For the purpose of these regulations, the following terms shall have the meaning herein indicated:
(a) "Best Management Practice (BMP)" is any practice or combination of practices that is determined to be the most effective, practicable (including technological, economic, and institutional considerations) means of preventing or reducing the amount of pollution generated by nonpoint sources of pollution to a level compatible with water quality goals. BMP's may include structural practices, conservation practices and operation and maintenance procedures.
(b) "Community," throughout these regulations, shall refer to the City of Parma or its designated representative.
(c) "Damaged or diseased trees" means 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.
(d) "Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)" means the agency with overall responsibility for administering the National Flood Insurance Program.
(e) "Impervious cover" means any surface that cannot effectively absorb or infiltrate water. This may include concrete or asphalt paved roads, streets, parking lots, rooftops, sidewalks, and other areas not covered by vegetation.
(f) "Intermittent stream" means a natural watercourse that may have some water in pools but where surface flows are non-existent or interstitial for periods of one week or more during typical summer months.
(g) "Natural succession" means a gradual and continuous replacement of one kind of plant and animal group by a more complex group. The plants and animals present in the initial group modify the environment through their life activities thereby making it unfavorable for themselves. They are gradually replaced by a different group of plants and animals better adapted to the new environment.
(h) "Noxious weed" means 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 these regulations, the most recent version of this list at the time of application of these regulations shall prevail.
(i) "100-year floodplain" means 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. For the purposes of these regulations, the 100-year floodplain shall be defined by FEMA or a site-specific floodplain delineation in conformance with standard engineering practices and approved by the community.
(j) "Ordinary high water mark" means the point of the bank or shore 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.
(k) "Perennial stream" means a natural watercourse that contains water throughout the year except possibly during periods of extreme drought.
(l) "Riparian area" means land adjacent to watercourses that, if naturally vegetated and/or appropriately re-vegetated and appropriately sized, limits erosion, reduces flood size flows, and/or filters and settles out runoff pollutants, or performs other functions consistent with the purposes of these regulations.
(m) "Riparian setback" means those lands within the community that fall within the area defined by the criteria set forth in these regulations.
(n) "Qualified forester" means 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.
(o) "Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District" means the entity organized under Ohio R.C. Chapter 1515 referring to either the Soil and Water Conservation District Board or its designated employees, hereinafter referred to as Cuyahoga SWCD.
(p) "Soil disturbing activity" means 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.
(q) "Watercourse" means any natural, perennial or intermittent lake, pond, channel, stream, river, creek or brook with a defined bed and bank or shore.
(r) "Wetland" means 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.
(s) "Delineation." is the clear identification and marking of the boundary of wetlands, riparian areas, floodplains and/or setbacks, in the field and on site plans.
(t) "Official soil survey" is the soil survey of Cuyahoga County, Ohio that has been approved and adopted by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA.
(Ord. 128-02. Passed 12-29-03; Ord. 289-04. Passed 12-20-04.)