This chapter shall be known as "Chapter 153, Stormwater Management and Erosion and Sediment Control, of the Code of the Town of Smithtown."
It is hereby determined by the Town Board of the Town of Smithtown 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. 
Stormwater runoff contributes to increased quantities of water-borne pollutants, including siltation of aquatic habitat for fish and other desirable species.
C. 
Clearing and grading during construction tend 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 Town.
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 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 Smithtown and for the protection and enhancement of its physical environment. The Town Board 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. This chapter is adopted pursuant to the requirements of Section 402 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), which deemed stormwater discharges from certain construction activities unlawful unless they are authorized by a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit or by a state permit program. New York's State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System is a NPDES-approved program with permits issued pursuant to Article 17, Titles 7, 8, and Article 70 of the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL).
The purpose of this chapter is to establish minimum stormwater management requirements and controls to protect and safeguard the general health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the Town of Smithtown and to address the findings of fact in § 153-1. This chapter seeks to meet those purposes by achieving the following objectives:
A. 
Meet the minimum construction site stormwater runoff control and post-construction stormwater management requirements of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s), Permit Number GP-02-02 or as amended or revised.
B. 
Require land development activities that will discharge stormwater to the waters of the Town to conform to the substantive requirements of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Permit for Construction Activities, Permit Number GP-02-01 or as amended or revised.
C. 
Minimize increases in stormwater runoff from land development activities in order to reduce flooding, siltation, increases in stream temperature, and streambank erosion and maintain the integrity of stream channels.
D. 
Minimize increases in pollution caused by stormwater runoff from land development activities, which would otherwise degrade local water quality.
E. 
Minimize the total annual volume of stormwater runoff, which flows from any specific site during and following development to the maximum extent practicable.
F. 
Reduce stormwater runoff rates and volumes, soil erosion and nonpoint source pollution, wherever possible, through stormwater management practices and ensure that these management practices are properly maintained and eliminate threats to public safety as well as minimize the potential to hinder the conveyance ability or storage capacity of a Town-owned drainage system.
The terms used in this chapter or in documents prepared or reviewed under this chapter shall have the meanings as set forth in this section.
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.
BOARD OF SITE PLAN REVIEW
A board of the Town of Smithtown as defined in Chapter 322 of the Code of the Town of Smithtown.
BUILDING
Any structure meeting the definition of "building" as defined in Chapter 322 of the Code of the Town of Smithtown.
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.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY(IES)
See "land development activity(ies)."
CONSTRUCTION SITE
A parcel of land or part thereof upon which a land development activity(ies) is taking place.
DEDICATION
The deliberate appropriation of property by its owner for general public use.
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
Any person who undertakes land development activities.
EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PLAN
The part of a stormwater pollution prevention plan that includes the erosion and sediment control component specific measures and sequencing to be used to control erosion and sediment on a development site during construction.
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 or any other soil disturbance, including the resulting conditions thereof.
IMPERVIOUS COVER
Those surfaces, improvements, and structures that cannot effectively infiltrate rainfall, snow melt 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(IES)
Construction activity including clearing, demolition, grading, excavating, stockpiling, 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 that will ultimately disturb one or more acres of land, even though multiple separate and distinct land development activities may take place at different times on different schedules, or activities disturbing less than one acre of total land area where the Town has determined there is a potential for significant contribution of pollutants to surface waters of the Town.
LANDOWNER (OR OWNER)
The person in whom is vested the ownership, dominion, title or control of property, including but not limited to the landowner's duly authorized agent, proprietor, mortgagee or vendee in possession, assignee of rents, tenant or lessee, purchaser, devisee, fiduciary and any other person having a vested interest in the property in question.
LARGER COMMON PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT OR SALE
A contiguous area where multiple separate and distinct construction activities are occurring, or will occur, under one plan. The term "plan" in "larger common plan of development or sale" is broadly defined as any announcement or piece of documentation (including a sign, public notice or hearing, sales pitch, advertisement, drawing, permit application, State Environmental Quality Review Act application, zoning request, computer design, etc.) or physical demarcation (including SPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharge from MS4s, GP-0-08-002 boundary signs, lot stakes, surveyor markings, etc.) indicating that construction activities may occur on a specific plot. For discrete construction projects that are located within a larger common plan of development or sale that are at least 1/4 mile apart, each project can be treated as a separate plan of development or sale, provided any interconnecting road, pipeline or utility project that is part of the same "common plan" is not concurrently being disturbed.
