CICEET Progress Report for the period 3/01/08 Through 8/31/08

Project Title: Improving Land Use in the Lake Erie Basin through Better Planning, Improved Regulations, and Stormwater Modeling
Principal Investigator(s): Amy H. Brennan
Project Start Date: September 1, 2007
Report compiled by: Rachel M. Webb

Project Objectives for This Reporting Period
Objectives
Objective 1: Develop methodology for integrating best available natural resource data into local comprehensive plans.
Work with interested member communities to incorporate sophisticated mapping and technically sound natural resource data into local comprehensive planning, document this process, and actively share this with interested watershed planning organizations and communities basinwide. Through this Objective, CRWP will assist members in updating their plans and will document the process to provide a methodology for other interested Lake Erie watersheds to complete similar updates.

Objective 2: Improve land use regulations to minimize the water quality and quantity impacts of development and document the steps necessary to achieve these improvements.
Build on the work accomplished under Objective 1 and work with interested members to adopt and implement model regulations for riparian and wetland setbacks, conservation development, and comprehensive stormwater management for water quality and quantity. Adoption of these regulations provides local governments tools to maintain stream and wetland functions as land is developed, ensures site features and water quality issues are considered early in the development process, and stormwater management practices minimize water quality impacts. These regulations are the most cost effective and far reaching tools available to watershed planning organizations to improve land use because once adopted, they apply uniformly to all lands in a community.

Objective 3: Use computer simulation models to evaluate the effectiveness of innovative and traditional stormwater management strategies at the development site scale.
Ohio NEMO will work with CRWP to identify representative sites, select appropriate models, develop input data sets, execute model simulations, and summarize results. Model selection will be driven by several factors including the physical characteristics of the study site, management scenarios that are to be modeled, and capabilities and limitations of the modeling tool. Ohio NEMO expects to use an urban hydrology model that is capable of simulating the impact of various management strategies, such as gutter disconnection, bioretention, and swales, on water quantity and quality for individual developments. For example, Ohio NEMO expects to use the Stormwater Management Model (SWMM) and Source Loading and Management Model (SLAMM). These computer models were developed to model both quantity and quality of stormwater runoff in urban and urbanizing environments.

Objective 4: Examine the viability of using rehabilitation of entrenched streams as an alternative approach to accomplish comprehensive stormwater management objectives.
Ohio NEMO will develop watershed-scale scenarios to evaluate the potential of stream rehabilitation and other stormwater management practices to meet comprehensive stormwater management goals. This approach will incorporate results from Objective 3 and use HEC-GeoRAS (or equivalent) to model impacts at a watershed scale. HEC-GeoRAS will also be used to evaluate the stormwater management benefits of floodplain detention associated with stream rehabilitation.

Objective 5: Work with the OLEC, Ohio NEMO, and Ohio’s Watershed Coordinator Program to disseminate this information throughout the Lake Erie basin.
Through Objective 5, CRWP will coordinate with Ohio NEMO, the other Ohio Lake Erie Commission Balance Growth Project pilot watersheds, and the watershed coordinators in Ohio to disseminate the results and lessons learned from Objectives 1 to 4 this Project.

Tasks to meet objectives
Objective 1
1. Prepare and distribute memorandum to member trustees, mayors, and county commissioners: Completed

2. Present community specific data to at least 16 interested member communities. Presentations to:

• Auburn Township - September 12, 2007. See Auburn Zoning Commission September 12 2007.pdf
• Village of Hunting Valley ­ February 20, 2008
• Village of Gates Mills ­ February 22, 2008
• City of Mentor ­ April 3, 2008
• Mayfield Village ­ April 23, 2008
• Village of Woodmere ­ May 14, 2008
• City of Willoughby ­ May 29, 2008
• South Russell ­ June 9, 2008
• Bainbridge Township ­ June 30, 2008.
• City of Eastlake ­ August 20, 2008

3. Work with planners, engineers, law directors, and others in at least 4 interested member communities to incorporate CRWP data into existing comprehensive plans:

• City of Willoughby is undergoing a comprehensive land use plan update. CRWP met jointly with City Planner, Planning Commission, and City Council to discuss the natural resource data and priority areas for conservation and development for inclusion in Willoughby’s land us plan update.
• City of Eastlake, in conjunction with the Lake County Planning Commission, will work to incorporate CRWP data into Eastlake’s comprehensive plan.

4. Partner with 2 interested members to fund full comprehensive plan updates:

• Auburn Township continues working to incorporate CRWP data into their existing comprehensive land use plan.
• City of Eastlake is working with CRWP and the Lake County Planning Commission to update their comprehensive plan. Funding from CICEET is being provided to the Lake County Planning Commission to complete this work for the City of Eastlake, in cooperation with CRWP.

