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Request for Wetlands Use and Floodplain Use Permits to fill approximately 0.34 acres of wetland and floodplain along the Clinton River for the construction of a single-family home, yard, and driveway, Parcel No. 15-20-477-024. The subject property is located on the north side of Hamlin Road, east of Crooks and south of the Clinton River crossing of Crooks consisting of 7.21 acres including approximately 7 acres of wetland regulated by the City of Rochester Hills; Olympus-Orion, L.L.C, Applicant
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Whereas, the applicant, Olympus-Orion, LLC, proposes to fill approximately 0.34 acres of wetland and floodplain along the Clinton River for the construction of a single-family home, yard, and driveway on the property which is identified as Parcel No. 15-20-477-024. The property consists of 7.21 acres and includes approximately 7 acres of wetland regulated by the State of Michigan and the City of Rochester Hills; and
Whereas, the Department of Public Services has denied the applicant's request for a City Wetland Use Permit, and the applicant has appealed that determination to the City Council,
Now Therefore Be It Resolved that the Rochester Hills City Council denies the appeal and affirms the Department of Public Services' decision to deny issuance of the Wetland and Floodplain Use Permits to the applicant, Olympus-Orion LLC, based on the following reasons:
1. The applicant has not provided the City with a copy of the wetland conservation easement that is required as a condition of the MDEQ Permit issued for the proposed work.
2. The applicant has not submitted a complete Wetland Use Permit application that is responsive to or satisfactorily addresses the review criteria set forth in City Code Section 126-565, subsection (b).
3. The proposed activity to fill a portion of this property for the construction of a single-family home, yard, and driveway will cause existing wetlands to be permanently lost.
4. The applicant's property is almost entirely wetland, with minimal upland area.
5. The applicant has not shown there are feasible or prudent alternatives. The proposed development does not utilize any of the available upland on the site that exists along Hamlin Road to reduce the wetland impact; rather, the proposed development is located in the middle of the wetland complex and will decrease its wildlife value due to fragmentation of the habitat.
6. The applicant has not satisfactorily identified the extent and permanence of beneficial and detrimental effects of the proposed activity. There is no allowance for on-site stormwater retention or detention, and runoff from the house, yard, and driveway may adversely impact the quality of the wetland.
7. No mitigation for the wetland impact has been proposed; consequently, the beneficial functions associated with the wetland will be lost.
8. Similarly, the proposed activity will involve filling of the floodplain of the Clinton River as well, and no mitigation of the floodplain loss is proposed.
9. Due to the site's adjacency and close proximity to the Clinton River, a majority watercourse for southeastern Michigan, the proposed activity may adversely impact the ecological and hydrological features of not only the wetlands in the vicinity, but the wildlife and habitat in the surrounding areas as well.
10. City Code Section 126-565(a)(2) expresses the City's legislative intent and concern for protection of natural resources, and directs that decisions on Wetland Use Permits shall take into account the paramount public concern for the protection of natural resources from pollution, impairment, and destruction. The City has been trying to preserve the functions and values of the Clinton River and associated wetlands, and the applicant has not satisfactorily shown that the applicant's proposed activities will not adversely impact the River.
11. The wetland area is an important natural resource to the City because the wetland provides flood storage for the Clinton River, treatment of the runoff from Hamlin and Crooks Roads, important wildlife habitat, and a buffer to the Clinton River. It is important that any activities on the subject property avoid and minimize impacts and mitigate for any unavoidable impacts, and the Council is not satisfied this will be accomplished if the requested Wetland Use Permit is issued.
12. The protection and maintenance of the limited number of wetlands that remain in the City enhances the quality of life and the aesthetic and economic values of the City and its residents. Preventing the adverse impact of the proposed development on the wetlands will further this lawful and worthy public purpose.
13. On balance, the Council is not satisfied that the applicant has shown a public or private need for the proposed activity, or that the benefits, if any, that may reasonably be expected to accrue from the proposed activity would outweigh the reasonably foreseeable detriments of the proposed activity.