As used in this chapter:
(a) APPROVING AUTHORITY: The official responsible for administering the applicable program(s).
(b) BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE (BMP): Means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures and other management practices (both structural and non-structural) to prevent or reduce the pollution of surface waters of the State. BMP's also include treatment requirements, operating procedures and practices to control plant and/or construction site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal or drainage from raw material storage.
(c) CITY: Shall mean the City of Middleburg Heights and its designated representatives.
(d) CONSERVATION: The wise use and management of natural resources.
(e) 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; leaning 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.
(f) DEVELOPMENT AREA: Any tract, lot, or parcel of land, or combination of tracts, lots or parcels of land, which are in one ownership, or are contiguous and in diverse ownership, where earth-disturbing activity is to be performed.
(g) DUMPING: The grading, pushing, piling, throwing, unloading or placing of soil or other material.
(h) EARTH DISTURBING ACTIVITY: Any grading, excavating, filling, or other alteration of the earth's surface where natural or man-made ground cover is destroyed.
(i) EROSION: The process by which the land surface is worn away by the action of water, wind, ice or gravity.
(j) EXISTING: In existence at the time of the passage of this ordinance and these regulations.
(k) FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA): The agency with overall responsibility for administering the National Flood Insurance Program.
(l) GRADING: Earth disturbing activity such as excavation, stripping, cutting, filling, stockpiling, or any combination thereof.
(m) IMPERVIOUS C OVER: Any surface that cannot effectively absorb or infiltrate water. This includes roads, streets, parking lots, rooftops, and sidewalks.
(n) INTERMITTENT STREAM: A natural channel that may have some water in pools but where surface flows are non-existent or interstitial (flowing through sand and gravel in stream beds) for periods of one week or more during typical summer months.
(o) LARGER COMMON PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT OR SALE: A contiguous area where multiple separate and distinct construction activities may be taking place at different times on different schedules under one plan.
(p) NATIONAL WETLANDS INVENTORY MAP: Wetland maps that were created by the Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Department of Interior.
(q) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS): An agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS).
(r) NPDES PERMIT: A National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit issued by Ohio EPA under the authority of the USEPA, and derived from the Federal Clean Water Act.
(s) 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 regulation, the most recent version of this list at the time of application of these regulations shall prevail.
(t) OHIO EPA: The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
(u) OHIO WETLANDS INVENTORY MAP: Wetland maps that were created by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
(v) ORDINARY HIGH WATER MARK: Means that line on the shore established by the fluctuations of water and indicated by physical characteristics such as clean, natural line impressed on the bank, shelving, changes in the character or soil, destruction of terrestrial vegetation, the presence of litter and debris, or other appropriate means that consider the characteristics of the surrounding areas.
(w) PERSON: Any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, agency, unincorporated association, municipal corporation, township, county, state agency, the federal government, or any combination thereof.
(x) PERENNIAL STREAM: A natural channel that contains water throughout the year, except possibly during periods of extreme drought.
(y) PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER: A person registered in the State of Ohio as a Professional Engineer, with specific education and experience in water resources engineering.
(z) QUALIFIED FORESTER: Any forester employed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, or any person attaining the credential of Certified Forester as conferred by the Society of American Foresters.
(aa) QUALIFIED WETLAND PROFESSIONAL means an individual competent in the areas of botany, hydric soils, and wetland hydrology, and is acceptable to the City of Middleburg Heights Engineer.
(bb) REDEVELOPMENT: The demolition or removal of existing structures or land uses and construction of new ones.
(cc) RETENTION BASIN: A storm water management pond that maintains a permanent pool of water. These storm water management ponds include a properly engineered/designed volume dedicated to the temporary storage and slow release of runoff waters.
(dd) RIPARIAN SETBACK: Means the transition area between flowing water and terrestrial (land) ecosystems composed or if composed of trees, shrubs, and surrounding vegetation serve to stabilize erodible soil, improve both surface and ground water quality, increase stream shading, enhance wildlife habitat or perform other functions consistent with the purposes of these regulations. Those lands within the City of Middleburg Heights which are alongside streams, and which fall within the area defined by the criteria set forth in these regulations.
(ee) SEDIMENT: Solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in suspension, is being transported, or has been moved from its site of origin by wind, water, gravity or ice, and has come to rest on the earth's surface either on dry land or in a body of water.
(ff) SEDIMENT CONTROL: The limiting of sediment being transported, by controlling erosion or detaining sediment-laden water, and allowing the sediment to settle out.
(gg) SEDIMENT POLLUTION: A failure to use management or conservation practices to control wind or water erosion of the soil and to minimize the degradation of water resources by soil sediment in conjunction with land grading, excavating, filling, or other soil disturbing activities on land used or being developed, for commercial, industrial, residential, or other purposes.
(hh) SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE, USDA: The federal agency now titled the "Natural Resources Conservation Service," which is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.
(ii) 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, soil erosion and sediment pollution.
(kk) SOIL EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PRACTICES: Conservation measures used to control sediment pollution and including structural practices, vegetative practices and management techniques.
(ll) SOIL SURVEY: The official soil survey produced by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA in cooperation with the Division of Soil and Water Conservation, ODNR and the local Board of County Commissioners.
(mm) STORM WATER CONVEYANCE SYSTEM: All storm sewers, channels, streams, ponds, lakes, etc., used for conveying concentrated storm water runoff, or for storing storm water runoff.
(nn) STREAM: A surface watercourse with a well-defined bed and bank, either natural or artificial, which confines and conducts continuous or periodical flowing water in such a way that terrestrial vegetation cannot establish roots within the channel.
(oo) USEPA: The United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(pp) WATER RESOURCES: All streams, lakes, ponds, wetlands, water courses, waterways, drainage systems, and all other bodies or accumulations of surface water, either natural or artificial, which are situated wholly or partly within, or border upon this State, or are within its jurisdiction, except those private waters which do not combine or affect a junction with natural surface waters.
(qq) 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.
(rr) WETLAND, OHIO EPA CATEGORY 2 WETLANDS: Those wetlands classified by the Ohio EPA as Category 2 wetlands under OAC 3745-1-54 (C) (2), or current equivalent Ohio EPA classification, in accordance with generally accepted wetland functional assessment methods acceptable to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Ohio EPA at the time of application of this regulation.
(ss) WETLAND, OHIO EPA CATEGORY 3 WETLANDS: Those wetlands classified by the Ohio EPA as Category 3 wetlands under OAC 3745-1-54(C)(3), or current equivalent Ohio EPA classification, in accordance with generally accepted wetland functional assessment methods acceptable to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Ohio EPA at the time of application of this regulation.
(tt) WETLAND SETBACK: Those lands within the City of Middleburg Heights that fall within the area defined by the criteria set forth in these regulations.
(Ord. 2008-19. Passed 2-26-08.)