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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRe: wetlands Page 1 of� 1 Evelyn M. Turner From: Evelyn M. Turner Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 12:39 PM To: 'Pankonin, Brad A.' Subject: RE: 1180 North Arm Dr--Wetland delineation Brad: There is a wetland in the vicinity of your property but the City does not locate wetlands on private property. You would need to engage a wetland delineator to determine if there is wetland on your property. (We cannot recommend a particular person or firm. You can find them in the phone book under "Environmental and Ecological Services" or a similar heading.) The delineation has to be accepted by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. Once accepted it should be mapped onto a survey of your property. Then you could develop your plan. The wetland in your area requires a 25 foot buffer. Generally you should not grade within the buffer. But if the buffer does not have the required vegetation you might be able to grade into it. You would then have to establish and main the correct type of vegetation. I've attached some excerpts from the regulations. You can find the entire City Code at www.municode.com. The zoning regulations are Chapter 78, the wetland regulations are Article 11 of this chapter. Evelyn Turner City Planner City of Orono 952-249-4623 952-249-4616 (fax) -----Original Message----- From: Pankonin, Brad A. [mailto:Brad.A.Pankonin@supervalu.com] Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 1:45 PM To: Evelyn M. Turner Subject: 1180 North Arm Dr -- Wetland delineation Hi Evelyn, My name is Brad Pankonin and I live at 1180 North Arm Drive and was wondering about changing the grade on my property, but I believe that a small portion of the property is a wetland. Can you help me determine the exact area where the wetland is located and what guidelines/ordinances are in place in regards to developing around these wetlands. Please call me at 952-906-6630 at your convenience. Thanks. Brad Pankonin SUPERVALU Retail Finance Phone: 952-906-6630 Fax: 952-294-7354 brad.pankonin su.pervalu.com 7/30/2007 Excerpts from Orono City Code ARTICLE XI. WETLANDS PROTECTION Sec. 78-1606. Permitted uses. (a) Within the wetland overlay districts [the wetland itself� no land may be used except for one or more of the following uses: (1) Native wetland vegetation provided that no change is made to the ground elevation; (2) Wildlife and nature preserves; (3) Overhead utility lines and poles that are less than two feet in diameter; (4) Docks which provide reasonable access to the lakeshore and do not exceed eight feet in width; (5) Public and private flood control structures,ponding and drainage facilities and associated accessory appurtenances as approved by the city; or (6) Environmental monitoring or control facilities, including those related to water quality and wildlife regulation. (b) Within wetland buffer areas no land may be used except for one or more of the following uses: (1) Native vegetation, provided that no change is made to the ground elevation; (2) Wildlife and nature preserves; (3) Boardwalks, docks or other reasonable access to the wetland not exceeding eight feet in width, poles that are less than two feet in diameter to be used for boardwalks and bridges; (4) Public and private flood control structures,ponding and drainage facilities and associated accessory appurtenances as approved by the city; (5) Environmental monitoring or control facilities, including those related to water quality and wildlife regulation; (6) Overhead utility poles and lines that are less then two feet in diameter, under- ground utility lines and distribution equipment, light poles, traffic signals,tr�c regulatory signs, mailboxes and other equipment that provides an essential public service; (7) Retaining walls if the city determines that the retaining wa11 will protect the wetland from conditions of erosion, when approved as part of a wetland permit application. 