This chapter shall be known and cited as the "Horsham Township
Stormwater Management Ordinance."
The governing body of the municipality finds that:
A. Inadequate management of accelerated stormwater runoff resulting
from development throughout a watershed increases flood flows and
velocities, contributes to erosion and sedimentation, overtaxes the
carrying capacity of existing streams and storm sewers, greatly increases
the cost of public facilities to convey and manage stormwater, undermines
floodplain management and flood reduction efforts in upstream and
downstream communities, reduces groundwater recharge, and threatens
public health and safety.
B. Inadequate planning and management of stormwater runoff resulting
from land development throughout a watershed can also harm surface
water resources by changing the natural hydrologic patterns, accelerating
stream flows (which increase scour and erosion of streambeds and streambanks,
thereby increasing sedimentation), destroying aquatic habitat, and
increasing aquatic pollutant concentrations and loadings such as sediments,
nutrients, heavy metals, and pathogens. Groundwater resources are
also impacted through loss of recharge.
C. A comprehensive program of stormwater management, including minimization
of impacts of development, redevelopment, and activities causing accelerated
erosion and loss of natural infiltration, is fundamental to the public
health, safety, welfare, and the protection of the people of the municipality
and all of the people of the commonwealth, their resources, and the
environment.
D. Stormwater is an important resource by providing groundwater recharge
for water supplies and baseflow of streams, which also protects and
maintains surface water quality.
E. Impacts from stormwater runoff can be minimized by using project
designs that maintain the natural hydrologic regime and sustain high
water quality, groundwater recharge, stream baseflow, and aquatic
ecosystems. The most cost-effective and environmentally advantageous
way to manage stormwater runoff is through nonstructural project design
that minimizes impervious surfaces and sprawl, avoids sensitive areas
(i.e., stream buffers, floodplains, steep slopes), and considers topography
and soils to maintain the natural hydrologic regime.
F. Public education on the control of pollution from stormwater is an
essential component in successfully addressing stormwater.
G. Federal and state regulations require certain municipalities to implement
a program of stormwater controls. These municipalities are required
to obtain a permit for stormwater discharges from their separate storm
sewer systems under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES).
H. Nonstormwater discharges to municipal separate storm sewer systems
can contribute to pollution of waters of the commonwealth by the municipality.
The purpose of this chapter is to promote the public health, safety, and welfare within Horsham Township by maintaining the natural hydrologic regime and by minimizing the harms and maximizing the benefits described in §
190-2 of this chapter through provisions designed to:
A. Promote alternative project designs and layouts that minimize the
impacts on surface water and groundwater.
B. Promote stormwater best management practices (BMPs).
C. Minimize increases in runoff stormwater volume.
D. Minimize impervious surfaces.
E. Manage accelerated stormwater runoff, erosion and sedimentation problems,
and stormwater runoff impacts at their source by regulating activities
that cause these problems.
F. Provide review procedures and performance standards for stormwater
planning and management.
G. Utilize and preserve existing natural drainage systems as much as
possible.
H. Manage stormwater impacts close to the runoff source, requiring a
minimum of structures and relying on natural processes.
I. Focus on infiltration of stormwater to maintain groundwater recharge,
prevent degradation of surface and groundwater quality, and protect
water resources.
J. Maintain existing baseflows and quality of streams and watercourses.
K. Meet legal water quality requirements under state law, including
regulations at 25 Pa. Code § 93.4(a) requiring protection
and maintenance of existing uses and maintenance of the level of water
quality to support those uses in all streams, and the protection and
maintenance of water quality in special protection streams.
L. Address the quality and quantity of stormwater discharges from the
development site.
M. Provide standards necessary to meet NPDES permit requirements.
N. Implement an illegal discharge detection and elimination program
that addresses nonstormwater discharges into the municipality's separate
storm sewer system.
O. Preserve the flood-carrying capacity of streams.
P. Prevent scour and erosion of streambanks and streambeds.
Q. Provide performance standards and design criteria based on watershed-wide
stormwater management and planning.
R. Provide proper operation and maintenance of all stormwater management
facilities and BMPs that are implemented in the municipality.
