The purpose of this Water Resource District is to:
A.
Promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the community
by ensuring an adequate quality and quantity of drinking water for
the residents, institutions, and businesses of the Town of Bellingham;
B.
Preserve and protect existing and potential sources of drinking water
supplies;
C.
Conserve the natural resources of the Town; and
D.
Prevent temporary and permanent contamination of the environment.
The Water Resource District is an overlay district superimposed
on the zoning districts. This overlay district shall apply to all
new construction, reconstruction, or expansion of existing buildings
and new or expanded uses. Applicable activities/uses in a portion
of one of the underlying zoning districts that fall within the Water
Resource District must additionally comply with the requirements of
this district. Uses prohibited in the underlying zoning districts
shall not be permitted in the Water Resource District.
A.
Throughout this bylaw there are references to various Massachusetts
General Laws (M.G.L.) and Code of Massachusetts Regulations (CMR).
The following is a list of those referenced:
B.
All such laws, codes, and regulations as they apply to this bylaw
are effective only as they exist at the date of acceptance of this
bylaw and not as they may be subsequently amended. Copies of these
laws, codes, and regulations as they apply to this bylaw are on file
with the Zoning Inspector.
For the purposes of this article, the following terms are defined
below:
Geologic formation composed of rock, sand or gravel that
contains significant amounts of potentially recoverable water.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
Any substance or mixture of physical, chemical, or infectious
characteristics posing a significant, actual, or potential hazard
to water supplies or other hazards to human health if such substance
or mixture were discharged to land or water in the Town of Bellingham.
Hazardous materials include, without limitation: synthetic organic
chemicals; petroleum products, heavy metals; radioactive or infectious
wastes; acids and alkalis; solvents and thinners in quantities greater
than normal household use; and all substances defined as hazardous
or toxic under M.G.L. chs. 21C and 21E and 310 CMR 30.00.
Material or structure on, above, or below the ground that
does not allow precipitation or surface water to penetrate directly
into the soil.
A facility established in accordance with a valid site assignment
for the purposes of disposing solid waste into or on the land, pursuant
to 310 CMR 19.006.
Wastewater discharges from industrial and commercial facilities
containing wastes from any activity other than collection of sanitary
sewage, including, but not limited to, activities specified in the
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes set forth in 310 CMR
15.004(6).
A facility which is operated or maintained in violation of
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act [42 U.S.C. 4004(a)(b)],
or the regulations and criteria for solid waste disposal.
Areas which could provide significant potable water in the
future.
The liquid, solid, and semi-solid contents of privies, chemical
toilets, cesspools, holding tanks, or other sewage waste receptacles.
Septage does not include any material, which is a hazardous waste,
pursuant to 310 CMR 30.000.
The solid, semi-solid, and liquid residue that results from
a process of wastewater treatment or drinking water treatment. Sludge
does not include grit, screening, or grease and oil which are removed
at the headworks of a facility.
Special permit granting authority.
Any and all devices, processes and properties, real or personal,
used in the collection, pumping, transmission, storage, treatment,
disposal, recycling, reclamation, or reuse of waterborne pollutants,
but not including any works receiving a hazardous waste from off the
site of the works for the purpose of treatment, storage, or disposal.
Any public or private entity, other than residential, which
produces less than 27 gallons (100 kilograms) a month of hazardous
waste or waste oil, but not including any acutely hazardous waste
as defined in 310 CMR 30.136.
A waste oil collection facility for automobile service stations,
retail outlets, and marinas which is sheltered and has adequate protection
to contain a spill, seepage, or discharge of petroleum waste products
in accordance with M.G.L. ch. 21, § 52A.
The zoning district defined to overlay other zoning districts
in the Town of Bellingham.
For the purposes of this district, there are hereby established
within the Town certain groundwater protection areas, consisting of
aquifers which are delineated on a map. This map is entitled "Water
Resource District Map, Town of Bellingham." This map is attached to
the Town Zoning Bylaw and is further on file in the office of the
Town Clerk.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: A copy of the Water Resource District Map is
included as an attachment to this chapter.
A.
Timing. Any private party intending to submit an application for
building construction, land development, or earth moving exceeding
1,500 cubic yards on land, which may be fully or partially within
the Water Resource District must meet with the Zoning Inspector, who
will determine if the project is subject to this bylaw. If so determined,
said private party shall meet with the SPGA at a public meeting to
discuss the proposed development in general terms, determine if a
special permit under this bylaw is required, and establish the plan
filing requirements.
B.
The SPGA shall meet with an applicant within 21 days following a
written request submitted to the SPGA and the Town Clerk. If the SPGA
fails to meet with an applicant who has requested such a meeting within
21 days of said request and said meeting has not been postponed due
to mutual agreement, the applicant may proceed with a special permit
application without need for a pre-application conference.
