Vintage Greens project faces $40,000 in fines

The developer of the Vintage Greens subdivision in Windsor, one
of the town’s most active developers, faces $40,000 in fines from
state water quality officials for allegedly failing to keep large
amounts of sediment from draining into Windsor Creek during
rainstorms last winter.
Condiotti Enterprises, which is building the Vintage Greens
subdivision on Mitchell Lane, could be fined up to $10,000 per day
for the alleged construction storm water permit violations that
occurred in December of 2002 and January of 2003, according to John
Short, a senior water resources engineer with the California
Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB).
The violations occurred on four separate days, said Short.
“There were four days when our inspector was out there and observed
a lot of sediment running off into the creek,” he said.
It is unknown how much of the muddy runoff entered the creek,
but Short said he considers the incident serious because
construction workers ignored the warnings of water quality
inspectors.
“We probably decided to go forward with this large of a fine
because they did not use the opportunity in between the rainstorms
to install the erosion controls that were needed after our
inspectors pointed it out,” he said.
Short said there were areas along Windsor Creek that had been
graded for house lots, but no construction was taking place,
leaving the ground suspectible to erosion.
Phil Trowbridge, vice president of Condiotti Enterprises, said
the alleged violations amount to “their opinion against our
opinion.”
“It’s their opinion that we didn’t do it (erosion control)
correctly and we have to stand up to them and say that we did,”
said Trowbridge. “It’s just really a tough deal to handle these
sediment rules they have Š that have just been coming down these
last three or four years.”
Trowbridge said the alleged permit violation “really isn’t a big
deal. It’s something we’re working with them on. We’re doing the
best we can. It’s not a continuing thing.”
Large amounts of sediment can harm fish and fish habitat, said
Short. “It can have a lot of ramifications to the habitat,” he
said. “All of our water bodies in the Russian River Basin are
already impaired because of too much sediment. It fills in spawning
grounds and can clog the gills of fish, and actually cause them to
die, if the sediment (amount) is high enough.”
In most cases, the storm water permit conditions are followed,
said Short. “Most folks comply with the permit and put in erosion
controls and revegetate when necessary,” he said. “Every once in a
while we have some folks who fail to comply.”
The RWQCB will hold a public hearing on the matter on Wednesday,
Feb. 11 at 9 a.m. at the 5550 Skylane Blvd. in Santa Rosa. Short
said Condiotti was also fined $3,000 in early 2002 for similar
violations during the construction of the nearby Windsor Soccer
Park when sediment erosion was not properly controlled.