It is hereby determined that:
A. Land development activities and associated increases in site impervious cover often alter the hydrologic response of local watersheds and increase stormwater runoff rates and volumes, flooding, stream channel erosion, or sediment transport and deposition.
B. This stormwater runoff contributes to increased quantities of waterborne pollutants, including siltation of aquatic habitat for fish and other desirable species.
C. Clearing and grading during construction tends to increase soil erosion and add to the loss of native vegetation necessary for terrestrial and aquatic habitat.
D. Improper design and construction of stormwater management practices can increase the velocity of stormwater runoff, thereby increasing stream bank erosion and sedimentation.
E. Impervious surfaces allow less water to percolate into the soil, thereby decreasing groundwater recharge and stream baseflow.
F. Substantial economic losses can result from these adverse impacts on the waters of the municipality.
G. Stormwater runoff, soil erosion and nonpoint source pollution can be controlled and minimized through the regulation of stormwater runoff from land development activities.
H. The regulation of stormwater runoff discharges from land development activities in order to control and minimize increases in stormwater runoff rates and volumes, soil erosion, stream channel erosion, and nonpoint source pollution associated with stormwater runoff is in the public interest and will minimize threats to public health and safety.
I. Regulation of land development activities by means of performance standards governing stormwater management and site design will produce development compatible with the natural functions of a particular site or an entire watershed and thereby mitigate the adverse effects of erosion and sedimentation from development.
In accordance with § 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law of the State of New York, the Town Board of the Town of Pompey has the authority to enact local laws and amend local laws for the purpose of promoting the health, safety or general welfare of the Town of Pompey and for the protection and enhancement of its physical environment. The Town Board of the Town of Pompey may include in any such local law provisions for the appointment of any municipal officer, employees, or independent contractor to effectuate, administer and enforce such local law.
The following activities may be exempt from review under this article:
A. Agricultural activity as defined in this article;
B. Logging activity undertaken pursuant to an approved timber management plan prepared or approved by the County Soil and Water Conservation District or the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, except that landing areas and log haul roads are subject to this article;
C. Routine maintenance activities that disturb less than five acres and are performed to maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity or original purpose of a facility;
D. Repairs to any stormwater management practice or facility deemed necessary by the Code Enforcement Officer;
E. Any part of a subdivision if a plat for the subdivision has been approved by the Planning Board of the Town of Pompey on or before the effective date of this article;
F. Land development activities for which a building permit has been approved on or before the effective date of this article;
H. Installation of fence, sign, telephone, and electric poles and other kinds of posts or poles;
I. Emergency activity immediately necessary to protect life, property or natural resources;
J. Activities of an individual engaging in home gardening by growing flowers, vegetable and other plants primarily for use by that person and his or her family; and
K. Landscaping and horticultural activities in connection with an existing structure.
The terms used in this article or in documents prepared or reviewed under this article shall have the following meanings:
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.
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 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.
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 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.
No application for approval of a land development activity shall be reviewed until the appropriate Planning Board has received a stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) prepared in accordance with the specifications in this article.
