All words used in this chapter shall have their customary meanings as defined in Webster's New World Dictionary and/or Rainwater and Land Development1, except those specifically defined in this section.
(1) "Allowable rate" is the rate at which storm water flows are permitted to be discharged from a development site.
(2) "Applicant" means the owner and/or developer of a property applying for approval for a new development or redevelopment site.
(3) "Approval authority" means an official, organization, or group designated to review and approve/disapprove all plan and calculation submittals for new development and redevelopment sites, including storm water pollution prevention plans (SWP3).
(4) "Authorized agent" means a City official, organization, or group of designated representatives to provide technical guidance in the development, implementation and enforcement of these regulations and to review and approve/disapprove all plans and calculation submittals for new development and redevelopment sites.
1 Rainwater and Land Development: Ohio's Standards for Storm water Management, Land Development and Urban Stream Protection. Second Edition, 1996. Ohio Department of Natural Resources, as amended.
(5) "Buffer" means a designated transition area around water resources or wetlands that is left in a natural, usually vegetated, state so as to protect the water resources or wetlands from runoff pollution. Construction activities in this area are restricted or prohibited.
(6) "Critical storm" means a storm which is calculated by means of the percentage increase in volume of runoff by a proposed earth disturbing activity or development area. The critical storm shall be controlled both to be equal to or less than the pre-development peak runoff rate for a twenty-four hour one year frequency storm and is used to calculate the maximum allowable storm water discharge rate from a site.
(7) "Cut" means an excavation. The difference between a point on the original grade and a designated point of lower elevation on the final grade.
(8) "Detention basin" is a dry impoundment area created by constructing an embankment, excavating a pit, or both, for the purpose of temporarily storing stormwater so that storm water flows are released at a rate equal to or less than the pre-development peak rate, until the basin is dry.
(9) "Detention facility" is a detention basin or alternative structure designed to temporarily store stormwater runoff and gradually release the stored water at a controlled rate, until the facility is dry.
(10) "Development area" means any contiguous area owned by one person or operated as one development unit included within the scope of these regulations, upon which earth-disturbing activities are planned or underway.
(11) "Earth-disturbing activity" means any grading, excavation, filling, or other alteration of the earth's surface where natural or man-made ground cover is destroyed and which may result in or contribute to erosion and sediment pollution except that such term shall not apply to agricultural activities.
(12) "Erosion" means the wearing away of soils by the action of water and/or wind.
(13) "Fill" means any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other material is placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported or moved to a new location above the natural surface of the ground or on top of the stripped surface and shall include the resulting grade conditions. The difference in elevation between a point on the original ground and a designated point of higher elevation on the final grade.
(14) "Home septic treatment system (HSTS)" is a residential underground system in which waste matter is treated through bacterial action.
(15) "Illicit connection" is any manmade conveyance, other than the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) connecting an illicit discharge directly to the MS4.
(16) "Illicit discharge" is any discharge that is not composed entirely of storm water except discharges authorized by a State or Federal NPDES permit and those described in Section 1454.04(b).
(17) "Impervious area" means any land area covered by buildings, pavement or other materials that prevent stormwater from penetrating the soil.
(18) "Infiltration basin" is an impoundment area created by constructing an embankment, excavating a pit, or both, for the purpose of temporarily storing stormwater until such time as stormwater infiltrates into the ground until the basin is dry.
(19) "Infiltration facility" is an infiltration basin or alternative structure designed to temporarily store storm water runoff until it gradually infiltrates into the ground and the facility is dry.
(20) "Major waterways" means a waterway with a tributary drainage area in excess of four square miles and/or studied by FEMA.
(21) "Minor waterways" means a waterway with a tributary drainage area of one square mile or less and/or studied by FEMA.
(22) "Municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4)" means all stormwater conveyances and structural controls including, but not limited to municipal streets, catch basins, manholes, dry wells (outside the Wellfield protection area), curbs, gutters, ditches, storm drains, storm sewer pipes, drive pipes, bridges, culverts, man-made channels, natural channels, detention basins, retention basins and infiltration basins, overflow weirs, orifice plates and other similar facilities owned by the City, which are designed or used for collecting, controlling or conveying storm water.
