The boundaries of the Snyders Lake Watershed Overlay District
shall be generally as shown on the Official Zoning Map of the Town of North Greenbush, as amended. The district
shall include all of the area encompassed by the natural watershed
of Snyders Lake and any additional area from which surface water runoff
is directed into the watershed.
Development within the boundaries of the Snyders Lake Watershed
Overlay District shall be in accordance with rules and regulations
as outlined below:
A. A permit shall be required for the control of erosion and sedimentation
related to land clearing, grading and construction activities associated
with the development of any use permitted by right, any use permitted
by special permit and any permitted accessory use within any zoning
district underlying the Watershed Overlay District.
B. Application for a permit shall be made in writing to the Planning
Board where proposed development involves a site plan or subdivision
approval or to the Zoning Board of Appeals where proposed development
involves a variance or special permit. In all other cases, application
shall be made in writing to the Building Director or his designee
where proposed development involves a building permit or such other
permit as may be deemed appropriate.
C. All applications for a permit shall be reviewed by the appropriate Board or by the Building Director or his designee at the same time as any request for approval or permit as described in Subsection
B above.
D. Review of any permit application shall be in accordance with §
197-96, Erosion and sediment control guidelines, herein. Approval shall be made simultaneously with approvals or permits made as described in Subsection
B above.
These guidelines shall be followed by the permittee in preparing
and implementing an erosion and sediment control plan (ESCP) for a
project site:
A. Sediment control practices/measures shall be designed to protect
the natural character of streams, lakes or other waterbodies on site
and minimize erosion and sedimentation off site from the start of
land disturbance activities to establishment of permanent stabilization.
The off-site impacts of erosion and sedimentation related to land
clearing, grading and construction activities shall not be any greater
during and following land disturbance activities than under predevelopment
conditions.
(1) Turbidity. Stream reaches on site and downstream of construction
areas shall always remain as clear as the reaches upstream of the
construction area.
(2) Sedimentation. Sediment-laden runoff shall not be allowed to enter
streams either directly or indirectly in such quantity as would result
in deposition on stream bottoms.
(3) Land clearing.
(a)
No person shall clear or disturb any land or soil for the purpose
of constructing or maintaining an underground utility without first
obtaining ESCP approval and permit from the Town of North Greenbush.
(b)
No more than five acres of raw earth shall be exposed at any one time unless previous earthwork has been graded, limed and fertilized according to soil tests and seeded and mulched in accordance with approved design standards and specifications referenced in Subsection
B(6) following.
B. The permittee shall construct all erosion and sediment control measures
in accordance with an approved ESCP, shall have them inspected by
the Town of North Greenbush prior to beginning any other land disturbances,
shall ensure that all runoff from disturbed areas is directed to the
sediment control devices and shall not remove any erosion or sediment
control measures without approval from the Town of North Greenbush.
(1) Land grading.
(a)
No permanent cut or fill slope with a gradient steeper than
4:1 will be permitted in lawn maintenance areas. A slope gradient
of up to 3:1 will be permitted in low-maintenance areas, provided
that those areas are indicated on the ESCP showing intended uses with
low-maintenance ground cover specified. Slope gradients steeper than
3:1 shall have a combination of vegetative and structural control
measures. There shall be no channelized flow of stormwater runoff
on gradients steeper than 3:1 without properly designed conveyance
structures.
(b)
The permittee shall ensure that perimeter grading blends with
adjoining property. The permittee shall not create new grades below
or above the ground level of adjoining property at or before the boundary
line, except where a retaining wall is properly designed and constructed
entirely on the property of the owner who creates the grading or where
the owner has a letter of authorization from the adjoining property
owner to extend the slope onto the adjoining property.
(c)
Where protection of trees and/or other vegetation is required,
the location shall be shown on the ESCP. The method of protection
should be described.
(2) Drainage control.
(a)
The permittee shall not create a fill which causes water to
pond on off-site or adjacent property unless such fill is associated
with an approved temporary sediment control structure, permanent stormwater
management structure or planned landscape structure and without first
having obtained ownership or easement for such use from the owner
of the off-site or adjacent property.
(b)
Runoff from any land-disturbing activity shall not be discharged
or have the potential to be discharged onto adjacent property not
owned by the permittee (or his/her client) or into storm drains or
watercourses unless such discharge is directed through an accepted,
properly designed, installed and maintained structure to retain sediment
on site.
