Except as permitted by the Conservation Commission or as provided in this chapter, no person shall remove, fill, dredge, build upon, or alter the following resource areas:
A. Any bordering vegetated wetland, freshwater wetland, riverine wetland, marsh, wet meadow, bog or swamp, or within 100 feet of said areas.
B. Any bank or beach, or within 100 feet of said areas.
C. Any lake, river, pond, or stream, whether intermittent or continuous, natural or man-made, or within 100 feet of said areas.
D. Any land under aforesaid waters.
E. Any land subject to flooding or inundation by groundwater, surface water, storm flowage, except artificially built detention areas and drainage channels including streets and gutters which would not otherwise be subject to jurisdiction under this chapter or 310 CMR, or within 40 feet of said areas subject to flooding or inundation.
F. Seasonal wetlands, isolated wetlands, including kettle holes, or within 100 feet of said areas.
G. Vernal
Pool Resource Area shown in the table below. (See also definition.)
[Added 10-4-2007; amended 5-3-2018 by Ord. No. 18.064; 3-17-2022 by Ord. No. 21.355; 3-16-2023 by Ord. No. 23.246A]
| Zoning District and/or Area of City | Vernal Pool Resource Area Size |
---|
| Central Business Districts, Florence Village Districts, General Business, Neighborhood Business, Highway Business, Entranceway Business, General Industrial, Office Industrial, Planned Village, Medical, Urban Residential-B and Urban Residential-C and municipal landfill properties | Vernal pool and areas within 100 feet of the vernal pool |
| Nonresidential uses only in the Business Park District | Vernal pool and areas within 100 feet of the vernal pool |
| All areas in the Water Supply Protection Zone | Vernal pool and areas within 200 feet of the vernal pool |
| All other areas not shown above (residential uses in the Rural Residential, Suburban Residential, Special Conservancy, Urban Residential A, Farms, Forests and Recreation) | Vernal pool and areas within 200 feet of the vernal pool |
| Notes: * There is no additional buffer zone around a Vernal Pool Resource Area. |
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation of this chapter:
AGENT Any agent or Conservation Commission staff who is appointed agent by a majority vote of the Conservation Commission at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Commission.
ALTER Includes, without limitations, the following activities when undertaken to, upon, within or affecting resource areas protected by this chapter:
A. Removal, excavation or dredging of soil, sand, gravel, clay, minerals, or aggregate materials of any kind.
B. Changing of preexisting drainage characteristics, flushing characteristics, sedimentation patterns, flow patterns, or flood-retention characteristics.
C. Drainage or other disturbance of water level or water table.
D. Dumping, discharging or filling with any material which may degrade water quality.
E. Placing of fill, or removal of material, which would alter elevation.
F. Driving of piles, erection or repair of buildings, or structures of any kind.
G. Placing of obstructions or objects in water.
H. Destruction of plant life including cutting of trees.
I. Changing water temperature, biochemical oxygen demand, or other physical, chemical or biological characteristics of surface and ground water.
J. Any activities, changes or work which may cause or tend to contribute to pollution of any body of water or groundwater.
BUFFER ZONE That area of land extending 100 feet horizontally (40 feet for lands subject to flooding) from the boundary of the resource areas defined in §
337-2.
[Amended 10-4-2007]
CERTIFIED VERNAL POOL All certified vernal
pools plotted by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program's "Estimated Habitats of Rare Wetlands Wildlife and Certified Vernal
Pools Map." The Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program plots the geographic location of certified vernal
pools; however, applicants are required to delineate the boundary of the certified vernal
pool, which shall be reviewed by the Northampton Conservation Commission.
[Added 10-4-2007]
COMMISSION The duly appointed Conservation Commission of the City of Northampton.
DEGRADED AREA Areas of existing structures, buildings, fill, pavement, impervious surface, lack of topsoil, dump sites or releases of hazardous materials.
[Added 2-17-2011]
ISOLATED WETLANDS and SEASONAL WETLANDS Freshwater wetlands that do not border on creeks, rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes; isolated depressions which hold standing water for extended periods of time, such as kettle holes which are too small to be called ponds; and isolated depressions or closed basins which are subject to flooding during periods of high-water table and high input from spring runoff or snowmelt or heavy precipitation, and support populations of nontransient macroorganisms (wetland plants defined in MGL c. 131, § 40, or 310 CMR 10.00 or animals visible to the naked eye) or serve as breeding habitat for select species of amphibians which depend on wetlands for breeding habitat. Isolated and seasonal wetlands include temporary ponds and pools and vernal ponds and pools.
LANDS SUBJECT TO FLOODING Depressions or closed basins which serve as ponding areas for runoff, snowmelt, heavy precipitation, or high groundwater which has risen above the ground surface, and areas which flood from a rise in a bordering waterway or water body.