(23) "New development" means performance of construction activities on a vacant parcel of land for the use of new buildings and public/private infrastructure, including but not limited to roadways, sidewalks and utilities, parking lots, etc.
(24) "Non-structural controls" means stormwater runoff control and treatment techniques that use natural measures to control runoff and/or reduce pollution levels, and do not require extensive construction efforts and do promote runoff control and/or pollutant reduction by eliminating the runoff and/or pollutant source. Examples include, but are not limited to minimizing impervious area, buffer strips along streams, and preserving natural vegetation.
(25) "Parcel" means any legally described piece of land created by a partition, subdivision, deed or other instrument recorded with the appropriate entity or agency.
(26) "Peak rate of runoff' means the maximum rate of runoff for any twenty-four hour storm of a given frequency.
(27) "Pre-development conditions" are site conditions as they existed prior to the proposed alterations and/or earth disturbing activities.
(28) "Re-development" means performance of demolitions and/or construction activities on a used parcel of land for the use of new/expanded buildings and public/private infrastructure, including but not limited to roadways, sidewalks, utilities and parking lots, etc.
(29) "Retention basin" is a wet impoundment area created by constructing an embankment, excavating a pit, or both, for the purpose of temporarily storing storm water so that stormwater flows are released at a rate equal to or less than the pre-development peak rate, until the water level is lowered to the normal pool elevation.
(30) "Retention facility" is a retention basin or alternative structure designed to temporarily hold stormwater runoff and gradually release the stormwater at a controlled release rate until the water reaches a normal pool elevation.
(31) "Secondary waterway" is a waterway with a tributary drainage area of between one and four square miles and/or studied by FEMA.
(32) "Sediment" means materials, such as soils, which are deposited by water or wind through erosion.
(33) "Sediment basin" is an impoundment area usually created by constructing a barrier, dam or other facility to reduce the velocity of water in order to settle and retain sediment.
(34) "Sedimentation" means the process through which materials, such as soils, are formed and deposited.
(35) "Site development plan (SDP)" is the written document and/or set of plans meeting the requirements of this chapter that provides information on the location of the area proposed for development, the site in relation to its general surroundings, and existing characteristics of the site, including limits of earth disturbing activities.
(36) "Steep slope" is a slope over fifteen percent grade, which is characterized by increased runoff, erosion and sediment hazards.
(37) "Stop-work order" is an order issued which requires that all work on the site must cease except work associated with bringing the site into compliance with the approved SDP, SMP and/or SWP3.
(38) "Stormwater management plan (SMP)" is the document meeting the requirements of this chapter that sets forth the plans and practices to be used to minimize storm water runoff from a site and to safely convey or temporarily store and release post-development storm water runoff at an allowable rate to minimize flooding and erosion.
(39) "Storm water pollution prevention plan (SWP3)" is the document required by the Ohio EPA for compliance with its NPDES Construction Activity General Permit #OHC000002. The requirements of the SWP3 are also required as part of the SMP as described above and in this chapter.
(40) "Storm frequency" is the average period of time in years within which a storm of a given duration and intensity can be expected to be equaled or exceeded.
(41) "Stormwater" means any water flow created by a storm event that collects and runs off a site such as rain runoff, snow melt runoff, ice melt runoff or flooding. Stormwater can exist as surface drainage/runoff via overland flows, subsurface drainage/runoff through storm sewer pipes or open channel flow through natural or man-made drainage channels.
(42) "Structural controls" are any man-made facility, structure, or device that is constructed to provide temporary storage and/or treatment of storm water runoff. Examples include, but are not limited to detention basins, infiltration basins, retention basins, rock check dams, swales, and constructed wetlands.
(43) "Swale" is a low lying stretch of vegetated land which gathers and carries surface water.
(44) "Temporary vegetation" means short term vegetative cover such as oats, rye, or wheat, or other grasses used to stabilize the soil surface until final grading and installation of permanent vegetation.
(45) "Watercourse" means any natural or artificial waterway (including, but not limited to, streams, rivers, creeks, ditches, channels, canals, conduits, culverts, drains, waterways, gullies, ravines, or washes) in which waters flow in a definite direction or course either continuously or intermittently and including any area adjacent thereto which is subject to inundation by reason of overflow of flood waters.
(Ord. 30-08. Passed 11-11-08.)