TRUMBULL COUNTY New housing rules aim to cut flooding

The subdivision changes went into effect Tuesday.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Regulations going into effect this year will make new subdivisions and commercial developments less prone to flooding -- and much less prone to flood their neighbors, officials say.
After months of hearings, the Trumbull County Planning Commission adopted new regulations Tuesday for dividing land.
Among other things, they call for the flood plain to be marked on property maps and for more stringent measures to control water runoff.
"Under normal circumstances, this will alleviate some of storm water problems," said Dave Brown, program administrator for the Trumbull County Soil and Water Conservation District.
Would it have helped during heavy rainfall and flooding over the past several weeks?
"When you have 6 inches of rain in 24 hours, that is a lot to control," he said.
New regulations
Under the new regulations, a subdivision isn't allowed to send more rainwater into ditches or neighbors' properties than the field it replaced did.
To do that, developers will build decorative ponds behind developments and fountains up front.
Developers will be required to show engineering studies that water will not flow off of a housing development any faster than it did when the land was an orchard or an open field.
"Every new subdivision is going to have to contain the water," said Brown,
In addition, the Ohio Legislature is expected to pass laws applying the same standard to newly developed properties larger than an acre, he said.
Big new homes could even fall under the new law's reach, he said. The change is mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The planning commission's decision to require developers to include flood plains on maps submitted to the planning commission and county engineer is intended to protect home buyers, said plat and zoning coordinator Dave Dubiaga.
The new subdivision regulations also set larger minimum lot sizes in areas with no sewer service, to reduce the use of a type of septic system that discharges treated waste into roadside ditches.
siff@vindy.com