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Just read something funny
Within the watershed of our municipal storage reservoir the City requires any sale or subdivision of property to adhere to a platting process. I personally think it’s overkill but it is the law. Zoning and ordinances require a minimum of 10 acre lot sizes. They also require any major drainage (flood zone designated or not) to be dedicated to the city as a Water Quality Protection Zone (WQPZ). In its infancy a WQPZ was merely a drainage easement. As the years rolled by the city has added verbiage to enhance their “control” of these drainage areas.
Two years ago I prepared one of these for a client and was copying the text from a “go by” as provided by the city. Within this document it allowed the city to determine if actions of the property owner presented a “clear and present danger” to the watershed. And it was stated the city had the right to correct the “clear and present danger” (at no cost to the property owner) with a 30 day notice to said owner.
This seemed a little ambiguous to me. Merely stating “the City” could make this determination made me think of all the mindless boneheads I’ve encountered at City Hall. And knowing 99% of these plats get approved by Council on the “consent docket” I bet that no one would read every word of a rambling 15 page easement dedication. I altered the wording to read the City has the right to correct any activity done by a property owner IF an independent engineering study paid for by the City identified the “clear and present danger” to the watershed and provided a plan for corrective action. This made me feel the property owner was protected against flippant wishes and actions from City personnel.
As I suspected the dedication was approved. If anybody actually did read it they apparently just thought it was all part of the City’s original fodder.
That was a year ago. Fast forward to today. I am preparing another plat for the City. After a planning review I was again given a standard packet that had various “go bys” attached. And it’s a copy of the last plat submitted to planning, by another surveyor (not me).
And low and behold within the dedication of the WQPZ are the very words I inserted into my submittal over a year ago. So someone either thought I had a pretty good idea…(doubtful)..or the old ‘cut and paste’ just elevated my wording to gospel. Pretty funny.
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