Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following terms,
words, and phrases have the meaning stated below. Terms, words, or
phrases not defined in this article shall have a dictionary or customary
meaning.
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY
The use of land for the growing and/or production and wholesale
distribution of field crops, livestock, and livestock products for
the production of income or own use, including but not limited to
the following:
(1)
Field crops, including but not limited to barley, beans, corn,
hay, oats, potatoes, rye, sorghum, and sunflowers.
(2)
Livestock, including but not limited to dairy and beef cattle,
goats, sheep, hogs, horses, poultry, game birds and other animals,
including deer, rabbits and mink.
(3)
Livestock products, including but not limited to milk, butter
cheese, eggs, meat, fur, and honey.
(4)
Trees, shrubs, bushes, and plants for wholesale distribution.
AGRICULTURAL PRESERVE
A land area created and restricted according to Minnesota
Statutes 473H to remain in agricultural use.
ALTERATION or ALTER
When used in conjunction with public waters or wetlands,
any activity that will change or diminish the course, current or cross
section of public waters, public water wetlands, or wetlands.
APPLICANT
A person or entity, or representative thereof, that applies
for a building permit, subdivision approval, or a permit to allow
land-disturbing activities. "Applicant" also means that person's agents,
employees, and others acting under this person's direction.
BANKFULL STAGE
The water level in a stream channel, creek, or river where
the flow just begins to leave the main channel and enter the active
floodplain.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs)
Techniques proven to be effective in controlling runoff,
erosion and sedimentation, including those documented in the Minnesota
Construction Site Erosion and Sediment Control Planning Handbook (BWSR,
1988); Protecting Water Quality in Urban Areas (MPCA, 2000); the Minnesota
Small Sites BMPs Manual (MPCA 2005); and, other sources as approved
by the Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization (VRWJPO).
BOARD
The Board of Supervisors or Town Board of a Township.
BUFFER
An area of natural, minimally maintained, vegetated ground
cover abutting or surrounding a major waterway, public waters wetland,
or wetland.
BWSR
Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources.
COMMUNITY
A city or township as defined in Minnesota Statutes 462.352,
Subdivision 2, and "the community" shall mean the community adopting
this article.
COMMUNITY BUILDING INSPECTOR
The Building Inspector or Building Official hired by the
community to implement and enforce the provisions of this article.
COMMUNITY ENGINEER
The registered professional Engineer hired by the community
to implement and enforce the provisions of this article.
COMPENSATORY STORAGE
Excavated volume of material below the floodplain elevation
required to offset floodplain fill.
COUNCIL
The City Council of a city.
DEAD STORAGE
The volume of space located below the overflow point of a
basin, pond or landlocked basin.
DEVELOPER
A person, firm, corporation, sole proprietorship, partnership,
state agency, or political subdivision thereof engaged in a subdivision
or land disturbance activity.
DEVELOPMENT
The construction of any public or private improvement project;
infrastructure, structure, street or road, or the subdivision of land.
EASEMENT
A strip of private-owned land which is legally described
and encumbered for use by another party or public entity for a specific
purpose described in an easement document, recorded by Dakota County.
EROSION
The wearing away of the ground surface as a result of wind,
flowing water, ice movement or land disturbing activities.
EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PLAN
A plan of BMPs or equivalent measures designed to control
runoff and erosion and to retain or control sediment on land during
the period of land disturbing activities with standards.
EXCAVATION
The artificial removal of soil or other earth material.
FILL
The deposit of soil or other materials by artificial means.
FILTRATION
A process by which stormwater runoff is captured, temporarily
stored, and routed through a filter bed, vegetated strip, or buffer
to improve water quality and slow routed through a filter bed, vegetated
strip, or buffer to improve water quality and slow down stormwater
runoff.
FLOODPLAIN
The area adjacent to a water body that is inundated ruing
a 100-year flood.
