Restoration Project Workflow

Depending on the scale of your project and it’s location, various permits, easements, and maintenance agreements may be required. Some of these include tree permits, critical area permits, historic district permits, and possibly a grading permit. The restoration workflow helps identify applicable regulations for your project early and upfront to keep the project on track for success. 

PHASE I – Project Scoping

Pre-Application meeting and Site Visit 

If you have an idea for a project, the first step is to contact the City’s Department of Public Works to set-up this meeting with appropriate City staff. Staff who may attend the meeting will be from Public Works, Planning & Zoning, and City Manager’s Office for Resilience & Sustainability. Outside organizations, such as Maryland Department of the Environment and the Department of Natural Resource,  may be included as necessary. The Stormwater team in Public Works can help you identify any utility constraints in the project area, guide you toward both design and implementation grants applicable to your project, and give feedback on applicable permitting processes. The meeting is often held on-site at the project location. Prior to the meetings, it i’s helpful to send as much information as possible so City staff can gather utility and drainage area information. Other helpful information includes a project scope, an "order of magnitude" cost estimate, project schedule, estimated cost of annual ongoing maintenance, and future monitoring requirements. 

Stormwater Management Improvement Agreement

Restoration projects that receive grant funding and/or that require a grading permit will need to have a signed maintenance agreement with the City before the grading permit is issued. This agreement is recorded in the land records and allows the City access to inspect the project. Template agreements can be found here XX. Sometimes the City and homeowner share maintenance responsibilities for various aspects of the project. 

PHASE II – Community Outreach/Design

Design should be an interactive process involving both the community and the City.  Usually design engineers are tasked to provide 30% and 60% design deliverables for community and regulatory feedback. Feedback at these early stages in the design process helps avoid surprises in the future. These design documents will have increasing detail to include, but not limited to: 

  • Drainage areas to be treated to include off-site drainage areas that may drain to the project areas, 

  • Locations of proposed restoration practices, 

  • Soil and geotechnical information at proposed practice locations, 

  •  Preliminary design calculations in a Stormwater Management Report, 

  •  Details on trees and environmental features such as wetlands, 

  • Right-of-Way requirements and easements, and 

  • Forest Conservation or Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Requirements, as applicable. 


Additional documents that may be required during Phase II are as follows:

  • Public Outreach Plan, 

  • Preliminary right-of-way plats, and

  •  Letter of Intent documents from all property owners impacted by the project from whom right-of-entry agreements will be required for the project.

All Phase II documents should be submitted to the City as a restoration concept project via the CSS portal (link).

PHASE III – Final Design

The applicant will submit 90% Construction Documents via a grading permit application via the CSS self service portal. The following information will be needed as part of the submittal:

  • 90% Design Drawings to include sediment and erosion control plans, 
  • Final stormwater calculations, 
  • Details on trees and environmental features,
  • Right-of-Way requirements and easements, 
  • Documentation of submission to the State of Maryland and any other regulatory Agency reviews as applicable, 
  • Forest Conservation or Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Commission concurrence,
  • Finalized Agreement,
  • Performance bond estimates, and 
  • Other permit requirements as applicable.   

PHASE IV – Permit Issuance and Construction 

In order to receive a Grading Permit the applicant’s contractor will be required to submit:

  1. Grading Permit application; 
  2. Final permit set;
  3. Surety bond in the name of the contractor performing the work; and 
  4. Required approvals from regulatory agencies, boards, commissions.

The construction will begin after a pre-construction meeting with City Sediment and Erosion Control Inspectors. It is in all parties’ best interest to have free and open communication during this phase of the project.

Coordination shall occur: 

  • During stakeout (Boundary, SWM BMP),
  • When/if field conditions necessitate changes, 
  • When/if there are ESC deficiencies, and 
  • When/if schedules are impacted.

PHASE V - Post-Construction & Closeout

The following information will be needed as part of the Project Closeout Submittal:

  • As builts prepared to City standards once project work has been completed. Guidance on As-builts can be found here. Be sure to budget for as-builts when computing your project budget. 
  • All ESC and pertinent project records.
  • PW final grading inspection.
  • If all requirements have been met and the project is built to plan specifications as approved by the City, the project bond is released by the Department of Planning & Zoning.
  • Post construction monitoring and maintenance begins.