A. General. The nontidal wetlands of the Village of Orland Park are indispensable and fragile natural resources with significant development constraints due to flooding, erosion, and soil limitations. In their natural state, nontidal wetlands serve man and nature. They provide habitat areas for fish, wildlife, and vegetation, water-quality maintenance and pollution control, flood control, shoreline erosion control, natural resource education, scientific study, open space, and recreation opportunities.
A considerable number of these important natural resources have been lost or impaired by draining, dredging, filling, excavation, building, pollution, and other acts. Piecemeal or cumulative losses may, over time, destroy remaining wetlands. Damaging or destroying nontidal wetlands threatens public safety and the general welfare.
It is therefore necessary for the Village to ensure maximum protection for nontidal wetlands by discouraging development activities in nontidal wetlands and those activities at adjacent upland sites that may adversely affect nontidal wetlands and to encourage restoration of already degraded or destroyed systems. (Ord. 2746 – 6/5/95)
B. Purpose. It is the policy of the Village of Orland Park to encourage or require planning to avoid or minimize damage to nontidal wetlands wherever prudent or feasible; to require that activities not dependent upon a nontidal wetland location be located at upland sites; to allow nontidal wetland losses only when such losses are in the public interest and after all practicable measures have been applied to reduce those losses to the unavoidable minimum; to provide for compensation in the form of nontidal wetland restoration or creation to offset further losses.
Furthermore, any activities in a wetland must not threaten public safety or cause nuisances by:
1. Blocking flood flows, destroying flood storage areas, or destroying storm barriers, thereby raising flood heights or velocities on other land and increasing flood damages;
2. Causing water pollution through any means, including location of wastewater disposal systems in wet soils; unauthorized application of pesticides, herbicides, and algacides; disposal of solid wastes or stormwater runoff directly into a wetland site; or creation of unstabilized fills;
3. Increasing erosion; or
4. Increasing runoff of sediment and stormwater.
In addition, it is the policy of the Village not to permit activities in or affecting nontidal wetlands that could destroy natural wetland functions important to the general welfare by:
1. Decreasing breeding, spawning, nesting, wintering, feeding, or other critical habitat for fish and wildlife, including rare, threatened, and endangered plant and animal species and commercially and recreationally important wildlife;
2. Interfering with the exchange of nutrients needed by fish and other forms of wildlife;
3. Decreasing groundwater recharge capability;
4. Destroying sites needed for education and scientific research as outdoor biophysical laboratories, living classrooms, and training areas;
5. Interfering with public rights in waters and recreation opportunities for fishing, boating, hiking, birdwatching, photography, camping, and other similar activities in nontidal wetlands; or
6. Destroying aesthetic and property values.
C. Applicability.
1. This section shall apply to all lands in or within 50 feet of a nontidal wetland located within the jurisdiction of the Village of Orland Park. Areas shown on the Village of Orland Parks Comprehensive Plans’ Environmental Areas Mapping Wetlands Map as wetlands are presumed to be nontidal wetlands consistent with the definition thereof. This official Wetlands Map shows the general location of nontidal wetlands and should be consulted by persons contemplating activities in or near nontidal wetlands before engaging in regulated activity.
2. The actual boundaries of non-tidal wetlands shall ordinarily be determined by the applicant through the performance of a field survey applying the nontidal wetland definition. The Wetlands Map is to be used as a guide to the general location of nontidal wetlands. The applicant is required under Section 6-413-D.1 of this ordinance to show a Wetland District boundary on a scaled drawing submitted as part of the permit application. Evidence documenting the results of the boundary survey may be required by the Director of Engineering. (Amd. Ord. 5653 - 11/1/21)