LOW-IMPACT DEVELOPMENT
A site design strategy with a goal of maintaining or replicating the predevelopment hydrologic regime through the use of design techniques to create a functionally equivalent hydrologic landscape. Hydrologic functions of storage, infiltration, and groundwater recharge, as well as the volume and frequency of discharges, are maintained through the use of integrated and distributed microscale stormwater retention and detention areas, reduction of impervious surfaces, and the lengthening of flow paths and runoff time. Other strategies include the preservation/protection of environmentally sensitive site features such as riparian buffers, wetlands, steep slopes, valuable (mature) trees, floodplains, woodlands and highly permeable soils. Low-impact development principles are based on controlling stormwater at the source by the use of microscale controls that are distributed throughout the site. This is unlike conventional approaches that typically convey and manage runoff in large facilities located at the base of drainage areas.
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT
A legally recorded document that acts as a property deed restriction and which provides for long-term maintenance of stormwater management practices.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM (MS4)
A conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains):
A. 
Owned or operated by the Town of Smithtown or other public body (created by or pursuant to state law) having jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, stormwater, or other wastes, including special districts under state law such as a sewer district, flood control district or drainage district, or similar entity, or an Indian tribe or an authorized Indian tribal organization, or a designated and approved management agency under Section 208 of the CWA, that discharges to surface waters of the state;
B. 
Designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater;
C. 
Which is not a combined sewer; and
D. 
Which is not part of a publicly owned treatment works as defined at 40 CFR 122.2.
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, 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.
PLANNING BOARD
A board of the Town of Smithtown as defined in Chapter 248 of the Code of the Town of Smithtown.
POLLUTANT
Any dredged spoil, filter backwash, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste and ballast discharged into water and as defined at 40 CFR 122.2.
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.
POST-CONSTRUCTION STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN
A component of the stormwater pollution prevention plan that includes the specific practices to be used and maintained for post-construction stormwater management on a development site after construction.
PROJECT
Land development activity(ies) as defined herein.
QUALIFIED INSPECTOR
A person who is knowledgeable in the principles and practices of erosion and sediment control, such as a professional engineer, certified professional in erosion and sediment control (CPESC), landscape architect, or other New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) endorsed individual(s). It also means someone working under the direct supervision of the professional engineer or landscape architect, provided that person has training in the principles and practices of erosion and sediment control. "Training in the principles and practices of erosion and sediment control" means that an individual performing a site inspection has received four hours of training, endorsed by the NYSDEC, from a Soil and Water Conservation District, CPESC, Inc., or other NYSDEC-endorsed entity in proper erosion and sediment control principles. After receiving the initial training, an individual working under the direct supervision of the professional engineer or landscape architect shall receive four hours of training every three years. Inspections of any post-construction stormwater management practices that include structural components, such as a dam for an impoundment, shall be performed by a Professional Engineer.
QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL
A person who is knowledgeable in the principles and practices of stormwater management and treatment, such as a professional engineer, landscape architect or other New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) endorsed individual(s). Individuals preparing stormwater pollution prevention plans that require the post-construction stormwater management practice component must have an understanding of the principles of hydrology, water quality management practice design, water quantity control design, and, in many cases, the principles of hydraulics in order to prepare a SWPPP that conforms to the NYSDEC's technical standard. All components of the SWPPP that involve the practice of engineering, as defined by Article 145 of the New York State Education Law, shall be prepared by, or under the direct supervision of, a professional engineer licensed to practice in the State of New York.
RECHARGE
The replenishment of underground water reserves.
SECTION 303(d) LIST OF IMPAIRED WATERS
Section 303(d) is part of the federal Clean Water Act that requires the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to periodically prepare a list of all surface waters of the state for which beneficial uses of the water, such as for drinking, recreation, aquatic habitat, and industrial use, are impaired by pollutants. These are water-quality-limited estuaries, lakes, and streams that fall short of state surface water quality standards, and are not expected to improve within the next two years.
SEDIMENT CONTROL
Measures that prevent eroded sediment from leaving the site.
SENSITIVE AREAS
Includes but is not limited to cold water fisheries, shellfish beds, swimming beaches, groundwater recharge areas, water supply reservoirs, and habitats for threatened, endangered or special concern species.
