It is hereby determined that:
A. Uncontrolled drainage and runoff associated with land
development has a significant impact upon the health, safety and welfare of
the community.
B. Eroded soil endangers water resources by reducing water
quality and causing the silting of streams, lakes and other water bodies,
adversely affecting aquatic life.
C. Stormwater runoff and sediment transports pollutants
such as heavy metals, hydrocarbons, nutrients and bacteria to water resources,
degrading water quality.
D. Eroded soil necessitates repair and accelerates the maintenance
needs of stormwater management facilities.
E. Clearing, grading and altering natural topography during
construction tends to increase erosion.
F. Improper design and construction of drainage facilities
can increase the velocity of runoff, thereby increasing streambank erosion
and sedimentation.
G. Impervious surfaces increase the volume and rate of stormwater
runoff and allow less water to percolate into the soil, thereby decreasing
groundwater recharge and stream baseflow.
H. Improperly managed stormwater runoff can increase the
incidence of flooding and the severity of floods that occur, endangering property
and human life.
I. Substantial economic losses can result from these adverse
impacts.
J. Stormwater runoff, soil erosion and nonpoint source pollution
can be controlled and minimized through the regulation of land development
activities.
The purpose of this chapter is to safeguard persons, protect property,
and prevent damage to the environment in the Town of Sand Lake, New York.
This chapter will also promote the public welfare by guiding, regulating,
and controlling the design, construction, use, and maintenance of any land
development activity as it relates to erosion and sedimentation control and
stormwater management. This chapter seeks to meet these purposes by achieving
the following objectives:
A. Meet the requirements of minimum control measures four
(construction site stormwater runoff control) and five (postconstruction stormwater
management) of the State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) General
Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer
Systems (MS4s), Permit GP-02-02, as amended or revised.
B. Require land development activities to conform to the
substantive requirements of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
(SPDES) General Permit for Construction Activities GP-02-01, as amended or
revised.
C. Minimize soil erosion and sedimentation impacts on streams,
water bodies, and neighboring properties.
D. Avoid excessive and/or unnecessary tree and vegetation
removal.
E. Minimize windblown soil associated with properties being
cleared and graded for development.
F. Maintain the integrity of watercourses and sustain their
hydrologic functions.
G. Minimize increases in the magnitude and frequency of
stormwater runoff to prevent an increase in flood flows and the hazards and
costs associated with flooding.
H. Minimize decreases in groundwater recharge and stream
baseflow to maintain aquatic life, assimilative capacity, and water supplies.
I. Facilitate the removal of pollutants in stormwater runoff
to perpetuate the natural biological function of water bodies.
In accordance with § 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law of
the State of New York, the governing board of the Town of Sand Lake has the
authority to enact local laws and amend local laws for the purpose of promoting
the health, safety or general welfare of the Town of Sand Lake and for the
protection and enhancement of its physical environment. The Town Board may
include in any such local law provisions for the appointment of any municipal
officer, employees, or independent contractor to effectuate, administer and
enforce such local law.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
AGRICULTURE
The use of land for sound agricultural purposes, including farming,
dairy, horse boarding, pasturing, grazing, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture,
timber harvesting, animal and poultry husbandry, and those practices necessary
for the on-farm production, preparation, and marketing of agricultural commodities.
Agriculture does not include dude ranches or similar operations.
CLEARING
Any activity that removes the vegetative surface cover.
COMMENCEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION
The initial disturbance of soils associated with clearing, grading,
or excavating activities, or other construction activities.
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.
EROSION
The wearing away of the land surface by action of wind, water, gravity,
or other natural forces.
EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PLAN
A set of plans prepared by or under the direction of a licensed/certified
professional indicating the specific measures and sequencing to be used to
control sediment and erosion on a development site during and after construction.
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 of fill, rock, gravel, sand, soil or other natural material,
including the resulting conditions therefrom.
LAND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY
Construction activity, including clearing, grading, excavating, soil
disturbance, or placement of fill, resulting in land disturbance of equal
to or greater than one acre. Also includes activities disturbing less than
one acre of total land area that are part of a larger common plan of development
or sale, even though multiple separate and distinct land development activities
may take place at different times on different schedules.
LICENSED/CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL
A person currently licensed to practice engineering or landscape
architecture in New York State, or a certified professional in erosion and
sediment control (CPESC).
MINING
Any excavation subject to permitting requirements of the State Department
of Environmental Conservation under the Mined Land Reclamation Law (Environmental
Conservation Law Article 23, Title 27).