FRAGMENTATION
The breaking up of an organism's habitat into discontinuous
chunks.
GREEN ACRES
Real property or real estate that qualifies as agricultural
property having agricultural use under the Minnesota Agricultural
Property Tax Law, M.S.A. § 273.111.
HYDRIC SOIL
A soil that formed under conditions of saturation, flooding
or ponding long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic
conditions in the upper horizon.
HYDROPHYTIC VEGETATION
Plant life growing in water or on a substrate that is at
least periodically deficient in oxygen as a result of excessive water
content.
IMPERVIOUS SURFACE
A constructed hard surface that either prevents or retards
the entry of water into the soil and causes water to run off the surface
in greater quantities and at an increased rate of flow than prior
to development. Examples include rooftops, roads, patios, driveways,
parking lots, storage areas, and concrete, asphalt, or gravel roads.
INFILTRATION
A stormwater retention method for the purpose of reducing
the volume of stormwater runoff by transmitting water into the ground
through the earth's surface.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The system of public works for a county, state, or municipality,
including, but not limited to, structures, roads, bridges, culverts,
sidewalks, stormwater, management faculties, conveyance systems and
pipes, pump stations, sanitary sewers and interceptors, hydraulic
structures, permanent erosion control and stream bank protection measures,
water lines, gas lines, electrical lines and associated facilities,
and phone lines and supporting facilities.
LAND DISTURBING ACTIVITY (LAND DISTURBANCE)
Any change of the land surface, including removing vegetative
cover, excavation, fill, grading, stockpiling soil, and the construction
of any structure that may cause or contribute to erosion or the movement
of sediment into water bodies. For the purposes of this article, a
land disturbing activity does not include agricultural activities.
LANDLOCKED BASIN
A water basin one acre or more in size that does not have
a natural outlet at or below the existing 100-year-flood elevation
as determined by the 100-year-storm event.
LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL UNIT (LGU)
Municipalities located wholly or partly within the VRWJPO
with adopted local water management plans and chapters approved by
the VRWJPO, and Dakota County within its area of floodplain jurisdiction.
LOT
A parcel of land platted or described by metes and bounds,
registered land survey, or other accepted means and separated from
other parcels or portions by said description, for the purpose of
sale, lease, or separation thereof, as recorded by Dakota County.
LOT OF RECORD
Any lot that legally existed prior to the adoption date of
this article.
MAJOR WATERWAYS
Intermittent and perennial streams as shown on Map 1 attached
to this article.
MEANDER
A sinuous bend of a river, stream, or creek.
MEANDER BELT
The area between lines drawn tangential to the extreme limits
of fully developed meanders.
MINIMUM IMPACT ALIGNMENT
Is the alignment for a proposed road, street, utility, path
or access that creates the smallest area of impact to a buffer, waterway,
or floodplain for activities that cross a buffer, waterway, or floodplain.
The minimum impact alignment is one that crosses perpendicular, or
near perpendicular, to the longitudinal orientation of the buffer,
waterway, of floodplain as reasonable to serve to intended purpose
of the improvement.
NATIVE VEGETATION
Plant species that are indigenous to Minnesota, or that expand
their range into Minnesota without being intentionally or unintentionally
introduced by human activity, and are classified as native in the
Minnesota Plant Database (Minnesota DNR, 2002).
NOXIOUS WEEDS
Any plant listed as a prohibited, restricted or secondary
weed under Minnesota Rules Chapter 1505.
ORDINARY HIGH-WATER LEVEL (OHWD)
The boundary of water basins, watercourses, public waters,
and public waters wetlands and:
(1)
The ordinary high-water level is an elevation delineating the
highest water level that has been maintained for a sufficient period
of time to leave evidence upon the landscape, commonly the point where
the natural vegetation changes from predominately aquatic to predominately
terrestrial;
(2)
For watercourses, the ordinary high-water level is the elevation
of the top of the bank of the channel; and
(3)
For reservoirs and flowages, the ordinary high-water level is
the operating elevation of the normal summer pool.
