For the purposes of this chapter, certain rules of word usage apply to the text as follows:
(a) Words used in the present tense include the future tense; and the singular includes the plural, unless the context clearly indicates the contrary.
(b) The term "shall" is always mandatory and is not discretionary; the word "may" is permissive.
(c) The word or term not interpreted or defined by this article or otherwise defined in City of Groveport Codified Ordinances, shall be used with a meaning of common or standard utilization, so as to give the regulation its most reasonable application.
(1) Applicant: Any person submitting an erosion and sediment control plan for approval or requesting the issuance of a permit, when required, authorizing land-disturbing activities to commence.
(2) Approving Agent: The governing body of the City of Groveport or its duly designated representative being the Administrator.
(3) Best Management Practices: (BMP's) means schedules of activities, prohibition of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of waters. BMP's also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control construction site runoff, spillage or leaks, or drainage from material storage.
(4) Channel: A natural stream that conveys water; a ditch excavated and/or constructed for the flow of water.
(5) Clearing: The clearing, grubbing, scraping, scalping, removal of trees and stumps, and removing and disposing of vegetation and debris within the site, and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom.
(6) Construction: The erection, alteration, repair, renovation, demolition or removal of any building or structure; and the clearing, stripping, excavating, filling, grading, and regulation of sites with connection therewith.
(7) Denude: The act of stripping, scraping, and/or scalping a site of vegetation, thus exposing bare soil.
(8) Detention: The capture, collection, and subsequent slow release of stormwater runoff; the primary purpose of which is to mitigate increases in stormwater runoff rates, providing protection, whether complete or partial, to down-slope areas, from the adverse effects of increased runoff rates. This can be accomplished through the use of a stormwater management facility, including, but not limited to one or more of the following methods:
A. Dry Detention: A basin or storage area, generally man-made, that is designed to normally drain completely between storm events.
B. Wet Detention: A basin or storage area, generally man-made, that is designed to drain down to a level that is normally wetted; that is, to a normal pool level, below which there is no outlet other than through infiltration into the ground. These facilities do not normally drain completely dry.
(9) Developer: Any individual, subdivider, firm, association, syndicate, partnership, corporation, trust, or any other legal entity commencing proceedings under these regulations to effect the development of land for himself or for another.
(10) Development: Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations.
(11) Development area: Any contiguous (abutting) area owned by one person or developed as a single phase or multiple phases (units) and used or being developed or redeveloped, for non-farm commercial, industrial, residential, or other non-farm purposes upon which earth-disturbing/land-disturbance activities are planned or underway.
(12) Ditch: An open channel with intermittent flow, either man-made or natural, for the purpose of drainage or irrigation. (See also channel and stream.)
(13) Dumping: Grading, pushing, piling, throwing, unloading, or placing of fill material, composed of earth, soil, rock, sand, gravel, or demolition material.
(14) Earth-Disturbing Activity: Any grading, excavating, 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.
(15) Erosion:
A. The wearing away of the land surface by running water, wind, ice or other geological agents, including such processes as gravitational creep.
B. Detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by wind, water, ice, or gravity.
C. Erosion includes:
1. Accelerated Erosion: Erosion much more rapid than normal, natural or geologic erosion, primarily as a result of the influence of the activities of man.
2. Floodplain Erosion: Abrading and wearing away of the nearly level land situation on either side of a channel due to overflow flooding.
3. Gully Erosion: A type of erosion caused by water accumulating in narrow channels and over short periods during and immediately after rainfall or snow or ice melt activity, which removes soil such that channels become considerably deeper than what would otherwise result by normal smoothing or tilling operations.
4. Natural (Geological) Erosion: The wearing away of the earth's surface by water, ice or other natural agents under natural environmental conditions of climate, vegetation, etc., undisturbed by man.
5. Normal Erosion: The gradual erosion of land used by man which does not greatly exceed natural erosion.
6. Rill Erosion: An erosion process in which numerous small channels only several inches deep are formed; occurs mainly on recently disturbed soils.
7. Sheet Erosion: The removal of a fairly uniform layer of soil from the land surface by wind or runoff water.
8. Stream Bank Erosion: Erosion of the stream bank or channel bottom due to the high velocity of flow within the stream.
(16) Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (Plan): A written description, in graphical and descriptive terms, subject to review and approval by the approving agency, of methods and Best Management Practices (BMPs) for controlling erosion and sediment pollution from accelerated erosion of development areas of one or more contiguous acres, or less than one acre and being part of a larger common plan of development of one acre or greater subject to regulation by the most current version of the Ohio EPA Construction General Permit.