C.
Filing requirements. The purpose of the pre-application conference
shall be to inform the SPGA as to the preliminary nature of the proposed
project, and, as such, no formal filings are required for the conference.
However, the applicant is encouraged to meet with the Town Planner
to discuss the preparation and submission of sufficient preliminary
site design or engineering drawings to inform the SPGA of the scale
and overall design of the proposed project.
The following uses are prohibited within the Water Resource
District:
A.
Landfills and open dumps as defined in 310 CMR 19.006.
B.
Automobile graveyards and junkyards, as defined in M.G.L. ch. 140B,
§ 1.
C.
Landfills receiving only wastewater and/or septage residuals, including
those approved by the Department.
D.
Facilities that generate, treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste
that are subject to MGL ch. 21C and 310 CMR 30.00, except for:
(1)
Very small quantity generators as defined under 310 CMR 30.000;
(2)
Household hazardous waste centers and events under 310 CMR 30.390;
(3)
Waste oil retention facilities required by M.G.L. ch. 21, § 52A;
(4)
Water remediation treatment works approved by DEP for the treatment
of contaminated ground or surface waters.
E.
Petroleum, fuel oil, and heating oil bulk stations and terminals,
including, but not limited to, those listed under Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) Codes 5983 and 5171, not including liquefied
petroleum gas.
F.
Storage of liquid hazardous materials, as defined in MGL c. 21E,
and/or liquid petroleum products unless such storage is:
(1)
Above ground level; and
(2)
On an impervious surface; and
(3)
Either:
(a)
In container(s) or above ground tank(s) within a building; or
(b)
Outdoors in covered container(s) or above ground tank(s) in
an area that has a containment system designed and operated to hold
either 10% of the total possible storage capacity of all containers,
or 110% of the largest container's storage capacity, whichever
is greater.
G.
Storage of sludge and septage, unless such storage is in compliance
with 310 CMR 32.30 and 310 CMR 32.31.
H.
Storage of deicing chemicals unless such storage, including loading
areas, is within a structure designed to prevent the generation and
escape of contaminated runoff or leachate.
I.
Storage of animal manure unless covered or contained within a structure
designed to prevent the generation and escape of contaminated runoff
or leachate.
J.
Earth removal, consisting of the removal of soil, loam, sand, gravel,
or any other earth material to within four feet of historical high
groundwater as determined from monitoring wells and historical water
table fluctuation data compiled by the United States Geological Survey,
except for excavations for building foundations, roads, utility works,
or primarily agricultural purposes consistent with M.G.L. ch. 40A,
§ 3.
K.
Discharge to the ground of non-sanitary wastewater, except:
(1)
The replacement or repair of an existing treatment works that
will not result in a design capacity greater than the design capacity
of the existing treatment works;
(2)
Treatment works approved by the Department designed for the
treatment of contaminated ground or surface water and operating in
compliance with 314 CMR 5.05(3) or 5.05(13); and
(3)
Publicly owned treatment works.
L.
Stockpiling and disposal of snow and ice containing deicing chemicals
brought in from outside of the Water Resource District or Zone II.
M.
Storage of commercial fertilizers, as defined in M.G.L. ch. 128,
§ 64, unless such storage is within a structure designed
to prevent the generation and escape of contaminated runoff or leachate.
N.
Gasoline or diesel fuel vehicle filling stations.
O.
Motor vehicle service and repair.
P.
Motor vehicle washing (car washes), unless equipped with a system
by which no wash water is discharged to any form of underground soil
absorption system.
Q.
The rendering impervious of greater than 15% or 2,500 square feet
of any lot or parcel, whichever is greater, unless a system of stormwater
management and artificial recharge of precipitation is developed which
is designed to prevent untreated discharges to wetland and surface
water; preserve hydrologic conditions that closely resemble pre-development
conditions; reduce or prevent flooding by managing peak discharges
and volumes of runoff; minimize erosion and sedimentation; not result
in significant degradation of groundwater; reduce suspended solids
and other pollutants to improve water quality and provide increased
protection of sensitive natural resources. These standards may be
met using the following or similar best management practices:
(1)
For lots or parcels occupied, or proposed to be occupied, by
single- or two-family residences recharge shall be attained through
site design that incorporates natural drainage patterns and vegetation
in order to reasonably maintain pre-construction stormwater patterns
and water quality to the extent practicable. Stormwater runoff from
rooftops, driveways and other impervious surfaces shall be routed
over lawn areas via sheet flow for no less than eight feet before
discharging to a wetland, surface water, or impervious surface that
lead to a street drain system. Dry well leaching pits can be used
in lieu of eight feet of lawn for rooftop runoff. The site design
must direct only the added impervious surface run off. No site design
is needed, if the street drain system has water quality and recharge
installed at the outfall.
