By Matt Christian
Winter is upon us. When we’re not thinking about snuggling up to a fire to stay warm, planning skiing trips, drinking hot chocolate, and cleaning snow off our driveways, we begin to start thinking about projects we’d like to do when the weather breaks. This could involve building something on your property; maybe an addition, new garage, pole barn, shed, or possibly a pond. If you are thinking about a project like this, you may need to contact our office about obtaining a Stormwater Permit.
Richland SWCD implements the Stormwater Management and Sediment Control Regulation program on behalf of the Richland County Commissioners. This program was created to ensure that disturbed soil from construction stays on site and does not run off the property. It also considers how rainwater will flow off of new buildings, driveways, and concrete and that it outlets in a way to encourage water to soak into the soil onsite.
If you need a Stormwater Permit, we want to make sure the process is as smooth and painless as possible. We have two technicians that are happy to assist you with the permitting process, Sam Foley and Zoe Baumberger. A few years ago, we developed an interactive questionnaire that will assist you in making sure that you have everything you need before you come see Sam or Zoe, It is called “I Have a Project” and it’s located on our website, Richlandswcd.net (linked below).
It asks you a series of questions about your project then provides a list of all the other permits or documents you will need to get before you apply for a Stormwater Permit. It will even prepare you whether to expect a permit fee or not. The goal of “I Have a Project” was to inform applicants of what they needed before coming in. One of the most frustrating things for applicants is to make the trip to the office to get the permit only to find out that they actually have to leave and go acquire a septic permit first, for example, then make another trip back to the office.
So, if you’re looking to complete a project in Richland County, please check out “I Have a Project”. There are a couple of different ways to find it on our website:
- Click on the link to go directly to “I Have a Project”: https://richlandswcd.net/stormwater-drainage/i-have-a-project/
- Go to www.richlandswcd.net , click on “Stormwater & Drainage” at the top of the page, scroll down to the links and just below “Continental Divide Tour” you will find “I Have a Project”, click on that link and click “Start the Questionnaire”. Then answer the prompted questions. (See photos below for guidance)
If you have any questions about the permit process, please contact Sam Foley at (419) 747-8077 or Zoe Baumberger at (419) 774-8986.