PERSON Includes any individual, group of individuals, association, partnership, corporation, company, business organization, trust, estate, the commonwealth or political subdivisions thereof to the extent subject to City ordinance, administrative agency, public or quasi-public corporation or body, this municipality, and any other legal entity, its legal representatives, agents or assigns.
[Amended 2-1-2007]
PRESUMED VERNAL POOL All confined basin depressions which, at least in most years, hold water for a minimum of two continuous months during the spring and/or summer, and are free of adult fish populations, and are at least 1,000 square feet in area. A presumed vernal
pool shall no longer be considered as a presumed vernal
pool if rebutted under §
337-10.
[Added 10-4-2007]
PROTECTED ZONE The area of land between the edge of a resource area and a parallel line located 50 feet away, measured horizontally, except as provided in §
337-10.
[Added 2-17-2011]
RESOURCE AREA The primary resource being protected by this chapter, which is the areas of jurisdiction defined in §
337-2 excluding the one-hundred-foot buffer (40 feet for lands subject to flooding).
SEASONAL WETLANDS Includes all confined basin depressions which, at least in most years, hold water for a minimum of two continuous months during the spring and/or summer, and are free of adult fish populations, and are less than 1,000 square feet in area, but larger than 30 square feet in area. Except as permitted by the Conservation Commission or as provided in this chapter, no person shall remove, fill, dredge, build upon, or alter seasonal wetlands or within 100 feet of seasonal wetlands.
[Added 10-4-2007]
VERNAL POOL RESOURCE AREA Includes the certified vernal
pool, presumed vernal
pool and an area, as described in the table in §
337-2, extending laterally from the mean annual high water line defining the depression, but shall not include existing lawns, gardens, and landscaped or developed areas. There is no additional buffer zone around a vernal
pool resource area. Presumed vernal
pools shall be protected as a vernal
pool resource area until and unless the presumption is rebutted under §
337-10.
[Added 10-4-2007]
[Amended 9-20-1990]
Any person desiring to know whether or not a proposed activity or an area is subject to this chapter must request in writing a determination from the Commission. Such a request shall contain at least two copies of all data, forms, and plans specified by this chapter and the Commission and must include permission for the Commission and its agents to enter the property for the purpose of evaluating the request.
A. The Commission in an appropriate case may accept as the request under this chapter the request for determination of applicability filed under the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40.
B. Written permit application shall be filed with the Commission to perform activities regulated by this chapter affecting resource areas protected by this chapter. The application shall include at least two copies of all plans, forms, and such information as is deemed necessary by the Commission to describe proposed activities and their effects on the environment and must include permission for the Commission and its agents to enter the property for the purpose of evaluating the request and monitoring the project. When applications include drainage calculations or the design of any facility that will be dedicated to the City of Northampton, one copy of the application shall be delivered to the Director of Public Works or his/her designee. No activities shall commence without receiving and complying with a permit issued pursuant to this chapter.
[Amended 12-4-2014]
C. The Commission in an appropriate case may accept as the application and plans under this chapter the notice of intent and plans filed under the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40.
D. At the time of an application or request, the applicant shall pay a filing fee in addition to the fee paid under the Wetlands Protection Act and 310 CMR, unless the applicant is a public agency or board of the City of Northampton. Fees shall be placed in the Wetlands Fees Account established as required under state law to hold fees from the Wetlands Protection Act. The required permit fees are as set forth in Chapter 174, Fees.
[Amended 6-1-2000; 6-7-2001; 2-1-2007]
E. In addition, the Commission is authorized to require the applicant to pay all the costs and expenses of any expert consultant deemed necessary by the Commission to review the application or resource area.
[Amended 9-20-1990; 10-4-2007]
A. An application for any wetland permit (notice of intent, request for determination of applicability, or abbreviated notice of resource area delineation) shall be hand delivered or sent by certified mail, return receipt, or certificate of mailing to the Conservation Commission, care of the Northampton Office of Planning and Development. Said applicant shall give written notice to the owner if other than the applicant and, with the exception of a request for determination of applicability, to all abutters at their mailing addresses shown on the most recent applicable tax list of the assessors, including owners of land directly opposite on any public or private street or way, and other property owners within 100 feet of the property line of the applicant, including any in another municipality or across a body of water. The notice to abutters shall state where copies of the application or request may be examined and obtained by abutters and shall state where information on the date and time of the public hearing may be obtained. An affidavit of the person providing such notice, with a copy of the notice mailed or delivered, shall be filed with the Commission as part of the application.
B. After the application/request is received, the applicant shall place a public notice sign provided by the Conservation Commission, facing a public right-of-way and visible from the right-of-way at the edge of the property upon which the permit or request is being made.
[Amended 10-21-2010]
(1) Said sign shall notify the public that an application or request is pending on the property.
(2) Said sign shall be posted at least five working days before the first public hearing on the application or request.
