Permeable Resin-Bound Surfacing in St. Paul, MN

City standards, watershed district rules and which applies to you

Two watershed districts cover most of the city and have run joint stormwater rules since 2006. Where the Capitol Region or Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District requires a permit, the applicant must get the district permit before any City permit is issued. In the Mississippi WMO and Lower Mississippi River WMO areas, the City does the permitting itself under its Design Standards.

The City's thresholds: land disturbance over a quarter acre (10,890 square feet) that triggers site plan review needs a Stormwater Management Plan, rate control and erosion control; construction activity of an acre or more adds volume reduction of 1.1 inches over new and fully reconstructed impervious surfaces, plus water quality. Capitol Region, amended effective September 13, 2023, also requires 1.1 inches over new and reconstructed impervious surfaces on projects disturbing one acre or more, and on some smaller sites next to wetlands, streams or public waters, and it is under those rules that a permeable section can be considered for credit.

Bluffs, karst and the river: what limits infiltration here

St. Paul's Design Standards prohibit infiltration in a long list of places that are common in this city: within 1,000 feet up-gradient or 100 feet down-gradient of active karst features, with less than 3 feet of separation to seasonally saturated soil or bedrock, in predominantly clay soils, where contamination could be mobilized, and anywhere infiltration could undermine bluff lines, steep slopes or levees. The standards also map No Infiltration Zones.

Along the Mississippi bluffs and near the levees, a permeable resin-bound surface would need a lined, underdrained base and would serve mainly as a durable, quick-draining finish. Long winters, deep frost and de-icing salt shape the rest of the brief: the engineer should size the open-graded base for frost and plan winter care that keeps sand out of the voids.

Where permeable resin-bound still makes sense in St. Paul

• Capitol Region projects, such as redevelopment along the University Avenue corridor or near Como Lake, where the district's rules list permeable pavement as an infiltration area. Ask both the district and the City early whether a resin-bound section can count toward the 1.1 inches.
• College and hospital campus plazas wanting accessible, quick-draining walks alongside the stormwater practices that carry the credit.
• Residential patios and garden paths below permit thresholds, where owners simply want water to soak in on suitable soil.
• Bluff-top terraces as a lined, underdrained finish where infiltration is off the table.

Owners who only want to refresh a sound slab, with no stormwater goal, should look at our St. Paul concrete resurfacing page instead.

Review steps, and how Resin Rock supports the project

Start with the watershed: confirm with Capitol Region or Ramsey-Washington Metro whether a district permit is needed, and ask early how the district wants a permeable section modeled. Then the City's site plan review, run with Public Works and Safety and Inspections, checks the plan against the Design Standards before a building permit is released.

Resin Rock ships binder, stone blends, trims and Rock Crete permeable sub-base to St. Paul and provides the documentation engineers need. We connect owners with approved installers and train new crews through our Minnesota installer training.