All lots or open lands, whether or not proposed
for use, reuse, development or redevelopment, shall be subject to
review in accordance with the environmental review procedures established
in the following Village of Tarrytown local laws: Chapter 173, Freshwater
Wetlands;[1] Chapter 191, Historic Districts and Landmarks; Chapter 169, Flood Damage Prevention; Chapter 281, Trees; and Chapter 147, Article I, Environmental Quality Review Actions; and any other local laws relating to matters regulating the natural or built environment which may be presently in effect or placed in effect at some future date. All matters requiring Planning Board or other Village agency review pursuant to this chapter and also pursuant to local laws noted in this section, including but not limited to the preparation and/or review of environmental assessments and draft or final environmental impact statements and their review, as such may be requested by the Village, shall be paid for by the applicant within the fee structure as established by Chapter 147, Article I, Environmental Quality Review Actions, known as the "New Environmental Quality Review Act."
A.
The purpose of this section is to define and quantify
particular environmental and aesthetically sensitive characteristics
of the Village of Tarrytown in order to preserve and safeguard those
features that identify its landscape: steep slopes, areas of high
ground, hilltops and vegetation. Toward this end and in the course
of subdivision, site development plan, compatible use permit or any
other regulatory procedure embraced by this chapter or other local
laws, codes or ordinances of the Village of Tarrytown, the Planning
Board shall restrict new construction and/or vegetation removal in
such designated areas.
(1)
The restrictions are designed to achieve the following
objectives:
(a)
Minimizing erosion and sedimentation, including
the loss of topsoil;
(b)
Preventing habitat disturbance;
(c)
Protecting against possible slope failure and
landslides;
(d)
Minimizing stormwater runoff and flooding;
(e)
Providing safe and stable building sites;
(f)
Protecting the quantity and quality of the Village's
surface water and groundwater resources
(g)
Protecting important scenic vistas, slopes,
rock outcroppings and mature vegetation;
(h)
Preserving the Village's attractive aesthetic
character and property values; and
(i)
Otherwise protecting the public health, safety
and general welfare of the Village of Tarrytown and its residents.
(2)
The restrictions are intended to encourage preservation
of the following areas:
(a)
Steep slopes: a grade of 25% or more.
(b)
High ground: 300 feet or more above sea level.
(c)
Hilltops: In areas of high ground (at least
300 feet above sea level), a roughly circular area defined by a radius
of 100 horizontal feet from the highest point of a hill. A hill shall
be defined as a landform that rises at least 10 feet above the average
elevation for the circumference of the circular area with a radius
of 100 feet from that highest point.
(d)
Wetlands: as defined by the New York State Environmental
Conservation Law, regulations and maps and by the Village of Tarrytown
Chapter 173, Freshwater Wetlands.[1]
(e)
Significant amounts of existing vegetation,
as follows:
[1]
Any tree designated for preservation and protection by Chapter 281 of the Tarrytown Municipal Code, which requires a tree removal permit process for all trees exceeding four inches in diameter at a height of four feet six inches; and prohibits any removal of 12 listed "specimen" trees unless the Tree Commission determines that they are a danger to persons and property, or are diseased and cannot be saved.
[2]
Screening vegetative ground cover, including
saplings, shrubs and bushes.
(f)
Watersheds and watercourses.
B.
The Planning Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals and
the Building Inspector of the Village of Tarrytown shall ensure that
those portions of sites under review which contain wetlands or steep
slopes shall be excluded from use in the construction of principal
or accessory uses permitted within the district in which said sites
are located. Fifty percent of said wetlands and steep slope areas
shall be excluded from any and all density calculations pertaining
to minimum lot size, coverage and other density calculations. The
Planning Board may permit the use of said wetlands or steep slopes
for flood control and other land protection and management practices
and/or uses considered to be of a similar beneficial nature by the
Planning Board.
C.
The Planning Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Building Inspector of the Village of Tarrytown shall ensure that on portions of the sites under review which are within the area defined as high ground in Subsection A(2)(b), 25% of said area of high ground be excluded from all density calculations pertaining to minimum lot size, coverage and other density calculations. However, if the maximum height of any structure or building in the area of high ground is limited to 30 vertical feet as measured on the easterly side of the structure or building erected on the easterly slope of the area of high ground or measured on the westerly side of any structure or building erected on the westerly slope of the area of high ground, from the natural slope, the twenty-five-percent reduction in density calculations shall not apply.
E.
Slope map requirements. For the purpose of determining
the amount and location of land falling into the above-noted slope
provisions, the applicant shall submit to the Planning Board at the
time of application a base topographical map of the site, prepared
by a registered civil engineer or land surveyor. Such a map shall
have a scale of not less than one inch to 200 feet and a contour interval
of not more than two feet, provided that the contour interval may
be 10 feet when the slope is more than 20%. Slope bands in the range
of 0% to 24% and 25% or greater shall be shown on the map. The applicant
shall provide an image-capture computer simulation of the proposed
structure or building and the site.
F.
Steep slopes waiver provision.
(1)
Justification for grant of waiver.
(a)
Any aggrieved person may apply to the Planning
Board for a waiver from the steep slope provisions of this chapter.
Such request may be granted only if the applicant establishes that
there is a compelling public need for development of the parcel in
question based upon one of the following:
[1]
The proposed development will serve an essential
health or safety need of the municipality such that the public benefits
from the proposed use override the importance of the protection of
the slope area as established in this chapter; that the proposed use
is required to serve existing needs of the residents; and that no
feasible alternatives exist outside the slope area to meet such established
public need; or
[2]
The proposed development constitutes an adaptive
reuse of an historic, ecological or scenic resource and said reuse
is necessary to ensure the integrity and continued protection of the
resource.
(b)
In the alternative, a waiver may be granted
if the applicant establishes that the benefit to the applicant outweighs
the detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the neighborhood
or community by such grant. In making such determination the Planning
Board will also consider the following:
[1]
Whether an undesirable change will be produced
in the character of the neighborhood;
[2]
Whether the benefit sought by the applicant
can be achieved by some method, feasible for the applicant to pursue,
other than a steep slopes waiver;
[3]
Whether the waiver will result in a change which
will be materially detrimental or injurious to other properties or
improvements in the area in which the subject property is located,
increase the danger of fire or flood, endanger public safety or result
in substantial impairment of a slope area;
[4]
Whether the waiver will be inconsistent with
the purposes, objectives or the general spirit and intent of this
chapter.
(2)
Additional findings required. An application for a
waiver to permit development on or near a slope area may be approved
only if the Planning Board specifically finds that:
(a)
The proposed development will not be materially
detrimental or injurious to other properties or improvements in the
area in which the subject property is located, increase the danger
of fire or flood, endanger public safety or result in substantial
impairment of a slope area;
(b)
The waiver will not be inconsistent with the
purposes, objectives or the general spirit and intent of this chapter;
and
(c)
The waiver is the minimum relief necessary to
relieve the extraordinary hardship established by the applicant.
(3)
When a steep slopes waiver is sought for an applicant
under a subdivision application, the Planning Board shall not grant
a steep slopes waiver unless the applicant can show that a subdivision
application for the number of lots requested could be achieved without
a steep slopes waiver. Furthermore, in the case of a subdivision application,
the Planning Board must find that there will be a greater overall
environmental benefit to granting the subdivision with the steep slopes
waiver than it would be to grant a subdivision approval without a
steep slopes waiver.
(4)
A waiver granted under the provisions of this section
does not constitute an approval of the entire development proposal
nor does it constitute a waiver of any other requirements contained
within any other applicable local, county or state laws or ordinances
or regulations.