OUTLOT
A platted parcel of land, designated alphanumerically as
an outlot (for example — Outlot A), as recorded by Dakota County,
and used to designate one of the following: land that is part of the
subdivision but is to be subdivided into lots and blocks at a later
date; land that is to be used for a specific purpose as designated
in a development agreement or other agreement between the LGU and
the developer; or for a public purpose that may have restricted uses,
such as a park, stormwater pond, or buffer.
PLAT
The drawing or map of a subdivision prepared for filing of
record pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Chapter 505, as amended.
PUBLIC WATERS
Public waters means:
(1)
Water basins assigned a shoreland management classification
by the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
under Minnesota Statutes §§ 103F.201 to 103F.202;
(2)
Waters of the state that have been finally determined to be
public waters or navigable waters by a court of competent jurisdiction;
(3)
Meandered lakes, excluding lakes that have been legally drained;
(4)
Water basins previously designated by the Commissioner of the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for management for a specific
purpose, such as trout lakes and game lakes pursuant to applicable
laws;
(5)
Water basins designated as scientific and natural areas under
Minnesota Statutes § 84.033;
(6)
Water basins located within and totally surrounded by publicly
owned lands;
(7)
Water basins where the state of Minnesota or the federal government
holds title to any of the beds or shores, unless the owner declares
that the water is not necessary for the purposes of the public ownership;
(8)
Water basins where there is a publicly owned and controlled
access that is intended to provide for public access to the water
basin;
(9)
Natural and altered watercourses with a total drainage area
greater than two square miles;
(10)
Natural and altered water resources designated by the Commissioner
of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources as trout streams;
and
(11)
Public waters wetlands, unless the statute expressly states
otherwise.
PUBLIC WATERS WETLAND
All Type 3, Type 4, and Type 5 wetlands, as defined in United
States Fish and Wildlife Service Circular No. 39 (1971 edition), not
included within the definition of public waters, that are 10 or more
acres in size in unincorporated areas or 2 1/2 or more acres
in incorporated areas.
REDEVELOPMENT
The rebuilding, repair, or alteration of a structure, land
surface, road or street, or facility.
RIGHT-OF-WAY (ROW)
A strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a
public street and acquired in fee title, or by registration, or by
dedication for public use by the recording of a plat, and including
railroad corridors owned in fee title.
RUNOFF
Rainfall, snowmelt or irrigation water flowing over the ground
surface.
SEDIMENT
Soil or other surficial material transported by surface water
as a product of erosion.
SINUOUS
The curving patterns of a river, stream, or creek.
SOIL
The unconsolidated mineral and organic material on the immediate
surface of the earth. For the purposes of this article, stockpiles
of sand gravel, aggregate, concrete or bituminous materials are not
considered "soil" stockpiles.
STEWARDSHIP PLAN
A conservation plan completed for agricultural land and activities
accepted by the Dakota Soil and Water Conservation District or the
VRWJPO.
STORMWATER
Under Minnesota Rule 1077.0105, Subpart 41b, "stormwater"
means "precipitation runoff, stormwater runoff, snowmelt runoff, and
any other surface runoff and drainage." According to the Federal Code
of Regulations under 40 CFR 122.26[b][13], "stormwater" means "stormwater
runoff, snowmelt runoff and surface and drainage." Stormwater does
not include construction site dewatering.
STORMWATER POLLUTION PREVENTION PLAN (SWPPP)
A plan for stormwater discharge that includes erosion prevention
measures and sediment controls that, when implemented, will decrease
soil erosion on a parcel of land and decrease off-site nonpoint pollution.
STREAM TYPE
One of numerous stream types based on morphology defined
by Rogen, D., 1996, Applied River Morphology.
STRUCTURE
Anything manufactured, constructed or erected which is normally
attached to or positioned on land, including portable structures,
earthen structures, water and storage systems, drainage facilities
and parking lots.
