The purpose of the Aquifer Protection Overlay District is to
protect existing and potential groundwater supplies and recharge areas;
particularly those areas that contribute to the public water supply.
It is the intent of this by-law to protect said groundwater supplies
from detrimental development and land use practices, and to ensure
the adequate quality and quantity of drinking water for distribution
within the Town of Dartmouth.
The Aquifer Protection Overlay District is an overlay district
superimposed on the underlying zoning districts. This overlay district
by-law shall apply to all new construction, reconstruction, or expansion
of existing buildings, parking areas and new or expanded uses. Applicable
activities or uses within the Aquifer Protection Overlay District
must comply with the requirements of this district, as well as with
the underlying zoning.
For the purposes of this Aquifer Protection Overlay District,
there are hereby established within the Town, Aquifer Protection Overlay
District areas, consisting of Zone I, Zone II, and Zone III as defined
below. The criteria used to delineate these Zones are:
A. Zone I, The Protective Radius, The Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection (MassDEP) or "MassDEP" Approved Zone I. The protective
radius shall extend in all directions from each public water supply
well a distance of 400 feet and include all the land within the radius.
B. Zone II, The MassDEP Approved Zone II. The recharge area generated
by a public water supply well after 180 days of continuous pumping,
at approved yield with no recharge from precipitation. It has been
determined that without precipitation, a well could draw water from
the boundaries of this area within 180 days. Zone II is equivalent
to Zone II as defined in 310 CMR 22.02.
C. Zone III, land area beyond the area of Zone II from which surface
water and groundwater drain into Zone II. These recharge and potential
groundwater development areas are a combination of MassDEP approved
Zone II areas and Town of Dartmouth areas, as determined from:
(1)
United States Geological Survey (USGS) maps and publications
(2)
MassDEP Division of Water Supply Protection.
(4)
The Dartmouth Groundwater Resource Study dated July 1980.
Unless protected from the application of this bylaw by the provisions
of the MGL, Chapter 40A, Section 6, or exempt pursuant to MGL, Chapter
40A, Section 3, or otherwise protected or exempt by this bylaw, the
following uses are prohibited:
A. In Zone I, all uses except structures and uses necessary to extract
groundwater for the purpose of providing a public water supply. The
disposal of liquid or leachable wastes, or the discharge of any septage
waste within, and/or otherwise contaminating Zone I is prohibited.
B. The following uses are prohibited in Areas 1, 2 and 3:
(1)
The landfilling or storage of sludge, wastewater residuals,
or septage, as defined in 310 CMR 32.05, except where storage of sludge
is incidental to an allowed use, in which case sludge or septage must
be stored in compliance with 310 CMR 32.30 and 310 CMR 32.31;
(2)
Any use which involves the use, storage, disposal, treatment
or generation of hazardous liquid materials or hazardous materials,
including but not limited to, any material, in whatever form, which,
because of its quantity, concentration, chemical, corrosive, flammable,
reactive, toxic, infectious or radioactive characteristics, either
separately or in combination with any substance or substances, constitutes
a present or potential threat to human health, safety, welfare, or
constitutes a present or potential threat to the environment, when
improperly stored, treated, transported, disposed of, used, or otherwise
managed, or home heating oil products, any of which are defined in
MGL Chapter 21C and Chapter 21E and 310 CMR 30.00, except for the
following:
(a)
Usual and customary domestic use.
(b)
Use of home heating oil for heating purposes or to supply an
emergency generator.
(c)
Waste oil retention facilities required by MGL Chapter 21, Section
52A.
(d)
Treatment works approved by the MassDEP designed in accordance
with 314 CMR 5.00 for the treatment of contaminated ground or surface
waters.
(e)
Very small quantity generators (defined as: any public or private
entity, other than residential, which produces less than 27 gallons
a month of hazardous waste or waste oil, but not including any acutely
hazardous waste as defined in 310 CMR 30.136), of hazardous waste
as defined under 310 CMR 30.00.
(f)
Domestic hazardous waste collection centers and events sponsored
by the Town of Dartmouth and operated pursuant to 310 CMR 30.390.
(3)
Landfills and open dumps, as defined in 310 CMR 19.006, or disposal
of solid or hazardous wastes as defined in 310 CMR 30.010, composting
facilities registered in accordance with 310 CMR 16.04, or composting
facilities permitted in accordance with 310 CMR 16.05, or the burial
of stumps, or the landfilling of brush.
(4)
The use of septic system additives or cleaners that have not
been approved by the MassDEP in accordance with 310 CMR 15.027(3).
(5)
Commercial or industrial uses that discharge process wastewater
on-site that contains contaminants other than normal domestic organic
wastes.
