Riparian Ordinance

The Board of Commissioners is currently considering a Riparian Ordinance (see right). In my view, there are three basic questions that we need to address and understand and communicate:

1. The value of a riparian buffer
2. A clear understanding of which landowners are affected
3. The responsibilities and limitations on affected landowners

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who would pay for new fencing, trees and shrubs, etc.?
  The Ordinance makes no new requirements on your current property for fencing, trees and shrubs. Fences are permitted, but discouraged.
• Is only new construction/zoning applications, etc. affected?
  Yes. The consensus among the commissioners is to minimize the impact on existing properties. It's only with land development and major improvements that the restrictions would kick it.
• Word on the street is that we will have to give up 75' of our yard?
  That rumor is simply false. Like the Flood Zone Ordinance and many others, if you were to develop your property, certain restrictions on how you use it would be required, and you would need to appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board for relief, if needed.
• We are responsible residents; we already have a stream buffer and we have stopped using chemicals on our lawn. Why is the ordinance needed?
  It is certainly true that many Springfielders are already ahead of the government on this important safety issue. The challenge is that one bad apple can ruin the good work of everyone else. One role that government has is to set minimum standards. Education goes a long way with responsible people. The ordinance's role is to give some enforcement and to clarify best practices for land development and major property improvements.
• Who decides if the ordinance will be passed?
  The Board of Commissioners will be voting on adopting this ordinance at an upcoming meeting. To voice your support or objection, please notify the township or make a public comment at the Commissioner's Meeting (second Wednesday of every month, at 8pm).
• What are the do's and don'ts within 25 feet of the waterway?

  Here is my quick, high-level summary of some key points for the average homeowner.

  Can...

  • Fishing areas
  • Passive recreation
  • Managed meadows
  • Trees
  • Stream Crossings:
    • Driveways
    • Recreational trails
  • Maintained plantings
  • Fences

  Can Not...

  • Clear existing vegetation unless you are clearing to create a new, improved buffer, as per guidelines (plus other exceptions)
  • Store hazardous/noxious materials
  • Use fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc.
  • Build non-crossing roads or driveways
  • Allow motor or wheeled vehicle traffic
  • Parking lots
  • Build new permanent structures

Read the pending Riparian Ordinance.

The Value of a Riparian Buffer

Riparian buffers protect the water quality. When there is runoff, the water benefits by being filtered before entering the stream. For example, if chemicals are used on your lawn, the rains will wash those chemicals directly into the stream. The buffer acts as a filter to cleanse the water prior to entering the stream.

In scientific terms, "Riparian areas reduce nitrogen pollution through nutrient uptake and assimilation by vegetation, and the transformation of dissolved nitrogen to nitrogen gas that is returned to the atmosphere through microbial denitrification. The nitrogen carried in flood flows and runoff becomes available to riparian vegetation as nitrogen rich surface water enters shallow groundwater." (Chagrin River Watershed Partners, Inc., 2006).

Tall vegetation around a stream helps keep the flowing waters cool by providing shade. Even a 1° rise in water temperature can significantly impact on the life in the stream, including fish and smaller organisms.

Riparian vegetation is essential for stream stability. Roots of larger trees and shrubs provide increased streambank stability, while more shallow rooted plants (e.g. grasses) typically provide less streambank stability. The value of the stream stability is exceptionally important during floods.

Riparian areas are also important for the natural retention of floodwaters. They "offer low maintenance cost-effective solutions to community flooding." (Chagrin River Watershed Partners, Inc., 2006).

What Is a Riparian area?

The Ordinance recognizes four classes of Riparian areas:

1. Perennial Stream
2. Intermittent Streams with an upstream drainage area greater than 75 acres
3. Intermittent Streams with an upstream drainage area less than 75 acres
4. Wetlands and Water bodies

These are the definitions of those areas, as given in the ordinance:

• STREAM — Includes all rivers, creeks, brooks, tributaries and other flowing surface waters within a natural channel. More specifically, a perennial or intermittent water body having a defined channel (excluding man-made ditches) which contains flow from surface and/or ground water sources during at least a portion of an average rainfall year.
• STREAM, INTERMITTENT — A defined channel (excluding man-made ditches) in which surface water is absent during a portion of the year, as ground water levels drop below the channel bottom or a feature indicated as an intermittent stream on the Township Map.
• STREAM, PERENNIAL — A defined channel (excluding man-made ditches) containing surface water throughout the year or a feature indicated as a perennial stream on the Township Map.
• WATER BODY — An intermittent or perennial stream, pond, or lake that is either natural or man-made provided that the bed is composed primarily of substrates associated with flowing water, ponds, or lakes.
• WETLANDS — Those areas that are inundated and saturated by surface or groundwater 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. More specifically, an area meeting the official wetland definition of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual, Technical Report Y-87- 1; or the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Wetlands Identification and Delineation, Chapter 105 Dam Safety and Waterways Management Rules and Regulations; or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Wetlands Identification Delineation Manual, Volume I, Rational, Wetland Parameters, and Overview of Jurisdictional Approach, Volume II, Field Methodology or the most recently amended reports, will be considered a wetland for the purposes of this chapter. In the event the definition of a wetland accepted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conflicts with the definition of a wetland accepted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, or Environmental Protection Agency, the more restrictive definition shall apply.