It is hereby determined that:
A. Construction 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 water-borne pollutants, including siltation of aquatic habitat
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 habitat;
D. Improper design and construction of stormwater management
practices can increase the velocity of stormwater runoff thereby increasing
streambank 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 municipality;
G. Stormwater runoff, soil erosion and nonpoint source
pollution can be controlled and minimized through the regulation of
stormwater runoff from construction activities;
H. The regulation of stormwater runoff discharges from
construction 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 construction 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.
It is the intention of the Town Board of Tonawanda to protect the health and welfare of those residing in the Town of Tonawanda by preventing the dangers arising from improper drainage, unwise diversion, use and obstruction of streams and watercourses and to plan for the present and future use of natural drainage systems and watercourses. 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 this jurisdiction and to address the findings of fact in §
73-1 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 NYS Department of Environmental Conservation State Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) General Permit for Stormwater
Discharges from Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer Systems (MS4s),
Permit No. GP-02-02, or as amended or revised;
B. Require construction activities to conform to the
substantive requirements of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
SPDES General Permit for Construction Activities, Permit No. GP-02-01,
or as amended or revised;
C. Minimize increases in stormwater runoff from construction
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 construction 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 ensure that these management practices are
properly maintained and eliminate threats to public safety.
This chapter shall be applicable to all construction activities, as defined in §
73-7 of this chapter that occur in the area of the Town of Tonawanda, excluding the Village of Kenmore.
The following activities shall be exempt from
review under this chapter:
A. Agricultural activity as defined in §
73-7 of this chapter;
B. Silvicultural activity except that landing areas and
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 of a subdivision if a plat for the subdivision
has been approved by the Town of Tonawanda Town Board on or before
the effective date of this chapter;
F. Construction 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 activity immediately necessary 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.
Where the conditions imposed by any provisions
of this chapter are either more restrictive or less restrictive than
comparable conditions imposed by any other applicable law, ordinance,
resolution, rule or regulation of any kind, the regulations which
are more restrictive and impose higher standards or requirements shall
govern.
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 construction activity.
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
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, even though multiple separate and distinct
construction activities may take place at different times on different
schedules.
DEDICATION
The deliberate appropriation of property by its owner for
general public use.
DEPARTMENT
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
DESIGN MANUAL
The New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual, most
recent version, including applicable updates, which serves as the
official guide for stormwater management principles, methods and practices.
DEVELOPER
A person who undertakes construction activities.
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, including the resulting conditions
thereof.
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.
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."
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.
LICENSED PROFESSIONAL
A licensed professional shall include: a licensed professional
engineer, a certified professional in erosion and sediment control
(CPESC), a registered landscape architect, or someone working under
the direct supervision of, and at the same company as, the licensed
professional engineer or registered landscape architect, provided
they have received four hours of endorsed training in proper erosion
and sediment control principles from a Soil and Water Conservation
District and provided they are licensed to practice their profession
in New York State.
[Amended 8-29-2016 by L.L. No. 2-2016]
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.
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 construction activity.
RECHARGE
The replenishment of underground water reserves.
SENSITIVE AREAS
Cold water fisheries, shellfish beds, swimming beaches, groundwater
recharge areas, water supply reservoirs, habitats for threatened,
endangered or special concern species.
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 (SMO)
An employee or officer designated by resolution of the Town
Board of the Town of Tonawanda to accept and review stormwater pollution
prevention plans, forward the plans to such agency, committee, department,
or board of the Town of Tonawanda which may be reviewing any application
for a construction activity requiring submission of a SWPPP, and inspect
stormwater management practices. The Town Board of the Town of Tonawanda
shall appoint such employee or officer to act as the Stormwater Management
Officer by resolution.
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 permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water,
either natural or man-made, which gathers or carries surface water.
WATERWAY
A channel that directs surface runoff to a watercourse or
to the public storm drain.
All construction 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 guides and specifications
for stormwater management. Stormwater management practices that are
designed and constructed in accordance with these technical documents
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, hereafter referred to as the Design Manual).
(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. Equivalence to technical standards. Where stormwater management practices are not in accordance with technical standards, the applicant or developer must demonstrate equivalence to the technical standards set forth in §
73-9A of this chapter and the SWPPP shall be prepared by a licensed professional.
C. Water quality standards. Any construction 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.