Except where specifically defined herein, all
words used in this chapter shall carry their customary meanings. As
used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
ACTIVITY
Any act within a regulated area to which the requirements
of this chapter may apply, including but not limited to clear-cutting,
depositing, discharging, draining, dredging, excavation, filling,
grading, pollution, selective cutting, the conduct of any project
and the subdivision of land.
APPLICANT
A person who files an application for a permit pursuant to
this chapter.
BOUNDARY OF A WETLAND
The outer limit of the soils and/or vegetation of a wetland,
as defined in this chapter.
BUILDING INSPECTOR
The duly appointed Building Inspector of the Village/Town
of Mount Kisco.
CLEAR-CUTTING
Any cutting of more than 30% of the number of trees four
inches or more in diameter at breast height (4.5 feet) on any wetland
area per lot or group of lots under single ownership during any ten-year
cutting cycle or any cutting of trees which results in the total removal
of one or more naturally occurring species on any wetland area per
lot or group of lots under single ownership, whether or not the cut
meets the thirty-percent threshold.
CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL
The duly appointed Conservation Advisory Council of the Village/Town
of Mount Kisco, as created pursuant to Article 12-F of the General
Municipal Law.
DAMS and WATER-CONTROL MEASURES
Barriers used or intended to or which, even though not intended,
in fact do obstruct the flow of water or raise, lower or maintain
the level of water.
DECORATIVE LANDSCAPING AND PLANTING
The planting of hydrophytic vegetation or any ornamental
plant capable of growing in wet conditions, such as water iris, elephant
ears or canna lilies, or the placement of permeable materials, such
as bark, crushed stone or pebbles, to create a walkway or path.
DEPOSIT
To fill, grade, discharge, emit, dump or place any material,
or the act thereof.
DISCHARGE
The emission of any water, substance or material into a wetland
or wetland buffer, whether or not such substance causes pollution.
DRAIN
To deplete or empty of water by drawing off by degrees or
in increments.
DREDGE
To excavate or remove sediment, soil, mud, sand, shells,
gravel or other aggregate, except for small samples.
EXCAVATE
To dig out and remove any material.
FACULTATIVE SPECIES
Vegetative species that can occur in both upland and wetland
systems, as listed in the National List of Plants that Occur in Wetlands:
Northeast (Region 1) 1988, or the most recent edition thereof, published
by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation with
the National and Regional Wetland Plant List Review Panels, or, if
no longer published, a source of substantially equivalent character
selected by the Planning Board.
GRADING
To adjust the degree of inclination of the natural contours
of the land, including leveling, smoothing and other modification
of the natural land surface.
HYDRIC SOIL
A soil that is saturated, flooded or ponded long enough during
the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part
or those areas meeting the technical criteria for "hydric soils" as
established by the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation
Service and the Westchester County Soil and Water Conservation District.
The soils meeting these criteria include but are not limited to the
following classifications, as may be updated or amended from time
to time:
Soils List
|
---|
Sh
|
Sun silt loam
|
Sm
|
Sun extremely stony silt loam
|
Fr
|
Fredon loam
|
Ra
|
Raynham silt loam
|
Ce
|
Carlisle muck
|
Pc
|
Freshwater marsh (palms and Carlisle soils)
|
Uc
|
Udorthents wet substratum
|
Rd
|
Ridgebury loam
|
Rg
|
Ridgebury very stony loam
|
Fl
|
Fluvaquents
|
Pa
|
Palms muck
|
Lc
|
Leicester loam
|
Le
|
Leicester very stony loam
|
HYDROPHYTIC VEGETATION
Macrophytic plant life growing in water or on a substrate
that is at least periodically deficient in oxygen as a result of excessive
water content or those plants which are dependent upon seasonal or
permanent flooding or sufficiently waterlogged soils to give them
a competitive advantage over other species. These plants may belong
to any of the following vegetative types: wetland trees, wetland shrubs,
emergent vegetation, submergent and rooted floating-leaved vegetation,
free-floating vegetation, wet meadow vegetation and bog mat vegetation.
The following indicators of "hydrophytic vegetation" may be used in
conjunction with hydric soils and/or wetland hydrology:
A.
The presence of obligate wetland species, particularly
as dominant, in a vegetation unit. Facultative species may be present,
but obligate upland species cannot be present on other than microsites.
B.
Plants with adaptations to inundation and/or
saturated soil conditions. Such adaptations include but are not limited
to buttressed tree trunks, floating stems, floating leaves, multiple
trunks and inflated leaves, stems or roots.
MAJOR APPLICATION
An application with respect to an activity for which site plan approval would be required pursuant to §
110-45 of this Code or with respect to a parcel which is proposed to be or is capable of being subdivided to create lots which conform to the applicable district regulations set forth in Chapter
110 of this Code.