The municipality is empowered to regulate land use and activities
that may affect runoff and surface water and groundwater quality and
quantity by the authority of:
A. Primary authority. The municipality is empowered to regulate land
use activities that affect runoff and surface and groundwater quality
and quantity by the authority of the Act of October 4, 1978, P.L.
864 (Act 167), 32 P.S. § 680.1 et seq., as amended, the
Stormwater Management Act and the appropriate municipal code.
B. Secondary authority. The municipality is also empowered to regulate
land use activities that affect runoff by the authority of the Act
of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code, as amended.
All regulated activities and all activities that may affect
stormwater runoff, including land development and earth disturbance
activities, are subject to regulation by this chapter. This chapter
shall apply to all portions of land that lie within Horsham Township,
and shall apply only to stormwater BMPs constructed as part of any
of the regulated activities listed in this section.
A. Regulated activities include the following:
(3) Alteration of the natural hydrologic regime.
(4) Construction or reconstruction (See definition in §
190-12.) of or addition of new impervious or semipervious surfaces (i.e., driveways, parking lots, roads, etc.).
(5) Construction of new buildings or additions to existing buildings.
(7) Diversion piping or encroachments in any natural or man-made channel.
(8) Stormwater BMPs or appurtenances thereto.
(9) Any of the above regulated activities which were approved more than
five years prior to the effective date of this chapter and resubmitted
for municipal approval.
B. In the event of any conflict between the regulations and requirements
set forth in this chapter and the Township's Subdivision and Land
Development Ordinance, the more restrictive standard or the regulation imposing
the higher standard shall be controlling. The standards and requirements
set forth in this chapter and those similar standards and requirements
set forth in the Township's Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance
are intended to be read together when determining compliance.
Any other ordinances, provisions or regulations of the municipality
inconsistent with any of the provisions of this chapter are hereby
repealed to the extent of the inconsistencies only.
In the event that a court of competent jurisdiction declares
any section or provision of this chapter invalid, such decision shall
not affect the validity of any of the remaining provisions of this
chapter.
Approvals issued pursuant to this chapter do not relieve the
applicant of the responsibility to secure required permits or approvals
for activities regulated by any other applicable code, rule, act,
or ordinance, including 25 Pa. Code Chapters 92, 102 and 105.
Notwithstanding any provision(s) of this chapter, including
exemptions, any landowner or any person engaged in the alteration
or development of land that may affect stormwater runoff characteristics
shall implement such measures as are reasonably necessary to prevent
injury to health, safety, or other property. Such measures also shall
include actions as are required to manage the rate, volume, direction,
and quality of resulting stormwater runoff in a manner that otherwise
adequately protects health, safety, property, and water quality.
[Added 8-10-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-05]
Any permit or authorization issued or approved based on false,
misleading or erroneous information provided by an applicant is void
without the necessity of any proceedings for revocation. Any work
undertaken or use established pursuant to such permit or other authorization
is unlawful. No action may be taken by a board, agency or employee
of the municipality which purports to validate such a violation.
[Added 8-10-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-05]
A. If the municipality determines that any requirement under this chapter
cannot be achieved for a particular regulated activity, the Municipality
may, after an evaluation of alternatives, approve measures other than
those in this Ordinance, subject to § 190-12B and C.
B. Waivers or modifications of the requirements of this chapter may
be approved by the municipality if enforcement will exact undue hardship
because of peculiar conditions pertaining to the land in question,
provided that the modifications will not be contrary to the public
interest and that the purpose of the chapter is preserved. Cost or
financial burden shall not be considered a hardship. Modification
may be considered if an alternative standard or approach will provide
equal or better achievement of the purpose of the chapter. A request
for modifications shall be in writing and accompany the Stormwater
Management Site Plan submission. The request shall provide the facts
on which the request is based, the provision(s) of the chapter involved
and the proposed modification.
C. No waiver or modification of any regulated stormwater activity involving
earth disturbance greater than or equal to one acre may be granted
by the Municipality unless that action is approved in advance by the
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or the delegated county
conservation district.