For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meaning herein indicated:
(a) "City." Throughout this chapter, this shall refer to the City of Mentor-on-the- Lake or its designated representatives, boards, or commissions.
(b) "Damaged or diseased trees." Trees that have split trunks; broken tops; heart rot; insect or fungus problems that will lead to imminent death; undercut root systems that put the tree in imminent danger of falling; lean as a result of root failure that puts the tree in imminent danger of falling; or any other condition that puts the tree in imminent danger of being uprooted or falling into or along a watercourse or on to a structure.
(c) "Designated watercourse." A watercourse within the City that is in conformity with the criteria set forth in this chapter.
(d) "Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)." The agency with overall responsibility for administering the National Flood Insurance Program.
(e) "Impervious cover." Any paved, hardened, or structural surface regardless of its composition including but not limited to buildings, roads, driveways, parking lots, loading/unloading areas, decks patios, and swimming pools.
(f) "Noxious weed." Any plant species defined by the Ohio Department of Agriculture as a "noxious weed" and listed as such by the Department. For the purposes of this chapter, the most recent version of this list at the time of application of this chapter shall prevail.
(g) "100-year floodplain." Any land susceptible to being inundated by water from a base flood. The base flood is the flood that has a one percent or greater chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
(h) "Ohio Environmental Protection Agency." Referred throughout this chapter as the "Ohio EPA."
(i) "Ordinary high water mark." The point of the bank to which the presence and action of surface water is so continuous as to leave a district marked by erosion, destruction or prevention of woody terrestrial vegetation, predominance of aquatic vegetation, or other easily recognized characteristic. The ordinary high water mark defines the bed of a watercourse.
(j) "Riparian area." Naturally vegetated land adjacent to watercourses that, if appropriately sized, helps to stabilize streambanks, limit erosion, reduce flood size flows, and/or filter and settle out runoff pollutants, or performs other functions consistent with the purposes of this chapter.
(k) "Riparian setback." The real property adjacent to a designated watercourse located in the area defined by the criteria set forth in this chapter.
(l) "Soil and Water Conservation District." An entity organized under Ohio R.C. Chapter 1515 referring to either the Soil and Water Conservation District Board or its designated employee(s), hereinafter referred to as Lake SWCD.
(m) "Soil disturbing activity." Clearing, grading, excavating, filling, or other alteration of the earth's surface where natural or human-made ground cover is destroyed and which may result in, or contribute to, erosion and sediment pollution.
(n) "Substantial damage." Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would be equal to, or would exceed, 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
(o) "Watercourse." Any brook, channel, creek, river, or stream having banks, a defined bed, and a definite direction of flow, either continuously or intermittently flowing.
(p) "Wetland." Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, including swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. (40 CFR 232, as amended).
(Ord.2004-O-21. Passed 11-9-04.)