Objective 2
1. Present model regulations to at least 10 member communities:

• Comprehensive Stormwater Management Model Regulation:
  Worked with the Mayfield Village Engineer to adopt the CRWP model ordinance. The ordinance was adopted in April 2008.
  CRWP is updating the code to reflect the new Ohio EPA National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Construction General Permit that took effect in April 2008.
• Riparian and Wetland Setback Model Regulation:
  City of Pepper Pike: Presented the CRWP riparian setback model ordinance and riparian setback map to the City Engineer. The ordinance was adopted in May 2008.
• Conservation Development Districts:
  Village of South Russell: Presented conservation development zoning districts to Village Planning and Zoning Commission. Worked with Commission to present the code to Village Council for reading and adoption. The code was approved in June 2008.

2. Secure adoption of riparian and wetland setbacks in 2 communities and conservation development in 2 communities:

• City of Willoughby Hills incorporated riparian and wetland setbacks into the Protected Areas Code in May 2008.
• Pepper Pike adopted the riparian setback code in May 2008.
• The Village of South Russell adopted the Conservation Development District code in June 2008.

3. Secure adoption of comprehensive stormwater management model regulation in 5 communities:

• Lake County ­ December 2007
• Village of Bentleyville ­ December 2007
• City of Solon ­ April 2008
• Village of Moreland Hills ­ May 2008
• Mayfield Village ­ April 2008

4. Document the process in each community whereby regulations are adopted and develop methodology:

• Documented the adoption process for stormwater management ordinance with the City of Solon, and the Riparian Setback Resolution with Russell Township.

Objective 3
1. Identify representative development sites. The Modeling Team completed the following:

• Reviewed ordinances and standards of representative communities, and developed three representative development sites: low density residential, medium density residential and commercial.
• Met with CRWP and representatives from City of Aurora and City of Mentor in July 2008 to identify and discuss specific sites of interest to model specific development sites and the impacts of various stormwater BMPs. Sites of interest included Two Town Creek Watershed residential area and Great Lakes Mall/Newell Creek area in the City of Mentor, and the Hawthorn development in the City of Aurora. The Two Town Creek Watershed is not a part of the Chagrin River drainage, but is a part encompassed in the Lake Erie basin.

2. Model selection. Completed.

3. Data collection and preparation. The Modeling Team completed the following:

• Developed a table outlining the local building and zoning codes for the City of Aurora, Mentor and Solon that will be used to develop the modeling parameters.
• Developed a “normal” rainfall year dataset to compare annualized runoff volume from different management scenarios in the WinSLAMM model using historic rainfall dataset from the Burton, Geauga County rain gage.

4. Develop management scenarios. The Modeling Team completed the following:

• Management scenarios were developed for each type of development.
• Developed baseline dataset for use in the WinSLAMM model using source data from the City of Solon. The stormwater BMP and drainage system alternatives were identified by CRWP Member communities, and also include low impact development alternatives under consideration by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Soil and Water Conservation.
• Chose 20-acre development blocks as a representative site-level modeling unit for the modeling scenarios.

5. Execute model simulations and summarize results. The Modeling Team completed the following:

• Modeled 14 different medium density residential development stormwater management scenarios using WinSLAMM and HydroCAD.
• Modeled 10 different commercial development stormwater management scenarios using WinSLAMM and HydroCAD.
• Presented these modeling results to CRWP staff and 3 CRWP Member communities in June.

Objective 4
1. Identify representative subwatersheds: Completed.

2. Model selection: Completed.

3. Data collection and preparation. The Modeling Team completed the following:
All the data has been collected and prepared for the model simulations. Any remaining data to be included in the model as generated from the outputs of Objective 3 and will be done as needed.

4. Execute model simulations and summarize results. The Modeling Team completed the following:

• Four land use scenarios were developed and were modeled for 11 different storm events ranging from the 0.1-year to the 100-year recurrence intervals with two types of rainfall distributions, SCS Type II and Huff Quartile I. Each land use scenario and storm event was routed through a 1st through 5th order stream network with four channel geometries. These included a 1.5, 3, 5 and 10 times bankfull width floodplains, for a total of 1760 model simulations.
• Results generated from these model scenarios were summarized and presented to CRWP and three CRWP Member communities in June.

Objective 5
1. Disseminate methodologies from Objectives 1 to 4 to the Ohio Lake Erie Commission Balanced Growth Pilot Projects and watershed coordinators.
Presented to the Ohio Watershed Coordinators on March 4, 2008 on riparian setbacks and conservation development ordinances, and the process to work with communities to adopt them. See Watershed Spring Training_March 4 2008.pdf.

2. Coordinate with Ohio NEMO and partners on training for Objectives 3 and 4 results.
Developed a tentative schedule for possible CRWP trainings for 2008 and 2009 for CRWP Members and the region that will incorporate the information and data generated from this project.

3. Host at least 1 training session.
Coordinating with Ohio EPA, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, county soil and water conservation districts, and local education institutions to develop training on stormwater and balanced growth objectives for Northeast Ohio.

