(a) An adequate utility easement conveyed to the City that provides access for City personnel shall be required along any tile, pipe, detention basin, drainage way, flood routing path, ditch, watercourse, natural stream, man-made stream, storm sewer or any other watercourse deemed necessary by the Administrator which is not already within the street right-of-way. The easement shall be of sufficient width to allow cleaning, widening, deepening, replacing or other general maintenance of such drainage course or piped system. Dimensions of required easements are defined in the City of Grandview Heights Regulations Section 1109.04.
(b) When it is necessary to convey stormwater outside the property lines of a proposed improved area in order to discharge into an adequate outlet, the Developer:
(1) Shall be responsible to obtain easements and/or maintenance agreements, in a form and substance satisfactory to the Administrator, from abutting property owners,
(2) Shall remain responsible for maintenance agreements of such drainage course unless the easements and/or maintenance agreements require the abutting property owners to repair and maintain the drainage course satisfactorily.
(3) All drainage easements, preservation areas, reserves and other similar areas shall be shown on the "final engineering and construction plan(s)". Drainage easements for all on-site drainage system improvements shall be recorded for public use by final plat. For off-site drainage systems improvements, easements should be recorded for public use by either final plat or separate instrument. The maintenance of such drainage easements shall be undertaken in the manner set forth in subsection (b)(4) below.
(4) The Administrator, or his/her designee, is hereby authorized to inspect such drainage easement areas and if the Administrator determines that maintenance is needed, the Administrator shall notify the property owner whose property requires maintenance and/or any other parties who, in the sole determination of the Administrator, directly benefit from such easement. The manner in which notice of the required maintenance, and the carrying out thereof, shall be as follows:
A. The Administrator shall cause written notice to be served on the property owner and/or any other parties benefiting from the easement notifying such parties that maintenance of the drainage course is necessary and that a contract with a contractor acceptable to the Administrator for such repair and maintenance must be delivered to the Administrator within fourteen (14) days of the notice. The notice shall be served upon the property owner and/or benefited parties at the tax billing address for such premises reflected upon the records of the Franklin County Auditor. Service shall be accomplished by any means permitted for service of summons under the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure. Each property affected by such notice shall also be posted with such notice by the Administrator.
B. In those instances where the address of the owner is unknown, it shall be sufficient to publish a notice once a week in a newspaper of general circulation in Franklin County, Ohio setting forth the substance of the notice and time frame for compliance. The time frame for compliance shall be no less than fourteen (14) days after the publication.
C. If the property owner and/or benefiting parties fail to comply with the notice, the City shall cause such repairs, replacement, maintenance and abatement procedures to be implemented as determined appropriate by the Administrator. The cost of such repair, replacement, abatement and other procedures deemed appropriate by the Administrator shall be immediately due and payable to the City in the amounts and in the proportions determined by the Administrator. Additionally, the Administrator may assess an administrative fee as the Administrator deems appropriate against all benefiting property owners or benefiting parties in an amount not to exceed fifty percent (50%) of cost of such repair, replacement, abatement and other procedures, as determined by the City's Engineer. Such cost shall be reimbursed to the City by all benefiting property owners or benefiting parties in an amount equally apportioned amongst each respective property owner, for each instance where a notice is served under this section. The cost and administrative fee shall be due and payable within thirty (30) days after the same are assessed.
D. If any fees or costs remain unpaid for a period in excess of thirty (30) days, in addition to any other remedy available to the City, the City may authorize placement of a lien on the real estate to be certified to the Franklin County Auditor in the amount assessed together with interest thereon from the date of such certification at the then existing rate for payment of judgments in the State of Ohio. Such interest shall continue on an annualized basis until paid.
E. Any owner or benefiting party aggrieved by an action(s) of the Administrator under this section may take an appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals within (30) days of the date service of notice of such action upon the property owner and/or benefiting party.
(c) Waivers.
(1) It is conceivable that development situations may exist such that development will have none of the harmful effects associated with increases in runoff rates and volume. Such developments are eligible for a waiver. The waiver applies only to the requirement that runoff be controlled, and does not in any way imply a relaxation in the requirement for adequate on-site drainage or the ability to accept runoff from land tributary to the development.
(2) The waiver applicant must request in writing that said requirements for stormwater runoff control be waived. The application shall include sufficient technical detail to determine that granting a waiver will not result in increased flooding and that the added volume of runoff will not damage the receiving stream or system.
(3) A condition of the waiver shall be that any addition, extension, or modification of a development for which a waiver has been granted shall be required to provide stormwater runoff control for the entire site if preceding limitations are exceeded by subsequent additions, extensions, or modifications.
(4) The following land uses and developments are eligible to apply for a waiver on stormwater runoff control requirements contained in this Policy:
A. Single family residential developments:
Min. Lot Size | Max. Subdivision Size |
1 acre | 19 acres |
1/2 acre | 5 acres |
15,000 square feet | 2 acres |
B. Multi-family residential developments which total one acre or less.
C. Buildings, their related parking lots, and structures where one acre or less is to be altered by grading, draining, removing existing ground cover, or paving; and of which ½ acre or less will be impervious areas, such as roofs, walks, and parking areas.
D. Situations where existing and adequate off-site stormwater runoff control facilities provide the required control. However, this shall not be construed to imply the first development requesting use shall have full use of available capacity. Rather, such waiver may grant a proportional use of available storage capacity to ensure that later developments have a similar opportunity to utilize a portion of the storage capacity.
E. Development areas immediately abutting Blacklick Creek, Big Walnut Creek and Little Walnut Creek, on which surface watershed flows directly into these streams' channels.
(5) All waiver applications shall be submitted to the Administrator. The application shall be reviewed by the City's Engineer, who shall review the application for technical accuracy and competence. The Administrator shall be responsible for approving or denying the application.
(Ord. 09-04. Passed 2-16-09.)