(2)
For lots occupied, or proposed to be occupied by other uses,
a special permit from the Planning Board to ensure that an adequate
system of stormwater management and artificial recharge of precipitation
is developed.
The following uses and activities are permitted only upon the
issuance of a special permit by the special permit granting authority
(SPGA) under such conditions as they may require:
A.
Enlargement or alteration of existing uses that do not conform to
the Water Resource District;
B.
Those activities that involve the handling of toxic or hazardous materials in quantities greater than those associated with normal household use, permitted in the underlying zoning (except as prohibited under § 240-137). Such activities shall require a special permit to prevent contamination of groundwater.
A.
The special permit granting authority (SPGA) under this bylaw shall
be the Planning Board. Such special permit shall be granted if the
SPGA determines, in conjunction with the Board of Health, the Conservation
Commission, the Board of Selectmen, and Department of Public Works,
that the intent of this bylaw, as well as its specific criteria, are
met. The SPGA shall not grant a special permit under this section
unless the petitioner's application materials include, in the
SPGA's opinion, sufficiently detailed, definite, and credible
information to support positive findings in relation to the standards
given in this section. The SPGA shall document the basis for any departures
from the recommendations of the other Town boards or agencies in its
decision.
B.
Upon receipt of the special permit application, the SPGA shall notify
the Board of Health, the Conservation Commission, the Board of Selectmen,
and Department of Public Works, for their written recommendations.
Failure to respond in writing within 35 days of receipt by the Board
shall indicate approval or no desire to comment by said agency. The
applicant shall furnish the necessary number of copies of the application.
C.
The SPGA may grant the required special permit only upon finding that the proposed use meets the following standards, those specified in § 240-138 of this bylaw, and any regulations or guidelines adopted by the SPGA, including § 240-25 of the bylaw. The proposed use must:
(1)
In no way, during construction or thereafter, adversely affect
the existing or potential quality of quantity of water that is available
in the Water Resource District; and
(2)
Be designed to avoid substantial disturbance of the soils, topography,
drainage, vegetation, and other water-related natural characteristics
of the site to be developed.
D.
The applicant shall file copies of the special permit application,
site plan and attachments as indicated on the Form K.[1] The site plan shall be drawn at a proper scale as determined
by the SPGA and be stamped by a professional engineer. Qualified professionals
shall prepare all additional submittals. The site plan and its attachments
shall at a minimum include the following information where pertinent:
(1)
A complete list of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers,
fuels, and other potentially hazardous materials to be used or stored
on the premises in quantities greater than those associated with normal
household use;
(2)
For those activities using or storing such hazardous materials,
a hazardous materials management plan shall be prepared and filed
with the Hazardous Materials Coordinator, Fire Chief, and Board of
Health. The plan shall include:
(a)
Provisions to protect against the discharge of hazardous materials
or wastes to the environment due to spillage, accidental damage, corrosion,
leakage, or vandalism, including spill containment and clean-up procedures;
(b)
Provisions for indoor, secured storage of hazardous materials
and wastes with impervious floor surfaces;
(c)
Evidence of compliance with the Regulations of the Massachusetts
Hazardous Waste Management Act, 310 CMR 30, including obtaining an
EPA identification number from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection;
(d)
Proposed down-gradient location(s) for groundwater monitoring
well(s), should the SPGA deem the activity a potential groundwater
threat.
E.
The SPGA shall hold a hearing, in conformity with the provision of
M.G.L. ch. 40A, § 9, within 65 days after the filing of
the application and after the review by the Town boards, departments,
and commissions. Notice of the public hearing shall be given by publication
and posting and by first-class mailings to "parties of interest" as
defined in M.G.L. ch. 40A, § 11. The decision of the SPGA
and any extension, modification, or renewal thereof shall be filed
with the SPGA and Town Clerk within 90 days following the closing
of the public hearing. Failure of the SPGA to act within 90 days shall
be deemed as a granting of the permit.
A.
The Zoning Inspector shall give written notice of any violations
of this bylaw to the responsible person as soon as possible after
detection of a violation or a continuing violation. Notice to the
assessed owner of the property shall be deemed notice to the responsible
person. Such notice shall specify the requirement or restriction violated
and the nature of the violation, and may also identify the actions
necessary to remove or remedy the violations and preventive measures
required for avoiding future violations and a schedule of compliance.
B.
A copy of such notice shall be submitted to the Planning Board, Inspector
of Buildings, Board of Health, Conservation Commission, and Department
of Public Works. The cost of containment, clean up, or other action
of compliance shall be borne by the owner and operator of the premises.
C.
A determination that any portion or provision of this overlay protection
district is invalid shall not invalidate any other portion or provision
thereof, nor shall it invalidate any special permit previously issued
thereunder.