(17) Exemption: Those activities that are not subject to the erosion and sediment control requirements contained in this regulation.
(18) Final Stabilization: Means that either:
A. All soil disturbing activities at construction sites have been completed, and that a uniform perennial vegetative cover with a density of at least seventy percent (70%) cover for the disturbed area has been established on all unpaved areas and areas not covered by permanent structures or equivalent stabilization measures (such as the use of mulches, rip-rap, gabions or geotextiles) have been employed. In addition, all temporary erosion and sediment control practices are removed and disposed of and all trapped sediment is permanently stabilized to prevent further erosion; or
B. For individual lots in residential construction by either:
1. The homebuilder has completed final stabilization as specified above, or
2. The homebuilder has established temporary stabilization including perimeter controls for an individual lot prior to occupation of the home by the homeowner and the homeowner has been informed of the need, benefits, and responsibility to complete final stabilization as timely as possible.
(19) Finished Grade: The final grade or elevation of the ground surface conforming to the site grading plan.
(20) First Order Stream: Means all streams identified on a U.S.G.S. 7.5 minute topographic map by either a dashed or a solid blue line.
(21) Grading: The stripping, cutting, filling, stockpiling, or any combination thereof of earth disturbing activities, including land in its cut or filled conditions.
(22) Grubbing: Any activity which removes or significantly disturbs the root matter within the ground.
(23) Hazard: Any danger to public health, welfare and safety including exposure to risk or damage to property or liability for personal injury; or risk of harm to land, air or water resulting in environmental degradation. Hazards can include flooding and ponding, compaction and settling, landslides, earthquakes, toxic chemicals, radiation, fire and disease.
(24) Land-Disturbing Activities: Any land change that may result in soil erosion from water or wind and the movement of sediment into waters or onto lands, including but not limited to, clearing, grading, excavating, transporting and filling of land, except that the term shall not include:
A. Minor land-disturbing activities such as home gardens and individual home landscaping, repairs, and maintenance work;
B. Individual service connections:
C. Installation, maintenance or repair of any underground public utility lines when such activity occurs on an existing hard surfaced road, street or sidewalk (provided the land-disturbing activity is confined to the area of the road, street or sidewalk that is hard surfaced), and does not involve dewatering operations that produce sediment-laden effluent discharging to surface-lands and/or surface-waters;
D. Septic tank lines or drainage fields, unless included in an overall plan for land-disturbing activity relating to the construction of the building to be served by the septic tank system;
E. Tilling, planting or harvesting of agricultural, horticultural, or forest crops or livestock feedlot operations; including soil conservation operations related to agriculture as follows: construction of terraces, terrace outlets, check dams, desilting basins, dikes, ponds, ditches, strip cropping, lister furrowing, contour cultivating, contour furrowing, and land drainage and land irrigation which does not cause an increase in storm water runoff and does not exacerbate erosion and sedimentation;
F. Repair or rebuilding of the tracks with-in the right-of-way of a railroad company;
G. Emergency work to protect life, limb or property and emergency repairs; however, if the land-disturbing activity would have required an approved erosion and sediment control plan, if the activity were not an emergency, then the land area disturbed shall be shaped and stabilized in accordance with the requirements of the City of Groveport.
(25) "Larger common plan of development or sale"- means a contiguous area where multiple separate and distinct construction activities may be taking place at different times on different schedules under one plan.
(26) Mulching: The application of suitable materials on the soil surface to conserve moisture, hold soil in place, and aid in establishing plant cover.
(27) Nuisance: A public nuisance as known by common law or in equity jurisprudence.
(28) One-hundred-year floodplain: Any land area which is susceptible to being inundated by water caused by a flood event having a one percent (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
(29) Operator: means any party associated with a construction project that meets either of the following two criteria:
A. The party has day-to-day operational control of all activities at a project which are necessary to ensure compliance with the Development Site Erosion and Sediment Control Plan and the Stormwater Pollution Prevention (SWPPP) Plan if required by the most current version of the Ohio EPA Construction General Permit and all its permit conditions including the ability to authorize modifications to the Plan, construction plans and site specification to ensure compliance to the Ohio EPA General Permit, or
B. Property owner meets the definition of operator should the party which has day to day operational control require additional authorization from the owner for modifications to the SWPPP, construction plans, and/or site specification to ensure compliance to the General Permit.