D. Permit Requirements.
1. No regulated activity in or within 50 feet of a nontidal wetland may be conducted without a permit from the Director of Engineering and full compliance with the terms of this ordinance and other applicable regulations. All activities that are not permitted as of right or as special permit uses shall be prohibited. (Amd. Ord. 5653 - 11/1/21)
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of this ordinance or any other law to the contrary, the Director of Engineering may issue a temporary nontidal wetlands permit through oral or written authorization, provided a written permit application is received within five days, if he or she deems that an unacceptable threat to life or severe loss of property will occur if an emergency permit is not granted. The emergency permit may be terminated at any time with out process upon a determination by the Director of Engineering that the action was not or is no longer necessary to protect human health or the environment. (Amd. Ord. 5653 - 11/1/21)
3. To guide restoration and creation actions should a violation occur, the Director of Engineering shall have the power to order the violator to develop a plan as described in Section 6-413G.2. of this ordinance for the approval of the Director of Engineering. Field verification of absence or existence of wetland areas, in the form of a wetland report checklist, shall be provided for approval of the Director of Engineering. (Ord. 3837 – 12/1/03; Amd. Ord. 5653 - 11/1/21)
E. Uses by Right in a Nontidal Wetland.
1. The following uses shall be allowed as a right within a nontidal wetland to the extent that they are not prohibited by any other ordinance or federal, state or local law and provided they do not require structures, grading, fill, draining, or dredging except as provided herein or authorized by special permit:
a. Conservation or preservation of soil, water, vegetation, fish, shellfish, and other wildlife;
b. Outdoor recreational activities, including fishing, birdwatching, hiking, biking, boating, horseback riding, swimming, and canoeing;
c. The harvesting of wild crops, such as marsh hay, ferns, moss, wild rice, berries, tree fruits, and seeds in a manner that is not injurious to natural reproduction of such crops and provided the harvesting does not require alteration of nontidal wetland by changing existing nontidal wetland water conditions or sources, tilling of soil, or planting of crops;
d. Forestry practices limited to the thinning and harvesting of native timber in accordance with a forest management plan that incorporates best management practices approved by the Cook County Forest Preserve District pursuant to its current regulations.
e. The continued cultivation of agricultural crops, provided no nontidal wetlands are subject to cultivation where no such use existed five years prior to the effective date of application.
f. Education, scientific research, and nature trails;
2. Special Permit Uses in a nontidal Wetland.
Regulated activities other than those specified in Section 6-413 E.1 may not be conducted except upon application to the Development Services department and issuance of a special use permit. (Amd. Ord. 5167 – 2/20/17)
F. Standards and Procedures for Special Use Permits.
1. Procedures. Application for a special use permit to conduct a regulated activity shall be made to the Development Services Department on forms furnished by that office. All special uses must be established in nontidal wetlands as special uses in accordance with the procedures and standards set forth in Section 5-105 (I) of this Code. Permits shall ordinarily be valid for a period of one year from the date of issue and shall expire at the end of that time unless a longer period is specified by the Director of Development Services upon issuance of the permit. The request for renewal of a permit shall follow the same form and procedure as the original application except that the Director of Development Services shall have the option of not holding a hearing if the original intent of the permit is not altered or extended in any significant way. (Am. Ord. 5167 – 2/20/17)
2. Standards. The Village Board, after according consideration to the comments of the general public, other affected municipalities and other counties, and federal and state agencies with jurisdiction over the area in question, shall issue a nontidal wetland permit only if it finds that the regulated activity is in the public interest and that the applicant has demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that the regulated activity:
a. Is water-dependent or requires access to the nontidal wetland as a central element of its basic function, or is not water-dependent but has no practicable alternative;
b. Will result in minimum feasible alteration or impairment to the nontidal wetland?s functional characteristics and its existing contour, vegetation, fish and wildlife resources, and hydrological conditions;
c. Will not jeopardize the continued existence of species that appear on federal or state endangered species lists;
d. Will not cause significant degradation of groundwater or surface-water quality;
e. Complies with all applicable state, local, and federal laws, including those related to sediment control, pollution control, floodplain zoning, and on-site wastewater disposal;
f. Will provide a nontidal wetland buffer area of not less than 50 feet between the nontidal wetland and upland activities for those portions of a regulated activity that need not be conducted in the wetland; and
g. Complies with other standards contained in this ordinance, including those pertaining to nontidal wetland creation and restoration as required.
