To the editor:
In a recent article, the city of Lawrence is enforcing a storm water runoff ordinance by citing a local fundraising group for holding an unauthorized car wash. This is ludicrous. The citing of an ordinance is not unusual but an ordinance that is absurd is the issue. There is no credible basis for an ordinance that should prohibit water runoff into a storm drain from of all things a car wash.
If anything, the car wash runoff helps flush the storm drains of debris that is permitted to enter the system. Tree limbs, leaves and grass clippings (even from city landscape and grounds work) should be prohibited from entering the storm water system. Continual soil entering storm drains may not be permitted, but building contractors and code compliance allow this practice to happen daily. The contractor on the street where I live has allowed soil to run off an empty lot, across the sidewalk and into the street for the past several months. Will the contractor be cited?
The intent of protecting our waterways is of significant importance and an effective ordinance needs to be in place to prevent contamination and flooding. The current ordinance and enforcement is lacking and misdirected.
Steve Turner,
Lawrence
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