[ back ]
Pond constructed in stream without approval
(by Joan Demirjian - December 30, 2009)
Pond constructed in stream without approval
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
A pond constructed within a stream in Bainbridge has received attention from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The matter is before the Bainbridge board of zoning appeals.
The pond is in a tributary of the Aurora branch of the Chagrin River. A pond in a stream disturbs and changes the stream function, temperature and habitat, said Carmella Shale, district administrator of the Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District.
A permit is needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to put a pond in a stream, she said.
Last November, the Army engineers, after an inspection, notified property owner Alex Kourakine that the stream is a water of the United States and is subject to regulations. It is part of a surface-water tributary system which ultimately flows into the Chagrin River.
The investigation determined that portions of recently placed fill were discharged into 170 linear feet of intermittent stream without the Army engineers' authorization. It is a violation of the federal law, according to the Army engineers.
Joseph Loucek, of the Ohio EPA, said the EPA does not accept a pond placed directly inline with a stream, because it is an impediment to stream connectivity, he said.
The Ohio EPA would not authorize direct or indirect impact to the stream, especially in the Chagrin River watershed, which has many cold-water streams that support one of the last vestiges of native brook trout in Northeast Ohio, Mr. Loucek said.
In-line ponds will have a tendency for sedimentation, trash and rubbish collection as a direct result of upstream activity, he said.
The preferred design is to build the pond off line, being filled via storm water and possibly a dike system off the stream, Mr. Loucek said.
The stream needs to be relocated to bypass the pond, or the pond needs to be modified to allow the stream to flow unimpeded, he said.
Bainbridge Zoning Inspector Michael Joyce said he received a complaint from a neighbor and went to look at the site in September. He then visited the property with Ohio EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives.
No permits had been obtained, and the property owner was instructed to stop the work, Mr. Joyce said.
Neighbors' concerns center on the smell and growth of green algae on the pond and possible flooding from the pond on their properties, he said.
"A contractor was hired to dig out the pond. However, you have to have permits," Mr. Joyce said, Once the contractor was told, he applied for the permits but was turned down.
Mr. Joyce said the pond violates the township's riparian setback regulations, which require that any structure must not be within 25 feet of the high-water mark of the stream.
One way of dealing with it would be to move the pond out of the stream.
Mr. Kourakine told the Bainbridge board of zoning appeals in November he had started digging, when he was visited by the zoning inspector, and he then applied for a variance.
He said he was building the pond to attract wildlife and for fishing. The location is perfect for the pond, he said. Mr. Kourakine said he was using rocks along the pond to prevent erosion.
There is a question whether it is a retention basin for stream management or a pond in a stream, and Mr. Kourakine said it does manage water and prevents erosion.
A separate issue involves a bridge. The bridge was built with structures in the stream, and a permit was never obtained, according to the zoning department.
Mr. Kourakine said the bridge is a rebuilt structure. "I don't consider it new construction," he said.
No part of the bridge should be within the high-water mark, and bridge pilons were put in the stream and a channel was built to direct water flow under the bridge, according to Mr. Joyce.
Board of zoning appeals members tabled the matter, and said they wanted to see more information from the Ohio EPA and the Army engineers on it.
Mr. Kourakine has requested a continuance until he settles the matter with the Army Corps of Engineers.
[ back ]