SUBDIVISION
The separation of an area, lot, or tract of land under single
ownership into two or more parcels, tracts, or lots.
VRWJPO
Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization.
WET DETENTION FACILITY
A permanent man-made structure for the temporary storage
of runoff that contains a permanent pool of water.
WETLAND
Lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems
where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land
is covered by shallow water. For purposes of this definition, wetlands
must have the following three attributes:
(1)
Have a predominance of hydric soils;
(2)
Are inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at
a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of hydrophytic
vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions;
and
(3)
Under normal circumstances, support a prevalence of such vegetation.
WETLAND TYPE
A wetland type classified according to Wetlands of the United
States, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Circular 39 (1971 edition),
summarized as follows:
(1)
Type 1 wetlands are seasonally flooded basins or flats in which
soil is covered with water or is waterlogged during variable seasonal
periods but usually is well-drained during much of the growing season.
Type 1 wetlands are located in depressions and in overflow bottomlands
along watercourses, and in which vegetation varies greatly according
to season and duration of flooding, and includes bottomland hardwoods
as well as herbaceous growths.
(2)
Type 2 wetlands are inland fresh meadows in which soil is usually
without standing water during most of the growing season, but is waterlogged
within at least a few inches of surface. Vegetation includes grasses,
sedges, rushes, and various broad-leafed plants. Meadows may fill
shallow basins, sloughs, or farmland sags, or these meadows may border
shallow marshes on the landward side.
(3)
Type 3 wetlands are inland shallow fresh marshes in which soil
is usually waterlogged early during a growing season and often covered
with as much as six inches or more of water. Vegetation includes grasses,
bulrushes, spikerushes, and various other marsh plants, such as cattails,
arrowheads, pickerelweed, and smartweeds. These marshes may nearly
fill shallow lake basins or sloughs, or may border deep marshes on
the landward side and are also common as seep areas on integrated
lands.
(4)
Type 4 wetlands are inland deep fresh marshes in which soil
is usually covered with six inches to three feet or more of water
during the growing season. Vegetation includes cattails, reeds, bulrushes,
spikerushes and wild rice. In open areas, pondweeds, naiads, coontail,
water milfoils, waterweeds, duckweeds, water lilies, or spatterdocks
may occur. These deep marshes may completely fill shallow lake basins,
potholes, limestone sinks, and sloughs, or they may border open water
in such depressions.
(5)
Type 5 wetlands are inland open fresh water, shallow ponds,
and reservoirs in which water is usually less than 10 feet deep and
is fringed by a border of emergent vegetation similar to open areas
of Type 4 wetland.
(6)
Type 6 wetlands are shrub swamps in which soil is usually waterlogged
during growing season and is often covered with as much as six inches
of water. Vegetation includes alders, willows, buttonbush, dogwoods,
and swamp privet. This type occurs mostly along sluggish streams and
occasionally on floodplains.
(7)
Type 7 wetlands are wooded swamps in which soil is waterlogged
at least to within a few inches of the surface during growing season
and is often covered with as much as one foot of water. This type
occurs mostly along sluggish streams, on floodplains, on flat uplands,
and in shallow basins. Trees include tamarack arborvitae, black spruce,
balsam, red maple, and black ash. Northern evergreen swamps usually
have a thick ground cover of mosses. Deciduous swamps frequently support
beds of duckweeds and smartweeds.
(8)
Type 8 wetlands are bogs in which soil is usually waterlogged
and supports a spongy covering of mosses. This type occurs mostly
in basins on flat uplands, and along sluggish streams. Vegetation
is woody or herbaceous, or both. Typical plants are heath shrubs,
sphagnum moss, and sedges. In the north, leatherleaf, Labrador tea,
cranberries, carex, and cotton grass are often present. Scattered,
often stunted, black spruce and tamarack may occur.