Progress on Tasks
Objective 1
Task 1: Completed.
Task 2: 62% Completed. CRWP will continue to present this information to an additional 6 communities.
Task 3: 30% Completed. Natural resource data will be incorporated into Auburn Township’s and City of Eastlake’s comprehensive plans. CRWP has discussed the possibility of including CRWP data into the City of Willoughby plan update as well. CRWP will work with 1 additional community to incorporate CRWP data into comprehensive plan.
Task 4: 30% Completed. Auburn and Eastlake comprehensive plan updates are underway.
Task 5: 0% Completed. Documentation is being tracked and methodology will be completed at the close of this Objective.

Objective 2
Task 1: 100% Completed.
Task 2: 75% Completed. CRWP assisted Pepper Pike with riparian setback and the Village of South Russell conservation development district ordinance adoption.
Task 3: 100% Completed.
Task 4: 40% Completed. Documentation is being tracked and methodology will be completed at the close of this Objective.

Objective 3
Task 1: Completed.
Task 2: Completed.
Task 3: Completed.
Task 4: Completed.
Task 5: 50% Completed. Simulations for low density residential sites must be completed. The final results will be summarized in a final report and educational materials.

Objective 4
Task 1: Completed.
Task 2: Completed.
Task 3: Completed.
Task 4: 50% Completed. Modeling scenarios will be expanded to include the effects of stormwater detention on the output hydrographs to show the effects of the state water quality volume detention criteria and the critical storm method which is commonly used in Northeast Ohio. The final results will be summarized in a final report and educational materials.

Objective 5
Task 1: 50% Completed. CRWP will continue to disseminate and present information to Balanced Growth Pilot Projects, watershed coordinators, and other interested audiences.
Task 2: 30% Completed. Continue to coordinate with Ohio NEMO and CRWP local partners on training.
Task 3: 10% Completed. Continue planning for 2008 and 2009 training sessions.

Difficulties
Objective 1
No difficulties were encountered during this reporting period.

Objective 2
No difficulties were encountered during this reporting period.

Objective 3
No difficulties were encountered during this reporting period.

Objective 4
No difficulties were encountered during this reporting period.

Data Generated to date
The files generated during this reporting period and included with this report are as follows.

Objective 1:

• Contract with Eastlake and Lake County Planning Commission for update of Comprehensive Plan. See PDF.
• Sample of presentation to communities for Task 2. See Willoughby PDF and Bainbridge PDF.

Objective 3:

• Presentation to CRWP staff and the City of Aurora, Mentor, and Solon. See PDF.
• Development Parameters for the City of Aurora, Mentor, and Solon. See Development_Parameters.pdf.

Objective 4:
Presentation to CRWP staff and the City of Aurora, Mentor, and Solon. See PDF.

Objective 5:
Presentation on riparian setback and conservation development for Ohio Watershed Coordinators. See PDF.

Project Objectives for Next Reporting Period

Objectives
Objective 1: CRWP will continue to work on Tasks 2, 3, and 4 during the next reporting period. Work for each Task is as follows:
Task 2: Present community specific data to 6 interested member communities.
Task 3: Work with staff in at least 1 additional member community to incorporate CRWP data into existing comprehensive plans.
Task 4: Complete comprehensive plan updates for Auburn and Eastlake.
Task 5: Document completed tasks in Objective 1.

Objective 2: CRWP will continue to work on Tasks 2 and 4 during the next reporting period. Work for each Task is as follows:
Task 2: Work with at least 1 other community to adopt a conservation development ordinance.
Task 4: Continue to document adoption process in member communities, and start to develop a document that outlines the process and methodology used in the adoption process.

Objective 3 and 4: Complete all remaining model simulations and finish the summary reports.

Objective 5: CRWP will continue to work on Tasks 1 through 3 to present at, and coordinate and develop training opportunities that will disseminate the information and results from Objectives 1 to 4. Work for each Task is as follows:
Task 1: Continue presenting the results from Objectives 1 to 4 to local, regional and state audiences.
Task 2 and 3: Plan and develop regional training opportunities with Ohio NEMO and CRWP partners for 2008 and 2009.

Work Plan to Meet Objectives
Objective 1: CRWP will continue to contact member communities and meet to review the available local natural resource data and how CRWP can assist them to incorporate the information into their comprehensive plans.

Objective 2: CRWP will continue to detail for member communities the benefits of updating codes and offer to assist with updates and the adoption process.

Objectives 3 and 4: CRWP and the Modeling Team will work on completing the model simulations for the various development and stormwater management scenarios, and summarize the results in a final report, and educational materials.

Objective 5: CRWP will continue to present information on Objectives 1 to 4 to Member communities and to local, regional and statewide audiences; and coordinate and plan regional training opportunities with Ohio NEMO and CRWP partners.

Expenditures
Expenditures for this project are on target for work that has been completed.