(c)
For the finished grading, the permittee shall provide adequate
gradients so as to:
[1]
Prevent water from standing on the surface of lawns for more
than 24 hours after the end of a rainfall, except in a swale flow
area, which may drain as long as 48 hours after the end of a rainfall;
and
[2]
Provide positive drainage away from all building foundations
or openings.
(d)
Permanent swales or other points of concentrated water flow
shall be stabilized with sod or seed with an approved erosion control
matting as protective covering.
(e)
Surface flows over cut and fill slopes shall be controlled either
by redirecting flows from traversing the slopes or by installing mechanical
devices to lower the water downslope without causing erosion. Dikes
shall be installed and maintained at the top of cut or fill slopes
until the slope and drainage area to it are fully stabilized.
(3) Timing.
(a)
Except as noted below, the permittee shall apply sod, seed,
mulch or other approved stabilization measures to all disturbed areas
within 15 calendar days after stripping and grading activities have
ceased on that area. Maintenance shall be performed as necessary to
ensure continued stabilization.
[1]
Active construction areas such as borrow or stockpile areas,
roadway improvements and areas within 50 feet of a building under
construction may be exempted from this requirement, provided that
erosion and sediment control measures are installed and maintained
to protect those areas.
[2]
On cut sides of roads, ditches must be stabilized immediately
with rock riprap or other nonerodible liners or, where appropriate,
vegetative measures such as sod. Where seeding is approved, an anchor
mulch must be used and soil must be limed and fertilized in accord
with soil test recommendations.
[3]
During the months of October 15 through March 15, when seeding
and sodding are found to be impractical, an approved mulch shall be
applied. In such cases, seeding shall be completed prior to the following
May 20.
[4]
All slopes steeper than 3:1, basin or trap embankments and perimeter
dikes shall be stabilized with sod, seed and anchored straw mulch
or other approved stabilization measures within seven calendar days
of establishment Areas disturbed outside of the perimeter sediment
control system shall be minimized and immediately stabilized with
approved measures. Maintenance shall be performed as necessary to
ensure continued stabilization.
(b)
Temporary sediment trapping devices shall be removed within
30 calendar days following establishment of permanent stabilization
in all contributory drainage areas. Stormwater management structures
used temporarily for sediment control shall be converted to the permanent
configuration within this time period as well.
(c)
The ESCP shall include a construction sequence which states
that clearing for and installation of required sediment control measures
shall be completed and inspected prior to commencing any other land-disturbing
activities. Installation of storm drainage, utility construction,
installation/conversion of stormwater management structures, temporary
and permanent stabilization shall be included in the sequence with
other construction activities. The sequence shall include removal
of temporary sediment control measures with prior inspection and permission
by the Town of North Greenbush.
(4) Stream protection.
(a)
The permittee shall protect the bed and banks of all on-site
and off-site streams that may be impacted by on-site land clearing,
grading and construction activities to prevent stream bank erosion,
stream enlargement and degradation or loss of fisheries habitat.
(b)
Stormwater control and mitigation measures shall be required
where increased flow rates from land clearing, grading and construction
activities may cause accelerated erosion in a natural stream channel
or drainage course. When in-stream measures are required, a DEC fisheries
habitat technician should be involved with the planning and design
of such measures.
(c)
Where work roads or haul roads cross stream channels, temporary
crossings maintaining adequate waterway openings must be constructed
using spans, culverts, clean methods that will ensure that road construction
and use does not result in turbidity and sediment downstream.
(5) Maintenance.
(a)
The permittee shall inspect periodically and maintain continually
in effective operating condition all erosion and sediment control
measures until such times as they are removed by permission from the
permit-issuing authority.
(b)
The permittee shall protect all points of construction ingress
and egress to prevent the deposition of materials onto traversed public
thoroughfare(s) either by installing and maintaining a stabilized
construction entrance or by washing all vehicle wheels in a safe disposal
area. All materials deposited onto public thoroughfare(s) shall be
removed immediately.
(6) Design specifications. The following design standards and specifications
are acceptable for use and shall be identified and shown in the ESCP
to be approved by the Town of North Greenbush:
(a)
Empire State Chapter, Soil & Water Conservation Society,
New York.
(b)
Guidelines for Urban Erosion and Sediment Control, Syracuse,
March 1988.