(6)
Any floor drainage system that discharges to the ground.
(7)
Manufacture and production of paving, roofing, and other construction
materials using petroleum-based coatings and/or preserving materials.
(8)
Lot coverage above 10%, or lot coverage above 2,500 square feet
of any lot, whichever is greater.
(a)
The following shall not be considered coverage relative to aquifer
limits:
[1] Natural areas; such as, landscaping, gardens, lawns,
etc.;
[2] One shed under 120 square feet;
[3] Open decks, (i.e. slotted, allowing precipitation
to easily flow through to the ground);
[5] Above ground swimming pools;
[6] Building footprints of up to 10% of lot area with
approved artificial recharge systems.
(b)
Lot coverage is defined as all uses on a lot that include, but
are not limited to: buildings, structures, driveways, parking areas,
gravel areas, walks, patios, storage areas, impermeable surfaces.
(c)
Lot coverage calculations for lots in Open Space Residential Development (OSRD) subdivision (as defined in and governed by Article
11 of the Zoning By-law) shall be based on the inclusion of a proportionate share of the permanently protected open space approved as part of the OSRD subdivision.
(9)
Automotive service and repair, boat repair and service, internal
combustion engine service and repair, gasoline stations, automobile
graveyards and junkyards (as defined in MGL Chapter 140B, Section
1). Car washes that do not recycle process water and are not connected
to the town sewer system.
(10)
On-site dry cleaning establishments. Hairdressing and beauty
salons that are not connected to the town sewer system.
(11)
Airports, truck and bus terminals or stations.
(12)
Treatment or disposal works subject to 314 CMR 5.00, for wastewater
other than sanitary sewage. Wastewater treatment plants, or facilities,
public or private, with on-site disposal of effluent, unless tertiary
treatment is provided. Exempted are:
(a)
The replacement or repair of an existing system(s) approved
by the Board of Health that will not result in a greater discharge
volume than the existing use.
(b)
Treatment works approved by the MassDEP (DEP) designed for the
treatment of contaminated ground or surface waters and operated in
compliance with 314 CMR 5.05(3) or 5.05(13); and
(c)
Publicly owned treatment works, or POTW;
(13)
Storage of sodium chloride, chemically treated abrasives or
other chemicals used for the removal of ice and snow on roads, unless
such storage is within a structure designed to prevent the generation
and escape of contaminated runoff or leachate; exceptions are: 10
pounds for residential use, 100 pounds for commercial/industrial on-site
use, 500 pounds for sale, if such amounts are stored within a structure
that will prevent the generation and escape of contaminated run-off
or leachate.
(14)
Stockpiling and disposal of snow or ice removed from highways,
streets and parking lots located outside of Zone II or III that contains
sodium chloride, chemically treated abrasives or other chemicals used
for snow and ice removal.
(15)
The excavation or the removal of soil, loam, sand, gravel or
any other mineral substances within four feet of the historical high
groundwater table elevation [as determined by a DEP approved soil
evaluator in accordance with 310 CMR 15.103(3) and witnessed by the
Board of Health in all non-residential projects] - unless the substances
removed are re-deposited within 45 days of removal on site to achieve
a final grading greater than four feet above the historical high water
mark, and except for excavations for the construction of building
foundations, swimming pools, roof runoff infiltration systems or the
installation of utility works and approved drainage systems;
(16)
All basement/crawl space floors shall be set at least one foot
above the high ground water table, [as determined by a DEP approved
soil evaluator in accordance with 310 CMR 15.103(3) and witnessed
by the Board of Health in all non-residential projects], unless a
municipal or private storm drain service connecting to an approved
recharge system, detention, or retention pond is provided to the lot.
(17)
Uses or activities, other than for Dartmouth municipal distribution
that withdraw groundwater from private wells in excess of 100,000
gallons per day (gpd) for manufacturing or consumption and that generate
sewage greater than 2,000 gpd.
(18)
Other than incidental to the production of another product, the sale, commercial distribution, or transport of water from Dartmouth Aquifer Protection Overlay District as defined in Zoning By-Law §
375-28.3 by other than the Town of Dartmouth for transport outside the Town of Dartmouth.
(19)
The disposal of liquid or leachable wastes, except for usual
and customary sanitary wastes for allowed uses.
(20)
Galvanized and bare metal roofs.
(21)
Storage of animal manures, unless such storage is within a structure
designed to prevent the generation and escape of contaminated runoff
or leachate.
(22)
Storage of commercial fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides,
unless such storage is within a structure designed to prevent the
generation and escape of contaminated run-off or leachate.