(3) A signed statement of the person posting said sign stating that the required sign was provided shall be filed with the Commission prior to the public hearing.
C. The Commission shall conduct a public hearing on any application, notice of intent, abbreviated notice of resource area delineation (ANRAD), or request for determination of applicability. Notice of said hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City at least five working days prior to said hearing at the expense of the applicant. The published notice, which shall be prepared by the Commission, shall contain the following information: the date, time, and place of the hearing; the location of the property affected; the name of the applicant; and the action requested from the Commission. The Commission shall deliver the notice to the newspaper.
[Amended 10-21-2010]
(1) The Commission shall commence the public hearing within 28 days from receipt of a completed application (one which shows all the information, based on a staff determination, necessary to make a decision), unless the applicant extends the time period by a written waiver.
(2) The Commission shall have authority to continue the hearing to a date and time announced at the hearing for reasons stated at the hearing, which may include the receipt of additional information offered by the applicant or others, information and plans required of the applicant, deemed necessary by the Commission, or comments and recommendations of other boards and officials of the City of Northampton. In the event the applicant objects to a continuance or postponement, the hearing shall be closed and the Commission shall take action on such information as is available.
(3) In addition, when there is snow on the ground and/or the ground is frozen, the Commission may continue a hearing until the snow melts and/or the ground thaws if it determines that an accurate wetland delineation is not possible otherwise.
D. The Commission shall issue its permit, permit denial, or determination in writing within 21 days of the close of the public hearing, unless an extension is authorized in writing or at the public hearing by the applicant.
E. The Commission shall combine its hearing under this chapter with the hearing conducted under the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and regulations, 310 CMR 10.00, in instances of concurrent jurisdiction.
[Amended 9-20-1990; 12-4-2014]
The Commission shall provide copies of its agenda to the Planning Department, Director of Public Works or his/her designee and Building Inspector. The Commission shall not take final action until five working days after such officials have received their notice of the application. The Commission shall consider recommendations from those officials and any other City boards and officials but they shall not be binding on the Commission.
After public notice and public hearing, the Commission shall promulgate required forms and submittal requirements to accomplish the purposes of this chapter. The Commission may amend its required forms and submittal requirements after public notice and public hearing. Failure by the Commission to promulgate such forms and submittal requirements or a legal declaration of their invalidity by a court of law shall not act to suspend or invalidate the effect of this chapter.
As part of a permit issued under this chapter, except for permits issued for work being performed or contracted by any department or agency of the City of Northampton, and in addition to any security required by any other municipal or state board or agency, the Commission may require that the performance and observance of the conditions imposed hereunder be secured wholly or in part by one or more of the methods described below:
A. A financial guarantee, such as a proper bond or deposit of money or negotiable securities or other undertaking of financial responsibility sufficient in the opinion of the Commission. Surety performance bonds, cash escrows, and standby letters of credit are the usual forms of financial guarantees that will be accepted. Property escrows will not be accepted. Permittees shall submit their estimates of what the required improvements will cost, preferably with contractors' bids to perform the work
(1) The term of any financial guarantees must be at least nine months longer than the time a permittee has to complete a project. The Commission, at its discretion, may allow partial or complete release of guaranteed funds as sections of a project are completed. The Commission has the right not to release part of the guaranteed funds until after the project is finished and a certificate of compliance is issued.
(2) The Commission has the right to reject the terms of a proposed financial guarantee, including the financial institution holding guaranteed funds if it is not a local bank, and to determine the amount of funds that must be guaranteed. The Commission's only duty to secure release of guaranteed funds is to certify that required improvements or conditions have not been completed on time or to a satisfactory standard, as defined by the Commission.
(3) At the discretion of the Commission, a joint financial guarantee may be used to comply with Commission requirements and that of other agencies, boards, and commissions in the City of Northampton; provided, however, that all relevant parties agree on the terms and the principal and that the guarantee is structured so that all relevant parties agree before any funds are released.
B. A conservation restriction, easement, or other covenant enforceable in a court of law, executed and duly recorded by the owner of record, running with the land to the benefit of this municipality and observed before any lot may be conveyed other than by mortgage deed.
The applicant for a permit shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the credible evidence that the work proposed in the application will not have, in the opinion of the Conservation Commission, unacceptable significant or cumulative effect upon the wetland values protected by this chapter. Failure to provide adequate evidence to the Commission supporting this burden shall be sufficient cause for the Commission to deny a permit or grant a permit with conditions.
[Added 10-21-2010]
A decision of the Commission shall be reviewable in the Superior Court in accordance with MGL c. 249, § 4. Appeals shall be made within 10 business days of the date of the decision by the Commission, or the date of the signing and/or notarization of said decision, whichever is the later. Notice of said appeal and a copy of the complaint shall be sent, certified mail, or hand-delivered, to the Conservation Commission so as to be received within said 10 days.