NOTICE OF INTENT (NOI)
A permit application prepared and filed by an owner or operator with
the Department of Environmental Conservation as an affirmation that a stormwater
pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) has been prepared and will be implemented
in compliance with the State Pollution Discharge Elimination System General
Permit for Stormwater Runoff for Construction Activity (GP-02-01).
OPERATOR
The person, persons, or legal entity which owns or leases the property
on which the construction activity is occurring.
PERIMETER CONTROL
A barrier that prevents sediment from leaving a site by filtering
sediment-laden runoff or diverting it to a sediment trap or basin.
PHASING
Clearing a parcel of land in distinct phases, with the stabilization
of each phase completed before the clearing of the next.
PROJECT, MAJOR
Any land development activity that disturbs one acre or more, including
all commercial, industrial, or mixed use development, as well as any residential
development consisting of buildings that contain two or more dwelling units,
or any land development activity not classified as a minor project. The operator
of a major project must submit a SWPPP that addresses water quality and quantity
controls in addition to erosion and sedimentation controls.
PROJECT, MINOR
Any land development activity associated with a permitted agricultural
use or single family residential construction/subdivision that disturbs between
one and five acres and is not discharging stormwater directly to a water body
listed on the 2002 New York State Section 303(d) list of impaired water bodies.
The operator of a minor project must submit a SWPPP that addresses erosion
and sedimentation controls.
REDEVELOPMENT
The reconstruction or modification to any existing, previously developed
land such as residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, or road or
highway which involves soil disturbance.
SEDIMENT
Solid material, both mineral and organic, which is in suspension,
is being transported, has been deposited, or has been removed from its site
of origin.
SELECTIVE CUTTING
The cutting of more than one-half of the existing, living trees measuring
a six-inch diameter at breast height (DBH) in an area of one acre or more,
over a period of two consecutive years.
SITE
A parcel of land or a contiguous combination thereof where grading
work is performed as a single unified operation.
SITE DEVELOPMENT PERMIT
A permit issued by the municipality for the construction or alteration
of ground improvements and structures for the control of erosion, runoff,
and grading.
SLOPES, SEVERE
Ground areas with a slope greater than 25% covering a minimum horizontal
area of 1/4 acre or 10,890 square feet and a minimum horizontal dimension
of 10 feet.
SLOPES, STEEP
Ground areas with a slope greater than 15% covering a minimum horizontal
area of 1/4 acre or 10,890 square feet and a minimum horizontal dimension
of 10 feet.
STABILIZATION
Covering or maintaining an existing cover or soil. Cover can be vegetative
(e.g. grass, trees, seed and mulch, shrubs, or turf) or nonvegetative (e.g.
geotextiles, riprap, or gabions).
STABILIZATION, FINAL
All soil disturbing activities at the site have been completed, and
a uniform perennial vegetative cover with a density of 80% has been established
or equivalent stabilization measures (such as the use of mulches or geotextiles)
have been employed on all unpaved areas and areas not covered by permanent
structures.
START OF CONSTRUCTION
The first land-disturbing activity associated with a development,
including land preparation such as clearing, grading, and filling.
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 undergroundwaters), 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
Any body of water, including but not limited to lakes, ponds, rivers,
streams, and intermittent streams.
WETLANDS
Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater
at a frequency or duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances
do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated
soil conditions. Wetlands include those areas determined to be wetlands by
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation.
The SWPPP shall be prepared by a licensed/certified professional. The
SWPPP must be signed by the professional preparing the plan and shall make
the following certification: "I certify under penalty of law that this document
and all attachments were prepared under my direction or supervision in accordance
with a system designed to assure that qualified personnel properly gathered
and evaluated the information submitted. Based on my inquiry of the person
or persons who manage the system, or those persons directly responsible for
gathering the information, the information submitted is, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, true, accurate, and complete. I am aware that false
statements made herein are punishable as a class A misdemeanor pursuant to
§ 210.45 of the Penal Law."
Any land development activity shall not result in:
A. An increase in turbidity that will cause a substantial
visible contrast to natural conditions in surface waters of New York State;
B. An increase in suspended, colloidal and settleable solids
that will cause deposition or impair the waters for their best uses; or
C. Residue from oil and floating substances, visible oil
film, or globules of grease.
The applicant or developer of the land development activity or their
representative shall at all times properly operate and maintain all facilities
and systems of treatment and control (and related appurtenances) which are
installed or used by the applicant or developer to achieve compliance with
the conditions of this chapter. Sediment shall be removed from sediment traps
or sediment ponds whenever their design capacity has been reduced by 50%.