The purpose of the Environmental Protection
Overlay Districts (EPOD) established in this article is to provide
special controls over land development located in sensitive environmental
areas within the Town of Owasco. The Town's Comprehensive Plan identifies
the use of overlay districts as a technique to protect and preserve
unique environmental features based upon the following reasons:
A. Prevention of an irreversible loss in natural resources.
B. Enhancement of flood protection.
C. Maintenance and/or improvement of surface water quality.
D. Preservation of wildlife habitats.
F. Maintenance of soils and slope stability.
G. Maintenance of open space.
H. Control of adverse impacts on existing development.
Development proposed within freshwater wetlands
is regulated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) for state-regulated wetlands and/or the United States Army Corps
of Engineers for any federally regulated wetlands. It is the obligation
of each developer to determine if the project contains any state-designated
and/or federally designated wetlands. If a project contains state-regulated
wetlands, a DEC official must stake the wetland and buffer areas,
as well as issue a permit for any development impacting such areas.
If a project contains a federally designated wetland, a similar process
must be followed, and a permit issued by the United States Army Corps
of Engineers.
The regulations contained in each EPOD are not
intended to be substituted for the zoning regulations of the underlying
primary zoning districts, but are additional requirements that shall
be met by the applicant or developer prior to project approval. These
additional requirements shall be based on sound management practices
and must be reasonably related to the protection of the natural resource
in question. The purpose of the overlay districts is to provide the
Town with an additional level of review and regulation that controls
how land development permitted by the Town's primary zoning districts
should occur in or near sensitive or unique environmental areas. Conformance
with these provisions may require plans to be modified and/or special
conditions placed upon construction practices.
In order to implement the purpose and intent of §
150-9.10 of this article, the Town of Owasco has been divided into the following EPODs:
A. EPOD 1, Stream Corridor, Lakeshore and Floodplain
Protection District.
B. EPOD 2, Woodlot Protection District.
C. EPOD 3, Steep Slope Protection District.
The locations and boundaries of EPODs 1, 2 and
3 are delineated on official maps on file in the Town Building Department.
Collectively these maps are known as the "Official Town of Owasco
EPOD Maps." The Official Town of Owasco EPOD Maps shall be used for
reference purposes only and shall not be used to delineate specific
or exact boundaries of the various overlay districts. The Town has
the authority to amend or add to these official EPOD Maps as necessary.
Field investigations and/or other environmental analysis may be required
in order to determine whether a specific parcel of land is included
within one or more of the EPODs and to locate the boundary on the
property. Temporary flagging of boundaries in the field may be required
during the review of applications, and permanent staking may be required
as a condition of permit approval.
Failure to obtain an EPOD permit shall be considered
a zoning violation and shall be subject to penalties as specified
elsewhere in this chapter. The violator may be required to restore
the resource to its original condition at his own expense.