Whenever used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is stated
in a definition applicable to only a portion of this chapter, the following
terms will have meanings set forth below:
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY
The activity of an active farm, including grazing and watering livestock,
irrigating crops, harvesting crops, using land for growing agricultural products,
and cutting timber for sale, but shall not include the operation of a dude
ranch or similar operation, or the construction of new structures associated
with agricultural activities.
APPLICANT
A property owner or agent of a property owner who has filed an application
for a land development activity.
BUILDING
Any structure, either temporary or permanent, having walls and a
roof, designed for the shelter of any person, animal or property, and occupying
more than 100 square feet of area.
CHANNEL
A natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and banks
that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
CLEARING
Any activity that removes the vegetative surface cover.
DEDICATION
The deliberate appropriation of property by its owner for general
public use.
DEPARTMENT
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
DESIGN MANUAL
The New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual, most recent
version, including applicable updates, that serves as the official guide for
stormwater management principles, methods and practices.
DEVELOPER
A person who undertakes land development activities.
EROSION CONTROL MANUAL
The most recent version of the New York Standards and Specifications
for Erosion and Sediment Control Manual, commonly known as the "Blue Book."
GRADING
Excavation or fill of material, including the resulting conditions
thereof.
IMPERVIOUS COVER
Those surfaces, improvements and structures that cannot effectively
infiltrate rainfall, snowmelt and water (e.g., building rooftops, pavement,
sidewalks, driveways, etc.).
INDUSTRIAL STORMWATER PERMIT
A State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued to a
commercial industry or group of industries which regulates the pollutant levels
associated with industrial stormwater discharges or specifies on-site pollution
control strategies.
INFILTRATION
The process of percolating stormwater into the subsoil.
JURISDICTIONAL WETLAND
An area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater
at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of vegetation
typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, commonly known as
"hydrophytic vegetation."
LAND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY
Construction activity, including clearing, grading, excavating, soil
disturbance or placement of fill, that results in land disturbance of equal
to or greater than one acre, or activities disturbing less than one acre of
total land area that is part of a larger common plan of development or sale,
even though multiple separate and distinct land development activities may
take place at different times on different schedules.
LANDOWNER
The legal or beneficial owner of land, including those holding the
right to purchase or lease the land, or any other person holding proprietary
rights in the land.
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT
A legally recorded document that acts as a property deed restriction,
and which provides for long-term maintenance of stormwater management practices.
NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION
Pollution from any source other than from any discernible, confined
and discrete conveyances, and shall include, but not be limited to, pollutants
from agricultural, silvicultural, mining, construction, subsurface disposal
and urban runoff sources.
PHASING
Clearing a parcel of land in distinct pieces or parts, with the stabilization
of each piece completed before the clearing of the next.
POLLUTANT OF CONCERN
Sediment or a water quality measurement that addresses sediment (such
as total suspended solids, turbidity or siltation) and any other pollutant
that has been identified as a cause of impairment of any water body that will
receive a discharge from the land development activity.
PROJECT
A land development activity.
RECHARGE
The replenishment of underground water reserves.
SENSITIVE AREAS
Cold water fisheries, shellfish beds, swimming beaches, groundwater
recharge areas, water supply reservoirs and habitats for threatened, endangered
or special-concern species.
STABILIZATION
The use of practices that prevent exposed soil from eroding.
STOP-WORK ORDER
An order issued which requires that all construction activity on
a site be stopped.
STORMWATER
Rainwater, surface runoff, snowmelt and drainage.
STORMWATER HOTSPOT
A land use or activity that generates higher concentrations of hydrocarbons,
trace metals or toxicants than are found in typical stormwater runoff, based
on monitoring studies.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
The use of structural or nonstructural practices that are designed
to reduce stormwater runoff and mitigate its adverse impacts on property,
natural resources and the environment.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT FACILITY
One or a series of stormwater management practices installed, stabilized
and operating for the purpose of controlling stormwater runoff.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT OFFICER (SMO)
The Village of Hudson Falls Code Enforcement Officer, or such other
officer as may be titled the Stormwater Management Officer by the Board of
Trustees, which officer shall accept and review stormwater pollution prevention
plans, forward the plans to the applicable municipal board and inspect stormwater
management practices.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (SMPs)
Measures, either structural or nonstructural, that are determined
to be the most effective, practical means of preventing flood damage and preventing
or reducing point source or nonpoint source pollution inputs to stormwater
runoff and water bodies.
