Town of Walworth, NY Article VI Design Standards

§ 151-30 Compliance required; waiving of standards.

[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

Application for development within the Town, including improvements associated with such developments, shall be subject to the Town's current Design Criteria and Specifications, including in accordance with the "Design Criteria and Specifications" document, which is kept on file with the Town Clerk. Provisions of such Design Criteria and Specifications may be waived/varied by the Planning Board pursuant to § 151-43. Any inconsistencies between the Design Criteria and Specifications document on file and this article shall be resolved in favor of this Code.

§ 151-31 Streets.

[Amended 3-6-1997 by L.L. No. 2-1997; 5-20-1999 by L.L. No. 2-1999; 3-20-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

Streets shall be designed and constructed as required in the current Town Design Criteria and Specifications.

§ 151-32 Easements.

Permanent easements and rights-of-way shall be provided for all facilities to be dedicated to the Town. Easements for storm drains, water mains and sanitary sewers shall have a width of not less than 20 feet. Greater widths may be required depending upon the pipe diameter, depth and surface slope.

§ 151-33 Special districts.

Special Town districts or district extensions shall be created whenever practical to provide water, sewer, drainage, lighting or other facilities and services to the proposed development. The landowners shall petition the Town Board for creation of such special district or districts. Maps and legal descriptions shall be prepared by the developer and submitted to the engineer for the Town and counsel for the Town for appropriate action, if approved by the Town Board.

§ 151-34 Lots.

A. Zoning. Required lot area, percentage of lot conveyed and yards required shall conform to the requirements as set forth in Chapter 180, Zoning, for each type of residential, commercial or industrial zone.

B. Lot depth. Depths shall be such as to prevent a future resubdivision at the front or rear of the parcel. Long, narrow lots should be avoided.

C. Side lines. Side lines shall be at or near right angles to straight street right-of-way lines and radial to curved street lines.

D. Corner lots. Corner lots should be large enough to provide the required building setback from each street right-of-way line, side yard requirements to one of the property lines and rear yard requirements to the other property line.

E. Driveways. Design and location of driveways shall be in accordance with applicable requirements of NYSDOT Policy and Standards for Entrances to State Highways. These standards shall apply also to driveways entering on county and Town roads.

[Amended 3-6-1997 by L.L. No. 2-1997]

(1) Vertical alignment. Driveways shall slope away from the edge of road pavement at the same slope as the road shoulder, and the slope shall extend at least the full width of the shoulder so as not to create a bump or depression in the shoulder area. At no point in the drive shall the grade exceed 10%.

(2) Horizontal alignment. Driveways shall conform to the horizontal alignment requirements of Driveway Details in the Standard Details. Driveway pavement shall extend at least 10 feet back from the edge of the travel lane and shall be perpendicular to the travel lane of the street for at least 30 feet.

(3) Application requirements. Written application including a plan and profile of the driveway on a form required by the Superintendent of Highways, if the driveway intersects with an arterial, collector, local or no-outlet street, shall be made as set forth in § 180-43.2.

(4) Fire Department requirements. Driveways longer than 200 feet shall be constructed to support and provide access for emergency and fire fighting equipment. Plans and details of such driveways shall be submitted to the Fire Department for review.

§ 151-35 Site grading and surface drainage.

A. Sites shall be designed to avoid excessive grading, and the original site grade shall be maintained whenever possible. The grade or elevation, as set forth on the approved site plan, shall not be altered without approval of the Building Inspector. Upon completion of a building on a lot or parcel, the builder shall certify in writing that the structure or structures constructed on the lot or parcel are in compliance with the site plan and the grade or elevations as may be set forth on the site plan or as altered with the approval of the Building Inspector, as the case may be. Such certification shall specifically set forth that all grading and surface drainage are as set forth on the site plan and/or as approved by the Building Inspector. A certificate of occupancy shall not be issued until such certification shall be filed in the office of the Building Inspector.

[Amended 3-7-2002 by L.L. No. 2-2002]

B. Good surface drainage shall be provided for each site by fine grading and sloping the finished surface away from buildings, drives, parking areas, walks and street pavements. Finished grade slopes generally shall be not less than 1% to provide good drainage.

C. All surface runoff shall be conducted to a drainage swale, storm drain inlet, drainage ditch or existing creek.

D. A temporary siltation pond or other devices may be required by the Planning Board or by the engineer for the Town during grading operations to prevent silt from washing into downstream channels or storm drains.

E. Detention/retention ponds shall be provided as necessary to assure that surface drainage from the project area does not exceed that which occurred in the undeveloped condition (Rational Formula C = 0.15). Detention ponds are preferred. Retention ponds may be accepted under special circumstances established by the Town for the specific project.

F. All storm sewer outlets must terminate at the developer's property line, where such storm sewer must be capped with a deterrent grate as set forth in the Construction Specifications of the Town.

[Added 3-20-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]

§ 151-36 Drainage improvements.

A. All development facilities shall be planned and designed to receive the design storm without flooding. All basements shall have positive drainage (gravity preferred). All outlet pipes for stormwater/groundwater shall be designed with free-flowing discharge to the receiving facility with adequate capacity.

B. Where a street or drive crosses a creek, ditch or swale, a culvert or bridge shall be provided to the satisfaction of the Highway Superintendent and engineer for the Town. Gutter inlets shall be spaced at all low points so that stormwater does not travel in the gutter farther than 250 feet before reaching an inlet. Where the center line of street grade exceeds 5%, gutters inlets shall be located no farther apart than 200 feet.