(30) Owner: The person in whom is vested the fee ownership, dominion, or title of property, i.e., the proprietor. The word "owner", when applied to property, shall include any part-owner or joint-owner of the whole or any part of such property.
(31) Permanent Stabilization: The establishment of permanent vegetation, decorative landscape mulching, matting, sod, rip rap and landscaping techniques to provide permanent erosion control on areas where construction operations are complete or where no further disturbance is expected for at least one year.
(32) Permittee: Any person who meets the definition of a Developer, Owner or Operator to whom approval of an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan according and pursuant to this standard is granted, or who is subject to inspection under it.
(33) Plan: As used in this regulation, "Plan" shall mean the Erosion and Sediment Control Plan.
(34) Pollution: The man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, or radiological integrity of air and water resources.
(35) Public Waters: Those waters within lakes (except private ponds and lakes on single properties), rivers, streams, ditches, and/or waters leaving property on which surface water originates.
(36) Retention: The collection and storage of stormwater runoff without subsequent discharge other than through infiltration into the ground, or evaporation.
(37) Runoff: The portion of rainfall, melted snow or irrigation water that flows across the ground surface and eventually is returned to streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds.
A. Accelerated Runoff: Increased rate and volume of runoff due to less permeable surface or reduced time of concentration primarily caused by urbanization.
B. Peak Rate of Runoff: The maximum rate of runoff for any 24-hour storm of a given frequency.
(38) Sediment: Solid material, both mineral and organic, that is or was in suspension, is being or has been transported, or has been moved from its site of origin by air, water, gravity, or ice, and has come to rest on the earth's surface either above or below water.
(39) Sediment Basin: A facility such as a depression storage area, a pond or trap, barrier, dam, or other suitable detention facility built across an area of water-flow to settle and retain sediment carried by surface drainage runoff water.
(40) Site: Any lot or parcel, or a series of lots or parcels of land adjoining or contiguous or joined together under one ownership where clearing, stripping, grading or excavating is performed.
(41) Slip: Landslide: the rapid downward and outward movement of large rock material and/or soil mass under the influence of gravity in which the movement of soil mass occurs along an interior surface of sliding.
(42) Sloughing: A slip or downward movement of an extended layer of soil resulting from the undermining action of water of the earth-disturbing activity of man.
(43) Soil Loss: Soil relocated on or removed from a given site by the forces of erosion and the redeposit of the soil at another site on land or in a body of water.
(44) Stabilization: The prevention of soil movement by any vegetative and/or structural means. See "Permanent Stabilization" and "Temporary Stabilization".
(45) Storm Frequency: The average period of time within which a storm of a given duration and intensity can be expected to be equaled or exceeded.
(46) Storm water (Stormwater): Water runoff resulting from storm events, including snow melt, surface water runoff and drainage.
(47) Stream: A body of water running or flowing on the earth's surface or channel in which such flow occurs. Flow may be seasonally intermittent.
(48) Stripping: Any activity which removes or significantly disturbs the vegetative surface cover.
(49) Subdivision:
(1) The division of any parcel of land shown as a unit or as contiguous units on the last preceding tax roll, into two or more parcels, sites or lots, for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of transfer of ownership; or
(2) The improvement of one or more parcels of land for residential, commercial or industrial structures or groups of structures involving the division or allocation of land for the opening, widening or extension of any street or streets, except private streets serving industrial structures; the division or allocation of land as open spaces for the common use by owners, occupants or lease holders or as easements for the extension of any streets, except private streets serving industrial structures; the division or allocation of land as open spaces for the common use by owners, occupants or lease holders or as easements for the extension and maintenance of public sewer, water, storm drainage or other public facilities.
(50) Temporary Stabilization: The establishment of temporary vegetation, mulching, geotextiles, sod, preservation of existing vegetation and other techniques capable of quickly establishing cover over disturbed areas to provide erosion control between construction operations.
(51) Topsoil: Surface and upper surface soils which presumably are darker colored, fertile soil materials, ordinarily rich in organic matter or humus debris.
(52) Waiver: A permit of conditional exemption from the regulation in part or in whole, as specified by the approving agent, in a formal written statement. A waiver from the regulation shall not be assumed to be in effect, without the expressed written statement from the City of Groveport.
(53) Watercourse: Any natural or artificial waterway (including, but not limited to, streams, rivers, creeks, drainageways, waterways, gullies, ravine, 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 water. (Ord. 19-005. Passed 2-25-19.)