For the purpose of this chapter, certain terms used herein shall be defined as set forth below:
“Agricultural use” means land use consistent with raising of livestock, grain and/or vegetables. Excluded from this definition are the storage of grain for more than one concern, the production of agricultural related chemicals or the commercial slaughter and processing of livestock or meat.
“Applicant” means any person who seeks or is granted storm water management plan approval which is on behalf of and who is a representative of the owner of the project and/or the project site.
“BMP” means See “Storm water best management practices.”
“Board of public works and safety (BPWS)” means the City of Columbus, Indiana Board of Public Works and Safety.
“Building” means a structure having a roof, supported by columns or walls, for the shelter, support or enclosure of persons, property, or animals; either temporary or permanent, having and occupying more than one hundred square feet of area.
“Building permit” means a permit issued by the Bartholomew County Department of Technical Code Enforcement for the construction, erection, or alteration of a structure or building.
“Channel” means a natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and banks that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
“City” means City of Columbus, Indiana.
“Certify” or “certification” means formally attesting that the specific inspections and tests required have been performed by a qualified professional, and that such tests comply with the applicable requirements of this chapter.
“Construction activity” means land alteration associated with the construction of infrastructure and structures. This term does not include routine ditch, road maintenance, or landscaping projects disturbing less than one acre.
“Construction plan” means a representation of a project site and all activities associated with the project. The plan includes the location of the project site, buildings and other infrastructure, grading activities, schedules for implementation, and other pertinent information related to the project site. A storm water pollution prevention plan is a part of the construction plan.
“Developed” or “development” means a land alteration that requires, pursuant to state law or local ordinance, the approval of a site plan, plat, special land use, planned unit development, rezoning of land, land division approval, private road approval or other approvals required for the construction of land or the erection of buildings or structures; provided, however, that for purposes of this chapter only, developed or development shall not include the actual construction of, or an addition, extension or modification to, an individual single-family or a two-family detached dwelling.
“Developer” means any individual, firm, association syndicate, partnership, corporation, trust or any other legal entity initiating land altering activity for himself or for another.
“Development site” means any land that is being or has been developed, or that a developer proposes for development.
“Drainageway” means the area within which surface water or ground water is carried from one part of a lot or property to another part of the lot or property or to adjacent land.
“Engineering department” means the city engineer of the city, a staff member of the engineering department for the city, or a designee of the city engineer of the city.
“Erosion” means the transport of the land surface by the action of wind, water, gravity, or a combination thereof.
“Erosion and sediment control plan” means a plan that is designed to minimize the erosion and sediment runoff caused by construction development activities at a site.
“Erosive flow velocities” means the velocity of storm water where a specific soil type loses its cohesion and becomes unstable thereby being transported by the storm water.
“Excavation” means any act by which organic matter, earth, sand, gravel, rock, or any other similar material is cut into, dug, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced, relocated, or bulldozed and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom.
“Fill” means any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock, or any other material is deposited, placed, replaced, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported, or moved by man to a new location and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom.
“Grading” means excavation or fill or any combination thereof and shall include the conditions resulting from any excavation or fill.
“IDEM” means the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
“Impervious cover” means those surfaces that rainfall cannot effectively infiltrate (for example, building rooftops, pavement, sidewalks, driveways, etc).
“Indiana stormwater quality manual” means the state document used for guidance for means and methods of acceptable erosion and sediment control within the State of Indiana .
“Infiltration” means the process of percolating stormwater into the subsoil.
“Infrastructure” means the roads, bridges, streets, curbs, sidewalks, sanitary and storm sewers, water mains, gas mains, electrical supply lines and communication lines which supply the structures of a development with transportation means and utilities.
“Jurisdictional wetland” means an area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, commonly known as hydrophilic vegetation.
“Land alteration” means any action taken relative to land which either:
1. Removes the natural ground cover; or
2. Changes the existing elevation; or
3. Increases the runoff rate; or
4. Decreases the rate at which water is absorbed; or
5. Changes the drainage pattern; or
6. Creates or changes a drainage facility; or
7. Involves construction, enlargement or location of any building on a permanent foundation; or
8. Creates an impoundment.
9. Land alteration includes (by way of example and not of limitation) terracing, grading, excavating, constructing earthwork, draining, installing drainage tile, filling and paving.
“Land owner” means the legal or beneficial owner of land, including those holding the right to purchase or lease the land, or any other person holding proprietary rights in the land.
“Maintenance agreement” means a legally recorded document that acts as a property deed restriction, and which provides for long-term maintenance of storm water management practices.
“Major amendment” means a change in the project scope that will increase the disturbed area twenty percent or more or extend the construction limits as described in the original permit.
“Major subdivision” means major subdivision as defined in the City of Columbus Subdivision Control Ordinance.
“Minor amendment” means a change in the project scope that will increase the disturbed area less than twenty percent and will not extend the construction limits as described in the original permit.
“Municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4)” means the storm water conveyances (swales, creeks, streams, pipes etc.) through the City of Columbus and is more clearly defined in Indiana Administrative Code (IAC) 327 15-13.
“Nonpoint source pollution” means pollution from any source other than from any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyances, and shall include, but not be limited to, pollutants from agriculture, silviculture, mining, construction, subsurface disposal and urban runoff sources.
“Notice of intent” means a letter that contains the entire applicable Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan, which meets the requirements of IAC 327 15-5-5 for the City of Columbus and the Indiana Stormwater Quality.
“National pollution discharge elimination system (NPDES)” means the law that is a further development of the Clean Water Act, (IAC 327 15).
“Notice of termination (NOT)” letter means a written notification indicating that facility has met the conditions to terminate its permit coverage under rule (IAC 327 15-5 through 1AC 327 15-13).
“Off-site facility” means a stormwater management measure located outside the subject property boundary described in the permit application for land development activity.
“On-site facility” means a stormwater management measure located within the subject property boundary described in the permit application for land development activity.
“Owner” means the person(s) listed in the most recent official records of the township or county assessor.
“Parcel” means a division of property in a single legal description.
“Person” means any individual, firm or corporation, public or private, the State of Indiana and its agencies or political subdivisions, and the United States of America, its agencies and instrumentalities, and the agent, servant, officer, or employee of any of the foregoing.
“Property” means all contiguous land under one ownership.
“Recharge” means the replenishment of underground water reserves.
“Removal” means the cutting to the ground, complete extraction, or killing by spraying of vegetation or stumps.
“Redevelopment” means any construction, alteration or improvement exceeding one acre in area where existing land use is high density commercial, industrial, institutional or multi-family residential.
“Representative” means the authorized representative of the city engineer assigned to make detailed observations of contract performances.
“Sediment” means material, which settles to the bottom of a stream, lake, or along a drainageway.
“Sedimentation” means the deposition or accumulation of sediment.
“Site” means a property where land-altering activity is proposed or taking place.
“Site development” means altering terrain and/or vegetation and constructing improvements.
“Site plan” is an exhibit required to obtain a building permit from the Columbus/Bartholomew County Department of Code Enforcement, also know as a Construction Stake Out drawing or Proposed Plot Plan.
“Storm water management plan approval” means documented confirmation by the City for the construction or alteration of ground improvements and structures for the control of erosion, runoff, and grading.
“Site plan review” means a plan review conducted by the Columbus Bartholomew Planning Department required to obtain a zoning compliance certificate.
“Stormwater best management practices (stormwater BMP's)” means control measures, either structural or nonstructural, that are determined to be the most effective, practical means of preventing or reducing point source or nonpoint source pollution inputs to stormwater runoff and water bodies.
“Stormwater design manual” means the City of Columbus Stormwater Design Manual.
“Stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWP3)” or “stormwater management plan (SWMP)” means a document, which describes the Best Management Practices and activities to be implemented, identifies sources of pollution or contamination at a site, and outlines actions to eliminate or reduce pollutant discharges to stormwater, an MS4, and/or receiving waters to the maximum extent practicable.
“Stormwater runoff” means flow on the surface of the ground, resulting from precipitation.
“Strip development” means a commercial development in which multiple tenants occupy a single site or multiple sites managed by the same owner as a homogeneous development.
“Stripping” means any activity, which removes the vegetative surface cover including tree removal, clearing, and storage or removal of topsoil.
“Structure” means any construction that provides protection from weather for the human activities of work, storage, habitation, or recreation.
“Ultra-urban” means metropolitan areas of the city where space for stormwater BMP implementation is limited. Ultra-urban areas are characterized by high densities of paved surfaces or buildings that result in a high degree of imperviousness. Buildings, parking facilities, urban streets, highways, or walkways cover a majority of the land area, with imperviousness typically greater than fifty percent in ultra-urban areas, and up to 100 percent in some cases. These impervious surfaces can provide an effective environment to collect and accumulate constituents from atmospheric deposition, vehicular traffic, or other sources. Figure 1 illustrates these changes in runoff resulting from increased impervious area. High runoff conditions efficiently transport many water quality constituents. Several factors have been identified as major influences on the types of constituents and their concentrations in urban runoff. Among these are site-specific characteristics, such as land use practices. Ultra-urban areas typically contain higher population densities. These areas exhibit high levels of trash and debris, which tend to clog stormwater control structures arid pollute receiving streams. In addition, the pets of the people living in ultra-urban areas are a potential concern since they deposit fecal matter in the urban environment. This fecal matter is washed off during storm events and contributes pathogenic bacteria to stormwater runoff.
“Water quality volume (WQv)” means the storage needed to capture and treat the runoff from the first one-inch of rainfall.
“Unimproved lot” means a lot that has infrastructure brought close enough to its boundary that could allow structures to be built for human work, storage, habitation, or recreation and has not been improved with structures for human work, storage, habitation, or recreation.
“Work day” means a calendar day, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and City recognized holidays.
(Ord. 08-29, 2008)