These regulations shall be known and may be cited as the "Regulations
for the Issuance of Site Preparation Permits in the City of Rochester."
All site preparation and associated activities requiring a site
preparation permit shall be in conformance with the provisions set
forth herein.
The Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development or
his or her legal representative shall be the authority having jurisdiction
for the purpose of administering these regulations. The City Engineer
shall be the legal representative of the Commissioner for the purposes
of site work within the right-of-way.
As used in this article, in addition to the terms defined in §
39-201, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
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 land disturbance activity.
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION
A signed statement by the Commissioner that specific construction
has been inspected and found to comply with all grading plans and
specifications.
CITY ENGINEER
The City Engineer of the City or an authorized representative.
CLEARING
Any activity which removes the vegetative surface cover.
COMMISSIONER
The Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development
or his or her legal representative.
DESIGNATED AGENT
Individual(s) directed by the City of Rochester to conduct
site inspections and/or perform other municipal duties.
DRAINAGE
The gravitational movement of water or other liquids by surface
runoff or subsurface flow.
EARTHWORK
Construction activities, including clearing, grading, excavating,
soil disturbance or placement of fill, that result in land disturbance.
EROSION
The process by which the ground surface is worn away by action
of wind, water, gravity or a combination thereof.
EXCAVATION OR CUT
Any act by which soil or rock is cut into, dug, quarried,
uncovered, removed, displaced or relocated, and also included shall
be the conditions resulting therefrom.
FILLING
Any activity which deposits natural or artificial material
so as to modify the surface or subsurface conditions of land, lakes,
ponds or watercourses.
FINAL STABILIZATION
All soil-disturbing activities at the site have been completed
and a uniform perennial vegetative cover with density of 80% has been
established or equivalent measures such as the use of mulches or geotextiles
have been employed on all unpaved areas and areas not covered by permanent
structures.
GRADING
Any stripping, excavating, filling, stockpiling or any combination
thereof, and also included shall be the land in its excavated or filled
condition.
INSPECTOR OF RECORD
A person who is hired by the owner to monitor the site preparation
and SWPPP requirements on a regular basis and prepare reports.
LAND DISTURBANCE 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
land disturbance activities may take place at different times on different
schedules.
LICENSED PROFESSIONAL
A person currently licensed to practice engineering in New
York State or a registered landscape architect.
MULCHING
The application of a layer of plant residue or other material
for the purpose of effectively controlling erosion.
NEW YORK STATE STORMWATER MANAGEMENT DESIGN MANUAL
The New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual, most
recent version, including applicable updates, that serves as the official
guide for stormwater management principles, methods and practices.
NOTICE OF INTENT (NOI)
Letter sent to the New York State DEC from an owner or his,
her or its representative informing the DEC of his or her intent to
undertake a project requiring a SPDES permit.
NOTICE OF TERMINATION (NOT)
Letter sent to the New York State DEC from an owner or his,
her or its representative informing the DEC that the construction
phase of the project has been completed.
PERMIT
Site preparation permit.
PHASING
Clearing a parcel of land in distinct sections, with the
stabilization of each section before the clearing of the next.
QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL
A person knowledgeable in the principles and practices of
erosion and sediment controls, such as a licensed professional engineer
or a registered landscape architect.
RATIONAL METHOD
A method of estimating the runoff in a drainage basin at
a specific point and time by means of the rational runoff formula.
RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUAL
As related to inspection of construction site erosion controls,
any person with an in-depth understanding of the principles and practices
of erosion and sediment control, stormwater management and the proper
procedures and techniques for the installation and maintenance of
erosion and sediment control features.
SEDIMENT
Solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in suspension,
is being transported, has been deposited or has been removed from
its site of origin by erosion.
SILVICULTURAL ACTIVITY
Activities that control the establishment, growth, composition,
health and quality of forests and woodlands.
SITE
A parcel of land or a contiguous combination thereof, where
grading work is performed as a single unified operation.
SITE PLAN APPROVAL
The examination and subsequent authorization to proceed with
a project based upon a drawing prepared to specifications and containing
necessary elements which show the arrangement, layout and design of
the proposed use of a single parcel of land as shown on said plan.
SITE PREPARATION
Site preparation shall include but is not limited to filling,
stripping of vegetation, grading or altering existing topography for
any purposes whatsoever.
SOIL
All unconsolidated mineral or nonliving organic material
of whatever origin which overlies bedrock.
SPDES
State Pollution Discharge Elimination System.
STABILIZATION
The use of practices that prevent exposed soil from eroding.
START OF CONSTRUCTION
The first land disturbance activity associated with a development,
including land preparation such as clearing, grading and filling;
installation of streets and walkways; excavation for basements, footings,
piers or foundations; erection of temporary forms; and installation
of accessory buildings such as garages.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
The use of structural or nonstructural practices that are
designed to reduce stormwater runoff, pollutant loads, discharge volumes,
and/or peak flow discharge rates.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT OFFICER
The Commissioner or his/her authorized representative shall
be the Stormwater Management Officer for all work outside the right-of-way,
and the City Engineer shall be the Stormwater Management Officer for
all work within the right-of-way. A consultant cannot be appointed
as a Stormwater Management Officer. The Stormwater Management Officer
shall accept and review stormwater pollution prevention plans and
inspect stormwater management practices.
STORMWATER RUNOFF
The flow on the surface of the ground, resulting from precipitation.
STRIPPING
Any activity which removes or significantly disturbs the
vegetative surface cover, including clearing and grubbing operations.
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.
TOPSOIL
The natural surface layer of soil, usually darker than subsurface
layers, to a depth of at least six inches within an undisturbed area
of soils.
WATERCOURSE
Any natural or artificial stream, river, creek, ditch, channel,
canal, conduit, culvert, drainageway, gully, ravine, or wash in which
water flows in a definite direction or course, either continuously
or intermittently, and which has a definite channel, bed and banks,
and any area adjacent thereto subject to inundation by reason of overflow,
flood or stormwater.
WATERWAY
A channel that directs surface runoff to a watercourse or
to the public storm drain.
WETLANDS
Areas of aquatic or semiaquatic vegetation, or any areas
which have been mapped as such by the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation under the New York State Freshwater Wetlands
Act or the United States Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife
Service for the National Wetlands Inventory.
The City of Rochester may, at its discretion, require the applicant to submit a financial guarantee in a form acceptable to the City of Rochester prior to issuance of site plan approval or a permit in order to insure that the stormwater pollution prevention and erosion and sediment control practices are implemented and maintained by the applicant as required by the approved SWPPP. The amount of the financial guarantee shall be the total estimated construction cost of the stormwater pollution prevention and erosion and sediment control practices approved, plus a contingency. The financial guarantee shall contain forfeiture provisions for failure to complete work specified in the SWPPP. The financial guarantee shall be released in full only upon satisfaction of the requirements listed in §
39-413B. At its discretion, the City of Rochester may allow for a partial release of the financial guarantee based on the completion of various development stages.
No person shall construct, enlarge, alter, repair, or maintain any grading, excavation, or fill, or cause the same to be done, contrary to or in violation of any terms of this Part. Violations of this Part I of Article
IV of Chapter
39 shall be considered high violations for purposes of the penalties set forth in §
13A-11D of the Municipal Code.