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 stream bank 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 base flow.
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 Poestenkill,
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 (post-construction 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, or as amended or revised.
B. Require land development activities to conform to the substantive
requirements of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's
(SPDES) general permit for construction activities, GP-02-01, or 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 base flow 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 Town Board of the Town of Poestenkill
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 Poestenkill 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.
COMMENCEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION
The initial disturbance of soils associated with clearing,
grading, or excavating activities, or other construction activities.
CLEARING
Any activity that removes the vegetative surface cover.
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 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."
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.
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
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 who is 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 an
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 New York State 2002 Section 303(d)
list of impaired water bodies. The operator of a minor project must
submit an SWPPP that addresses erosion and sedimentation controls.
REDEVELOPMENT
Refers to the reconstruction of or modification to any existing,
previously developed land such as residential, commercial, industrial,
institutional, or road or highway, which involves soil disturbance.
SELECTIVE CUTTING
The cutting of more than 1/2 of the existing living trees
measuring six inches in diameter at breast height (DBH) in an area
of one acre or more over a period of two consecutive years.
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.
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 (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.
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.
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)
When 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 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 that
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.
WATERCOURSE BUFFER
A horizontal distance 25 feet away from and parallel to the
high-water level of a watercourse.
WETLANDS
Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water
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 United States
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 contain said professional's 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."
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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, nor visible oil film or
globules of grease.
The applicant or developer of the land development activity
or its 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%.