which are discussed in the next section. There are, however, less costly alternatives to the traditional vertical curb and gutter construction. Following are guidelines for curbs and gutters: • Substitute grassy swales for curbs and gutters. • Where curbs are installed, build rolled curbs rather than […]

Typical Boise streets have sidewalks on both sides. At Lakewood Meadows, the city permitted elimination of sidewalks on one side of the sub­division’s streets and around T — turnarounds. One higher-order collector street was required to have sidewalks on both sides, but a sidewalk on one side only was allowed for a high-volume arterial street. […]

Many local zoning ordinances and construction standards specify that sidewalks be built on both sides of residential streets. These requirements were developed during an era of lower land values and lower construction costs, and should be reviewed in the context of today’s higher costs. Following are guidelines for sidewalks and walkways: • Construct sidewalks on […]