"Mr. Miller reiterated that this public hearing discussion is about stormwater runoff. He noted that not that long ago, stormwater regulations were inadequate compared to how people look at them today. Some developments added in the Lake Shenandoah watershed area not long ago were developed consistent with state-mandated mitigation requirements in place at that time, and that the program was administered by the state, not the local government. Mr. Miller said expectations have been rising at an accelerated rate in the last few years, and many of the current problems probably would not exist if the regulations in place today and administrated by the local government had been in place ten years ago."

The state's House and Senate have now both passed a measure that requires cities with more than 10,000 people to allow duplexes in areas zoned for single-family homes. In the Portland metro area it goes a step further, requiring cities and counties to allow the building of housing such as quadplexes and "cottage clusters" of homes around a common yard.

This type of housing is often called "missing middle" housing — that is, everything between single-family homes and mid- or high-rise apartment buildings. Buildings such three-flats or courtyard apartments used to be common, but many communities made them illegal, often as part of a strategy for racial and class segregation.

Rep. Julie Fahey, a Democrat from Eugene, worked with Kotek on the bill. Many people "might not be able to afford to buy a detached single-family home," she told Oregon Public Broadcasting. "The prices of those starter homes are rising further and further out of reach. So to have duplexes, to have town homes, those sort of things ... is really important."

   view a larger map here

Rockingham County is proposing that a Stormwater Control Authority be created in the area shown above in blue.  Learn more here.

Many of the concerns looming during the hearing were how to fund capital costs.

Preliminary estimates of capital costs were stated to be $3.16 million, but it is a rough estimate, according to County Attorney Thomas Miller. The amount of capital costs will depend on numerous factors that have not been determined by the board of the authority after consultation with engineers.

Assistant County Administrator Casey Armstrong said the estimate does not include state and/or federal funding that may be available in the future.

Lisa Perry, the environmental manager for the county, said during a work session in April that there were different ways the county could go about allocating funding, such as grant funding, the Virginia Department of Transportation revenue sharing or funding from the county's general fund, which the committee recommended.

No determination has been made concerning when and how fees will be assessed, but fees will likely be related to the amount of impervious area on each property, according to the county's website.

• City of Harrisonburg = $0.86 per $100 of assessed value
   
  
• Rockingham County = $0.74 per $100 of assessed value

• The Harrisonburg tax rate has increased 10% over the past three years.
   
  
• The Rockingham County tax rate has increased 6% over the past three years.

• The Harrisonburg tax rate has increased 46% over the past ten years.
   
  
• The Rockingham County tax rate has increased 23% over the past ten years.