3. Practicable Alternative.
For all permit applications, an alternative site for the proposed activity shall be considered practicable if it is available and the proposed activity can be carried out on that site after taking into consideration costs, existing technology, infrastructure, and logistics, in light of overall project purposes.
G. Nontidal Wetland Restoration and Creation.
1. Standards. As a condition of a permit issued or as an enforcement action under this ordinance, the Director of Development Services may require that the applicant engage in the restoration or creation of other nontidal wetlands in order to offset, in whole or in part, the losses resulting from the action of an applicant or violator under these regulations. In making a determination of whether such a requirement will be imposed, and, if so, the degree to which it would be required, the Director of Development Services will consider the following: (Amd. Ord. 5167 – 2/20/17)
a. Recommendations by the Army Corp of Engineers.
b. The long and short term effects of the action upon the nontidal wetland and associated aquatic ecosystem, and the reversible or irreversible nature of the impairment or loss;
c. The type and benefit of the wetland functions and associated resources lost;
d. The type, size, and location of the wetland altered, and the effect it may have upon the remaining system or watershed of which the wetland is a part;
e. Observed or predicted trends with regard to the gains or losses of this type of wetland in the watershed of which the wetland is a part;
f. The cost and likely success of the possible compensation measures in relation to the magnitude of the proposed project or violation; and
g. The degree to which an applicant has demonstrated a good-faith effort to incorporate measures to minimize and avoid wetland impacts within the proposed project.
An applicant or violator may prepare or be required by the Director of Development Services to develop a nontidal wetlands restoration or creation plan of review and approval of the Director of Development Services. The approval shall be based on the recommendation of a qualified consultant which shall be at the cost of the applicant. The creation or restoration of wetlands shall not be an alternative to the standards set forth in Section 6-413.G.1. but shall be used only to compensate for unavoidable losses. (Amd. Ord. 5167 – 2/20/17)
2. Restoration and Creation Plan Requirements.
The plan should state the location, by metes and bounds description, of the site proposed for restoration or creation; ownership; size; type; and complete ecological assessment (flora, fauna, hydrology, wetland functions, etc.) of the wetland being restored or the area where a new wetland will be created; and the natural suitability of the proposed site for establishing the replacement wetland (i.e., water source and drainage patterns, topographic position, wildlife habitat opportunities, value of the existing area to be converted, etc.) In addition, plane view and cross-sectional, scaled drawings; topographic survey data, including slope percentage and final grade elevations; and other technical information are required in sufficient detail to explain, illustrate, and provide for:
a. Soil and substrate conditions; topographic elevations; grading and excavation; erosion and sediment control needed for wetland construction and long-term survival;
b. Planting plans specifying plant species types, quantities, locations, size spacing, or density; source of plant materials, propagules, or seeds; timing, season, water, and nutrient requirements for planting; and, where appropriate, measures to protect plants from predation;
c. Water-quality parameters, water source, water depths, water-control structures, and water-level maintenance practices needed to achieve the necessary ambient water conditions and hydrocycle/hydroperiod characteristics;
d. Mid-course corrections and a three-year monitoring and replacement plan establishing responsibility for removal of exotic and nuisance vegetation and permanent establishment of the wetland system and all its component parts; and
e. A demonstration of fiscal, administrative, and technical competence of sufficient standing to successfully execute the overall project.
H. Suspension, Revocation.
The Director of Development Services may suspend or revoke a permit if he or she finds that the applicant has not complied with the conditions or limitations set forth in the permit or has exceeded the scope of the work set forth in the permit. The Director of Development Services shall cause notice of his or her denial, issuance, conditional issuance, revocation, or suspension of a permit by written notice to the petitioner. (Ord. 2746 – 6/5/95; Amd. Ord. 5167 – 2/20/17)