A. Contents of stormwater pollution prevention plans. All SWPPPs shall provide the following background information and erosion and sediment controls:
(1) Background information about the scope of the project, including location, type and size of project;
(2) Site map/construction drawing(s) for the project (scale for the maps should be no smaller than one inch equals 100 feet), including a general location map. At a minimum, the site map should show the total site area; all improvements; areas of disturbance; areas that will not be disturbed; existing vegetation; on-site and adjacent off-site surface water(s); wetlands and drainage patterns that could be affected by the construction activity; existing and final slopes; locations of off-site material, waste, borrow or equipment storage areas; and location(s) of the stormwater discharges;
(3) Description of the soil(s) present at the site;
(4) Construction phasing plan describing the intended sequence of construction activities, including clearing and grubbing, excavation and grading, utility and infrastructure installation and any other activity at the site that results in soil disturbance. Consistent with the New York Standards and Specifications for Erosion and Sediment Control (Erosion Control Manual), not more than five acres shall be disturbed at any one time unless pursuant to an approved SWPPP;
(5) Description of the pollution prevention measures that will be used to control litter, construction chemicals and construction debris from becoming a pollutant source in stormwater runoff;
(6) Description of construction and waste materials expected to be stored on site, with updates as appropriate, and a description of controls to reduce pollutants from these materials, including storage practices to minimize exposure of the materials to stormwater and spill prevention and response;
(7) Temporary and permanent structural and vegetative measures to be used for soil stabilization, runoff control and sediment control for each stage of the project from initial land clearing and grubbing to project closeout;
(8) A site map/construction drawing(s) specifying the location(s), size(s) and length(s) of each erosion and sediment control practice;
(9) Dimensions, material specifications and installation details for all erosion and sediment control practices, including the siting and sizing of any temporary sediment basins;
(10) Temporary practices that will be converted to permanent control measures;
(11) Implementation schedule for staging temporary erosion and sediment control practices, including the timing of initial placement and duration that each practice should remain in place;
(12) Maintenance schedule to ensure continuous and effective operation of the erosion and sediment control practice;
(13) Name(s) of the receiving water(s);
(14) Delineation of SWPPP implementation responsibilities for each part of the site;
(15) Description of structural practices designed to divert flows from exposed soils, store flows, or otherwise limit runoff and the discharge of pollutants from exposed areas of the site to the degree attainable; and
(16) Any existing data that describes the stormwater runoff at the site.
B. Land development activities meeting Condition A, B or C below shall also include water quantity and water quality controls (post-construction stormwater runoff controls) as set forth in Subsection
C below, as applicable:
(1) Condition A: stormwater runoff from land development activities discharging a pollutant of concern to either an impaired water identified on the Department's 303(d) list of impaired waters or a total maximum daily load (TMDL) designated watershed for which pollutants in stormwater have been identified as a source of the impairment.
(2) Condition B: stormwater runoff from land development activities disturbing five or more acres.
(3) Condition C: stormwater runoff from construction activity disturbing between one and five acres of land during the course of the project, exclusive of the construction of single-family residences and construction activities at agricultural properties.
C. SWPPP requirements for Conditions A, B and C:
(1) All information in Subsection
A above;
(2) Description of each post-construction stormwater management practice;
(3) Site map/construction drawing(s) showing the specific location(s) and size(s) of each post-construction stormwater management practice;
(4) Hydrologic and hydraulic analysis for all structural components of the stormwater management system for the applicable design storms;
(5) Comparison of post-development stormwater runoff conditions with predevelopment conditions;
(6) Dimensions, material specifications and installation details for each post-construction stormwater management practice;
(7) Maintenance schedule to ensure continuous and effective operation of each post-construction stormwater management practice;
(8) Maintenance easements to ensure access to all stormwater management practices at the site for the purpose of inspection and repair. Easements shall be recorded on the plan and shall remain in effect with transfer of title to the property; and
(9) Inspection and maintenance agreement binding on all subsequent landowners served by the on-site stormwater management measures in accordance with §
165-33 below.
The SWPPP shall be prepared by a landscape architect, certified professional or professional engineer and must be signed by a the professional preparing the plan, who shall certify that the design of all stormwater management practices meet the requirements in this article.
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.
Each contractor and subcontractor identified in the SWPPP who will be involved in soil disturbance and/or stormwater management practice installation shall sign and date a copy of the following certification statement before undertaking any land development activity: "I certify under penalty of law that I understand and agree to comply with the terms and conditions of the stormwater pollution prevention plan. I also understand that it is unlawful for any person to cause or contribute to a violation of water quality standards." The certification must include the name and title of the person providing the signature, address and telephone number of the contracting firm, the address (or other identifying description) of the site, and the date the certification is made. The certification statement(s) shall become part of the SWPPP for the land development activity. 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 article, 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 article:
(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"); and
(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.
The Town may require any person undertaking land development activities regulated by this article to pay reasonable costs at prevailing rates for review of SWPPPs, inspections, or SMP maintenance performed by the Town or performed by a third party for the Town.