MATERIAL
Liquid, solid or gaseous substances, including but not limited
to soil, gravel, rock, clay, peat, mud, debris and refuse; any organic
or inorganic compound, chemical agent or matter; sewage sludge or
effluent, or industrial or municipal solid waste.
MICROSITE
A small site supporting facultative or obligate vegetation
anomalous within the context of the larger vegetative unit. "Microsites"
may be drier or wetter than surrounding areas as a result of altered
drainage, incidental topographic variation or a related characteristic.
MINERAL SOIL
A soil consisting predominantly of and having its properties
determined predominantly by mineral matter. "Mineral soils" usually
contain less than twenty percent (200/o) organic matter by weight.
OBLIGATE UPLAND SPECIES
Plant species that, under natural conditions, always (i.e.,
greater than 99% of the time) occur in uplands, as listed in the National
List of Plants that Occur in Wetlands: Northeast (Region 1) 1988,
or the most recent edition thereof, published by the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation with the National and Regional
Wetland Plant List Review Panels, or, if no longer published, a source
of substantially equivalent character selected by the Planning Board.
PERMIT
That form of written approval required by this chapter for
the conduct of a regulated activity within a wetland or wetland buffer.
PERMITTING AUTHORITY
The entity with the authority to grant, grant with conditions or deny a permit pursuant to this chapter, as set forth in §
107-5 of this chapter.
POLLUTION
Any harmful thermal effect or the contamination or rendering
unclean or impure of any wetland or waters by reason of erosion or
by any waste or other materials discharged or deposited therein.
PROJECT
Any proposed or ongoing activity which may result in direct
or indirect physical or chemical impact on a wetland, including but
not limited to any regulated activity.
RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Walking, strolling, jogging, nature study, bird-watching
and other passive recreational activities, but excluding organized
sports.
[Added 3-4-1991 by L.L. No. 3-1991]
REGULATED AREAS
Wetlands or wetland buffers to which the regulations set
forth in this chapter apply.
REMOVE
To dig, dredge, suck, bulldoze, dragline, blast or otherwise
excavate or grade, or the act thereof.
SELECTIVE CUTTING
Any cutting of trees within the boundaries of a wetland or
wetland buffer that is not clearcutting, as defined in this section.
STRUCTURE
Any combination of any materials forming any construction,
the use of which requires location on or in the ground or attachment
to something having location on the ground, including but not limited
to buildings, tennis courts, docks, jetties and swimming pools.
VILLAGE
The Village/Town of Mount Kisco.
VILLAGE ATTORNEY
The duly appointed Village Attorney of the Village/Town of
Mount Kisco.
VILLAGE ENGINEER
The duly appointed Village Engineer of the Village/Town of
Mount Kisco.
VILLAGE MANAGER
The duly appointed Village Manager of the Village/Town of
Mount Kisco.
VILLAGE PLANNER
The municipal planning specialist designated by the Village
Manager as the consultant to the Village/Town of Mount Kisco with
respect to planning matters.
WATER BODIES and WATERCOURSES
Ponds, lakes, marshes, swamps, bogs or other areas of permanent
water retention, regardless of origin, and all natural drainage systems,
including rivers, streams and brooks which contain water at least
six months of the year and the associated floodplains of such watercourses,
including areas surrounding such natural drainage systems, and shall
include all adjacent surface for 100 feet as measured from both sides
of the bank of the watercourse or adjacent surface which has an elevation
of less than five feet above the normal (mean) waterline, whichever
is more.
WATER TABLE
The zone of saturation at the highest average depth during
the wettest season.
WETLAND BUFFER
The area extending 100 feet horizontally away from and paralleling
the boundary of any wetland, or greater than 100 feet where the permitting
authority finds it necessary to the protection of the wetland.
WETLAND COMMITTEE
A committee composed of the Village Manager, the Building
Inspector and a member of the Planning Board designated by the Planning
Board Chairman.
[Amended 3-4-1991 by L.L No. 3-1991]
WETLAND HYDROLOGY
The sum total of wetness characteristics in areas that are
inundated or have saturated soils for sufficient duration to support
hydrophytic vegetation.
WETLAND PLANTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
The most currently available published list of obligate and
facultative upland and wetland plant species developed by the United
States Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation
with the National and Regional Plant List Review Panels.
WETLANDS
All areas and waters within the village that constitute water
bodies or watercourses, are comprised of hydric soils and/or are inundated
or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration
sufficient to support, and which under normal circumstances do support,
a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation, including those areas which
have been defined and are regulated by the New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation.
WETLAND SPECIALIST
A person having special knowledge by reason of education
or experience with respect to the physical, chemical and biological
sciences related to the physiology, identification and distribution
of native plants and vegetative associations in wetland and upland
systems, methods to describe, classify and delineate vegetative species
and associations, hydric soils and wetlands hydrology, designated
by the Village Manager as the consultant to the village with respect
to the implementation of this chapter.