[Amended 5-20-1999 by L.L. No. 2-1999]

C. Storm drains and culverts shall not be less than 12 inches in diameter. Crossover pipes between inlets at low points in the street shall be perforated and encased in crushed stone.

D. In general, storm drain systems shall remain as short in total length as possible and shall discharge to open ditches or creeks as soon as practical.

E. Ditch slopes shall not be less than 1%.

F. Storm drains and culverts shall be designed with carrying velocities, when flowing full or half full, of two feet per second minimum and not greater than 10 feet per second.

G. Design of drainage improvements shall be based on projected maximum runoff from the tributary area during construction and/or after full development has been achieved (whichever is greater) as permitted under the existing Chapter 180, Zoning.

[Amended 5-20-1999 by L.L. No. 2-1999]

H. Runoff shall be determined by a Rational Formula or alternative computer based program (approved by engineer for the Town) using the Guide for Storm Drainage Computations included as Appendix B to this chapter.[1]

[Amended 5-20-1999 by L.L. No. 2-1999]

[1] Editor's Note: Appendix B is included as an attachment to this chapter.

I. The coefficient of imperviousness shall be determined with regard to the nature of the surfaces involved. In no case shall this coefficient be less than 0.40 for total area under consideration. Rainfall intensity curves for the Rochester area are to be used for drainage evaluations and design and are included in Appendix C of this chapter.[2] Storm duration shall be equal to the time of runoff concentration at the point of design. Minimum time of concentration for the design of inlets shall be 12 minutes. Maximum time of concentration for the design of culverts or bridges on USGS blue line creeks shall be one hour. Return periods shall be in accordance with the following:

[Amended 11-16-2000 by L.L. No. 4-2000]

Type of Design	Return Period (years)
Local development inlets, swales and ditches	10
USGS blue line creeks	50

[2] Editor's Note: Appendix C is included at the end of this chapter.

J. Subsurface perforated drains encased with crushed stone shall be required to dewater springs or high groundwater conditions if encountered under streets or around buildings during excavation. A contingency item shall be included to allow for these drains, if such drains are required by the engineer for the Town or Building Inspector. Drainage from subsurface drains shall be conducted to a storm drain, ditch or creek.

§ 151-37 Flooding and downstream drainage.

A. Land subject to flooding or land deemed by the Planning Board to be uninhabitable shall not be developed for residential occupancy nor for such other use as may increase danger to health, life or property or aggravate the flood hazard, but such land within the development shall be set aside for such uses as shall not be endangered by periodic occasional inundation or such land shall be improved in a manner satisfactory to the Planning Board to remedy the hazardous conditions.

B. The developer's engineer shall also study the effect of each development on the existing downstream drainage facilities outside the area of the development. This study shall be reviewed by the engineer for the Town. When it is anticipated that additional runoff incident to development will overload an existing downstream drainage facility during a ten-year storm, the Planning Board shall notify the Town Board of such potential condition. In such cases, the Planning Board shall not approve the development until provision has been made for the improvement of said condition.

[Amended 5-20-1999 by L.L. No. 2-1999]

C. The developer shall grant such drainage easements to the Town or a district thereof as shall be deemed necessary by the engineer for the Town.

§ 151-38 Water supply.

[Amended 5-20-1999 by L.L. No. 2-1999]

Where public water is not available, water supply may be approved from private wells, provided that the subdivider submits to the Town results of an approved water quality sample from the Monroe County Environmental Health Lab or certified testing laboratory tested to New York State Health Department standards prior to issuance of a building permit. The development plan shall contain a note stating that the Town is not responsible for quantity or quality of any well supply.

§ 151-39 Sewage disposal.

Public and private sewage disposal facilities shall be designed in accordance with the minimum requirements of the New York State Department of Health or the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Walworth Construction Specifications.[1] State approval, including State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permits, shall be obtained where applicable.

[1] Editor's Note: Said document shall be on file in the Town offices.

§ 151-40 Placement of utilities.

Electric, telephone and similar utilities shall be installed underground for all.

§ 151-41 Preservation of natural features.

The Planning Board shall, wherever possible, establish the preservation of all natural features which add value to developments and to the community, such as large trees or groves, watercourses, historic spots, vistas and similar irreplaceable assets. No trees with a diameter of 12 inches or more shall be removed unless such tree is within the right-of-way of a street or located within the area a building or structure is to be erected as shown on the final plat or site plan as approved by the Planning Board. In all other cases, however, no tree with a diameter of 12 inches or more shall be removed without specific prior approval by the Planning Board.

§ 151-42 Reserve strips.

Reserve strips of land along dedicated streets, which might be used for control of access from the proposed development to any neighboring properties or to any land within the development itself, shall be prohibited.

§ 151-43 Variances and waivers.

[Amended 5-20-1999 by L.L. No. 2-1999]

A. Application. Application may be made to the Planning Board, in writing, by the owner or developer for a variance or waiver of any specific design standard. The application for a variance or waiver shall clearly set forth a reason why compliance with the design standard would be inappropriate or create an extraordinary or unnecessary hardship that would result from strict compliance with the Design Standards. Such variances or waivers shall not be in conflict with Chapter 180, Zoning.

[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

B. Required findings. Where the Planning Board finds that, due to special circumstances of a particular development, strict compliance with the Design Standards is not requisite in the interest of public health, safety and general welfare or is inappropriate because of inadequacy or lack of connecting facilities adjacent or in reasonable proximity to the proposed development, or for any other reason why such compliance would be inappropriate, it may vary or waive such design requirement.