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 habitats
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 habitats;
D. Improper design and construction of stormwater management
practices can increase the velocity of stormwater runoff, thereby
increasing stream bank erosion and sedimentation;
E. Proper design, construction and maintenance of stormwater
management practices can greatly increase their effectiveness in water
quality treatment and water quantity control;
F. Evidence suggests that stormwater management practices
involving infiltration recharge the groundwater table and provide
a high degree of water quality treatment;
G. Evidence suggests that stormwater practices involving
bioretention provide a high degree of water quality treatment;
H. Impervious surfaces allow less water to percolate
into the soil, thereby decreasing groundwater recharge and stream
baseflow;
I. Substantial economic losses can result from these
adverse impacts on the waters of the municipality;
J. Stormwater runoff, soil erosion and nonpoint source
pollution can be controlled and minimized through the regulation of
stormwater runoff from land development activities;
K. 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;
L. 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.
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 public residing within the Town of Plattekill and to address the findings of fact in §
89-1 hereof. This chapter seeks to meet those purposes by achieving the following objectives:
A. Meet the requirements of minimum measures 4 and 5
of the SPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Municipal
Separate Sewer Systems (MS4s), Permit No. GP-02-02, as amended or
revised;
B. Require land development activities to conform to
the substantive requirements of the NYS Department of Environmental
Conservation State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES)
General Permit for Construction Activities, 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 stream bank 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; and
F. Reduce stormwater runoff rates and volumes, soil erosion
and nonpoint source pollution, wherever possible, through stormwater
management practices and to ensure that these management practices
are properly maintained and eliminate threats to public safety.
In accordance with § 10 of the Municipal
Home Rule Law of the State of New York, Town Board of Plattekill 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
Plattekill and for the protection and enhancement of its physical
environment. The Town Board of Plattekill 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 chapter.
A. Agricultural activity as defined in this chapter.
B. Silvicultural activity, except that logging under Town of Plattekill Code Chapter
65 and landing areas on log haul roads are subject to this chapter.
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 Stormwater Management Officer.
E. Any part if a subdivision of a plat for the subdivision
has received final approval by the Town of Plattekill and construction
has commenced on or before the effective date of this chapter. However,
subdivisions, or any part thereof, that have received final approval
by the Town of Plattekill and construction has commenced on or before
the effective date of this chapter shall comply to the maximum extent
practicable to the conditions of this chapter, as directed by the
Stormwater Management Officer and the Town Engineer.
F. Land development activities for which a building permit
has been approved on or before the effective date of this chapter.
H. Installation of fence, sign, telephone, and electric
poles and other kinds of posts or poles.
I. Emergency activities deemed immediately necessary
by the Town Board to protect life, property or natural resources.
J. Activities of an individual engaging in home gardening
by growing flowers, vegetables and other plants primarily for use
by that person and his or her family.
K. Landscaping and horticultural activities in connection
with an existing structure and/or existing site improvements.
The terms used in this chapter or in documents
prepared or reviewed under this chapter shall have the meaning as
set forth in this section.
AGRICULTURE
All agricultural operations and activities related to the
growing or raising of crops, livestock or livestock products, and
agricultural products, as such terms are defined in or governed by
the Agriculture and Markets Law of the State of New York on lands
qualified under Ulster County and NYS law for an agricultural exemption
by the Assessor of the Town of Plattekill.
APPLICANT
A person (as defined herein) who files an application for
a permit under this chapter, including the owner of the property on
which the proposed regulated activity would be located, and any contract
vendee, lessee of the land, person who would actually control and
direct the proposed regulated activity, and/or the authorized agent
of such person.
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
Destruction and removal of areas of vegetation by manual,
mechanical, biological or chemical methods.
DEDICATION
The deliberate appropriation of property by its owner.
DESIGN MANUAL
The New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual, most
recent version, including applicable updates, that serves as the official
document 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.
GRADING
The alteration of surface or subsurface conditions of land,
lakes, ponds, or watercourses.
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.
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 totaling equal to or greater than one acre
of land disturbance, 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.
NYSDEC
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
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.
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
An employee or officer designated by the municipality to
accept and review stormwater pollution prevention plans, forward the
plans to the applicable municipal board or Town Engineer 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 river, creek, stream, ditch, or channel in which water
flows as listed (classified or unclassified) by the NYS Department
of Environmental Conservation.
WATER QUALITY VOLUME
The quantity of stormwater that is captured and receives
water quality treatment with the utilization of a stormwater management
practice. The water quality volume represents 90% of the average annual
stormwater runoff volume and its quantity is directly related to the
impervious cover in the drainage basin. The volume is calculated in
accordance with the Design Manual.
WETLAND
Regulated areas that comprise hydric soils and/or are inundated
or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration
sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support,
a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated
soil conditions and are regulated under federal, state, and/or Town
law. Wetlands generally include marshes, bogs, vernal pools, wet meadows,
fens and similar areas.
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 standards and
specifications for stormwater management. Stormwater management practices
that are designed and constructed in accordance with these technical
documents as well as other requirements included in this chapter 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).
(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 of Plattekill may require any person
undertaking land development activities regulated by this chapter
to pay reasonable costs at prevailing qualified professional fee rates
for review of SWPPPs, inspections, or SMP maintenance performed by
the Town of Plattekill or performed by a third party for the Town
of Plattekill.