78-1605.Wetland buffer areas. (a) T'his subsection establishes requirements for wetland buffer areas around protected wetlands. Buffer areas are necessary and beneficial to maintain the health of wetlands. Buffer areas protect the edge of wetlands from erosion while filtering sediment, chemicals and other nutrients from runoff that drains into wetlands. Buffer areas can . improve the biological diversity and health of a wetland environment while reducing the adverse impacts of human activities. (b) Buffer areas regulated by this section are areas of vegetative cover that are upland of the wetland edge, and that occur in a natural condition or through restoration. Buffer areas consist of shrubbery and trees, native grasses andlor forbs that are not mowed, fertilized or manicured in any manner. Mowing, fertilizing, manicuring, or vegetation removal within a buffer area is not allowed unless the city has issued a permit for such activity in conjunction with an approved buffer management plan. (1) Acceptable buffer areas sha11 have the following qualities: a. A continuous dense layer of perennial grasses that have been uncultivated or unbroken for at least ten consecutive years, or b. An over story of trees and/or shrubs with at least 80 percent canopy closure that have been uncultivated or unbroken for at least ten consecutive years, or c. A mixture of the plant communities described in a. and b. above, which have been uncultivated or unbroken for at least ten consecutive years. (2) Unacceptable buffer areas have the following qualities, including but not limited to: a. Undesirable plant species (including but not limited to reed canary grass, common buckthorn,purple loosestrife, leafy spurge and noxious weeds), or b. Lacking a layer of organic thatch or duff, or c. Topography which tends to channelize the flow of surface runoff, or d. Is characteristically unlikely to retain nutrients and sediment. (3) Buffer areas which have been broken or cultivated within the past ten consecutive years must be restored to a condition consistent with an acceptable buffer area defined in section 78-1605(b)(1), a restoration or landscape plan must be submitted to the planning director,which restoration shall include,replanting and mainta.ining according to each of the following guidelines: a. Buffer areas shall be planted with a seed mix conta.ining 100 percent perennial native plant species, except for a one-time planting of an annual nurse or cover crop such as oats or rye. b. The seed mix to be used shall consist of at least 12 pounds pure live seed(PLS)per acre of native prairie grass seed and five pounds PLS per acre of native forbs. Native prairie grass and native forb mixes shall contain no fewer than four and five species respectively. c. The annual nurse or cover crop shall be applied at a rate of 20 pounds per acre. d. Native shrubs and or trees may be used in addition to forbs and grasses. Shrubs shall be distributed so as to provide a natural appearance and shall not be planted in rows. .- e. Native prairie grasses and forbs shall be planted by a qualified contractor. f. No fertilizer shall be used in establishing new buffer zones, except on highly disturbed sites when deemed necessary to establish accepta.ble buffer vegetation and then limited to amounts indicated by an accredited soil testing laboratory. g. All seeded areas shall be mulched immediately with clean straw at a rate of one and one-half tons per acre. Mulch shall be anchored with a disk or tackifier. h. Buffer areas (both natural and created), shall be protected by silt fence during construction and the fence shall remain in place until the area crop is established, and at that time the fence shall be removed. (c) Buffer area widths will be based on the wetland protection strategies established in the Orono Surface Water Management Plan(SWMP) (December 2002). A protection classification has been assigned to each wetland in Orono based on the stormwater susceptibility and functional assessment for each wetland. The four protection classifications are described as follows: ... Manage 2 Slightly Susceptible Less stringent protection than Manage 1 wetlands;maintenance of characteristics is desirable ... The following are the required buffer area widths for each protection classification: Width of Protection Buffer Additional Protection Requirements Classification �'ea (B =Bounce= Change in water level due to runoff from event) Wetland (P=Phosphorus) Boundary B: Maintain bounce at or below existing "Manage 2" 25 feet conditions plus 1.0 foot P: Limit concentration to predevelopment concentrations (d) In cases of new development or redevelopment the city shall require that vegetation in the wetland buffer be installed prior to the issuance of the certificate of occupancy. The city may waive this requirement in lieu of a cash escrow or letter of credit equal to 150 percent of the cost to install the required buffer. (e) The city may allow the disturbance of an existing buffer area during the course of construction activity. This disturbance must be kept to a minimum, soils must be decompacted to a level that will accommodate root growth, and the buffer area must be re-established as required by the city. The city will determine the amount of allowable disturbance. The city may require a cash escrow or letter of credit equal to 150 percent of the cost to re-establish the buffer to its original condition.