SPDES GENERAL PERMIT FOR CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES GP-02-01
A permit under the New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) issued to developers of construction activities to regulate disturbance of one or more acres of land that discharge stormwater to the surface waters of the State of New York.
SPDES GENERAL PERMIT FOR STORMWATER DISCHARGES FROM MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORMWATER SEWER SYSTEMS GP-02-02
A permit under the New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) issued to municipalities to regulate discharges from municipal separate storm sewers for compliance with EPA-established water quality standards and/or to specify stormwater control standards.
STABILIZATION
The use of practices that prevent exposed soil from eroding.
STOP-WORK ORDER
An order issued which requires that all land development activities 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 Town Engineer or his/her duly authorized deputy or representatives. The SMO is designated by the Town Board to accept and review stormwater pollution prevention plans for conformance with this chapter, forward approved plans to the applicable board, and inspect stormwater management practices.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PRACTICE (SMP)
A measure(s), either structural or nonstructural, that is 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.
STORMWATER POLLUTION PREVENTION PLAN (SWPPP)
A plan prepared by a qualified professional that formalizes the selection and design of stormwater management measures that control stormwater runoff and pollutants from a site during and after construction activities. The SWPPP includes an erosion and sediment control component, and, in most cases, a post-construction stormwater control component. All stormwater controls prescribed in the SWPPP must conform to the technical standards specified in the New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual and the New York Standards and Specifications for Erosion and Sediment Control or meet equivalent standards.
STORMWATER RUNOFF
Flow of water on the surface of the ground, resulting from precipitation.
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.
TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD (TMDL)
The sum of the allowable loads of a single pollutant from all contributing point and nonpoint sources. It is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive on a daily basis and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that amount to the pollutant's sources.
TOWN
The Town of Smithtown.
TOWN BOARD
The Town Board of the Town of Smithtown.
TOWN ENGINEER
The Town Engineer of the Town of Smithtown.
WATERCOURSE
A permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water, either natural or man-made, which gathers or carries surface water.
WATERSHED
An area bounded peripherally by a divide and draining ultimately to a particular watercourse.
WATERS OF THE TOWN
Any surface waters of the State of New York or groundwater that is wholly or partially located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Town of Smithtown.
WATERWAY
A channel that directs surface runoff to a watercourse or to the public storm drain.
A. 
This chapter shall be applicable to all land development activities as defined in § 153-5.
B. 
All land development activities subject to review and approval of site plans by the Board of Site Plan Review pursuant to Chapter 322 of the Town Code, subdivisions by the Planning Board pursuant to Chapter 248 of the Town Code, building permits pursuant to Chapter 112 of the Town Code, tree preservation and land clearing permits pursuant to Chapter 285 of the Town Code, or permits pursuant to Chapter 154 of the Town Code shall be reviewed subject to the standards contained in this chapter. No permit shall be issued and no approval by any board shall be granted for a land development activity without due consideration of the findings and purpose of this chapter.
C. 
Any person engaged in a grading activity for which a SWPPP is not required pursuant to this chapter, shall, at a minimum, employ stormwater management practices to control erosion and sediment in proportion to the scale of the activity and file with the Stormwater Management Officer a SWPPP waiver certification and agreement.
A. 
The following activities may be exempt from review under this chapter:
(1) 
Agricultural activity as defined in this chapter.
(2) 
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.
(3) 
Repairs to any stormwater management practice or facility deemed necessary by the Stormwater Management Officer.
(4) 
Any part of a site plan that has been approved by the Board of Site Plan Review or subdivision that has been approved by the Planning Board on or before September 30, 2008.
(5) 
Land development activities for which any permit has been approved on or before the September 30, 2008.
(6) 
Cemetery graves.
(7) 
Installation of a fence, sign, utility poles and other kinds of posts or poles, excluding monopoles.
(8) 
Emergency activity immediately necessary to protect life, property or natural resources.
(9) 
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.
(10) 
Landscaping and horticultural activities in connection with an existing structure.
B. 
Any person engaged in any land-disturbing activity that is exempt pursuant to this section shall comply with the purpose and intent of this chapter, regardless of whether or not the activity requires approval. At a minimum, such person shall employ stormwater management practices for erosion and sediment control in proportion to the scale of the activity.