Seneca foresees a time for land disturbance rules

In the eyes of the federal agency (U-S Census) that counts the population, Seneca will remain a rural jurisdiction at least for the next ten years.  The city planning commission is being told by Ed Halbig, planning and development director, that, for now, as a rural classification, Seneca is not being required to implement stormwater rules.  But the city is approaching an urban classification and there are already a number of effects that continued development are having on the city.  For instance, just in the past year, developers who have cleared property up to the backyards of neighborhoods without maintaining buffers are forcing homeowners to install fencing at their expense.  And there have been cases of grading of properties with insufficient stormwater design and no easements.  It’s time, as Halbig explained in a letter reviewed last night by the planning commission, for Seneca to consider a land disturbance ordinance.