SURFACE WATERS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, wells,
rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals, the Atlantic
Ocean within the territorial seas of the State of New York and all other bodies
of surface water, natural or artificial, inland or coastal, fresh or salt,
public or private (except those private waters that do not combine or effect
a junction with natural surface or underground waters), which are wholly or
partially within or bordering the state or within its jurisdiction. Storm
sewers and waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds or lagoons which
also meet the criteria of this definition, are not waters of the state. This
exclusion applies only to man-made bodies of water which neither were originally
created in waters of the state (such as a disposal area in wetlands) nor resulted
from impoundment of waters of the state.
WATERCOURSE
A permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water, either
natural or man-made, which gathers or carries surface water.
WATERWAY
A channel that directs surface runoff to a watercourse or to the
public storm drain.
It shall be unlawful for any person, developer or entity to undertake or engage in land development activity as that term is defined in §
171-6 of this chapter without complying with the terms and requirements of this chapter, which includes obtaining a land development activity permit from the Village. The permit application shall be on a form prescribed by the Village. The permit application fee shall be an amount established and amended from time to time by resolution of the Board of Trustees.
The SMO(s) shall administer, implement and enforce the provisions of
this chapter.
No application for approval of a land development activity shall be
reviewed until the appropriate board has received a SWPPP prepared in accordance
with the specifications in this chapter.
The SWPPP shall be prepared by a landscape architect, certified professional
or professional engineer and must be signed by the professional preparing
the plan, who shall certify that the design of all stormwater management practices
meets the requirements in this chapter.
The applicant shall assure that all other applicable environmental permits
have been or will be acquired for the land development activity prior to approval
of the final stormwater design plan.
A copy of the SWPPP shall be retained at the site of the land development
activity during construction from the date of initiation of construction activities
to the date of final stabilization.
All land development activities shall be subject to the following performance
and design criteria:
A. Technical standards. For the purpose of this chapter,
the following documents shall serve as the official guides and specifications
for stormwater management. Stormwater management practices that are designed
and constructed in accordance with these technical documents shall be presumed
to meet the standards imposed by this chapter.
(1) The New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual
(New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, most current version
or its successor, hereafter referred to as the "Design Manual");
(2) New York Standards and Specifications for Erosion and
Sediment Control (Empire State Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation
Society, 2004, most current version or its successor, hereafter referred to
as the "Erosion Control Manual").
B. Water quality standards. Any land development activity
shall not cause an increase in turbidity that will result in substantial visible
contrast to natural conditions in surface waters of the State of New York.
Prior to the issuance of any approval that has a stormwater management
facility as one of the requirements, the applicant or developer must execute
a maintenance easement agreement that shall be binding on all subsequent landowners
served by the stormwater management facility. The easement shall provide for
access to the facility at reasonable times for periodic inspection by the
Village of Hudson Falls to ensure that the facility is maintained in proper
working condition to meet design standards and any other provisions established
by this chapter. The easement shall be recorded by the grantor in the Washington
County Clerk's Office after approval by the Village Attorney.
The owner or operator of permanent stormwater management practices installed
in accordance with this chapter shall operate and maintain the stormwater
management practices to achieve the goals of this chapter. Proper operation
and maintenance also includes, as a minimum, the following:
A. A preventive/corrective maintenance program for all critical
facilities and systems of treatment and control (or related appurtenances)
which are installed or used by the owner or operator to achieve the goals
of this chapter.
B. Written procedures for operation and maintenance and
training new maintenance personnel.
C. Discharges from the SMPs shall not exceed design criteria or cause or contribute to water quality standard violations in accordance with Article
II of this chapter.
The Village of Hudson Falls shall approve a formal maintenance agreement
for stormwater management facilities binding on all subsequent landowners
and recorded in the office of the Washington County Clerk as a deed restriction
on the property prior to final plan approval. The maintenance agreement shall
be consistent with the terms and conditions of Schedule B of this chapter,
entitled "Sample Stormwater Control Facility Maintenance Agreement." The Village of Hudson Falls, in lieu of a maintenance agreement,
at its sole discretion, may accept dedication of any existing or future stormwater
management facility, provided that such facility meets all the requirements
of this chapter and includes adequate and perpetual access and sufficient
area, by easement or otherwise, for inspection and regular maintenance.