As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ACTIVITY
Any form of draining, dumping, dredging, damming, discharging,
excavating, blasting, filling or grading; the erection, reconstruction,
or expansion of any buildings or structures; the driving of pilings;
the construction or improvements of roads and other ways; the changing
of runoff characteristics; the interception or diversion of groundwater
or surface water; the installation of drainage, sewage, and water
systems; the discharging of pollutants; the destruction, relocation
or substantial modification of plant life; and/or any other changing
of the physical characteristics of land.
ADJACENT UPLAND RESOURCE AREA
All lands within 100 feet of areas subject to protection under the Bylaw as enumerated in the Bylaw and §
500-2A(1) to
(6), except for lakes, continuous streams, rivers or ponds, for which the adjacent upland resource area extends for 200 feet from the top of bank.
ALTER
To change the condition of any area subject to jurisdiction under §
242-2 of the Bylaw, including but not limited to the following activities:
A.
Removal, excavation, or dredging of soil, sand, gravel, or aggregate
materials of any kind.
B.
Changing of preexisting drainage characteristics, flushing characteristics,
salinity distribution, sedimentation patterns, flow patterns, or flood
retention characteristics.
C.
Drainage or other disturbance of water level or water table.
D.
Dumping, discharging, or filling with any material which may
degrade or otherwise impact water quality.
E.
Placing of fill, or removal of material, which would alter elevation.
F.
Driving of piles, erection, expansion or repair of buildings,
or structures of any kind.
G.
Placing of obstructions or objects in water.
H.
Destruction of plant life including cutting or trimming of trees
and shrubs.
I.
Changing temperature, biochemical oxygen demand, or other physical,
biological, or chemical characteristics of any waters.
J.
Any activities, changes, or work that may cause or tend to contribute
to pollution of any body of water or groundwater (including the application
of pesticides and herbicides).
K.
Incremental activities that have, or may have, a cumulative
adverse impact on the resource areas protected by the Bylaw.
L.
Placing of materials which have a reasonable likelihood of contributing
to pollution or of impacting water quality through surface runoff,
groundwater infiltration or airborne transport, including but not
limited to yard and landscaping wastes and debris, slash, soils and
sediments, wood chips, mulch, grit, gravel or other organic and inorganic
materials.
APPLICATION FOR PERMIT UNDER THE BYLAW
The written application filed by any person intending to
remove, fill, dredge, discharge into, build upon, otherwise alter
or carry out activity not exempted from the Bylaw in an area subject
to regulation under the Bylaw or activity that will significantly
alter, pollute or degrade these areas. It shall be made on WPA Form
3 or 4.
AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING
Depressions or closed basins that serve as ponding areas
for runoff, snowmelt, heavy precipitation, or high groundwater that
has risen above the ground surface in most years, and areas that flood
from a rise in a bordering waterway or water body.
BUILDING
Any structure, requiring a building permit under the State
Building Code, 780 CMR 101.0 et seq., and/or Wenham Bylaws, that is
enclosed within exterior walls or fire walls, built, erected and framed
of a combination of any materials, whether portable or fixed, having
a roof, to form a structure for the shelter of persons, animals or
property. For the purpose of this definition, "roof" shall include
an awning or similar covering, whether or not permanent in nature.
The word "building" shall be construed where the context requires
as though followed by the words "or parts thereof."
BYLAW
The Town of Wenham Water Resources Protection Bylaw, General Town Bylaws Chapter
242.
CONTINUOUS STREAM
All flowing watercourses shall be considered to be a continuous
stream unless a preponderance of evidence deemed acceptable to the
Conservation Commission rebutting this presumption is presented.
A.
Information necessary to overcoming this presumption includes,
but is not limited to, direct observation and documentation of the:
(1)
Absence of a continuous sheet of surface water throughout the
watercourse, or relevant segment, for a minimum of five consecutive
days annually in most years (excluding periods when local drought
or other conditions abnormally lowering the water table are known
to exist, or due to water withdrawals), as witnessed by a member of
the Conservation Commission or its staff, which shall be considered
definitive evidence in overcoming the presumption of continuous status;
(2)
Absence of gravel, mineral, and riffle substrate;
(3)
Absence of a clearly defined flow channel;
(4)
Absence of bank undercutting; or
(5)
Presence of established nonaquatic plants in the flow path (i.e.,
plants that are unable to grow in continuously submerged conditions).
B.
The Conservation Commission will also consider estimates from
modeling studies of surface water and groundwater hydrology in the
relevant watershed. However, such information will only be considered
as evidence in conjunction with the observable indicators noted above.
C.
Observational evidence shall, in all instances, take precedence
over estimates, calculations, and other inferential evidence.
D.
The Conservation Commission shall consider all of the evidence
available together, judging the validity and reliability of the information,
and base its determination on the preponderance of acceptable evidence.
EMERGENCY WORK
Work falling within the jurisdiction of the Bylaw but where
delays in its initiation and/or completion would jeopardize public
health, safety and welfare.
HYDRIC SOILS
Soils which, in an undrained condition, display characteristics
of a hydrologic regime of periodic annual saturation due to high groundwater,
flooding or ponding that results in an anaerobic condition which favors
the growth and regeneration of hydrophytic (wetland) vegetation. The
following types of soils are hydric:
A.
All organic soils (Histosols) except Folists.
B.
Mineral soils in Aquic subgroups, Albolls suborder, Salorthids
great group, or Pell great groups of Vertists which are:
(1)
Somewhat poorly drained (as the soils type may be defined from
time to time by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service) and
have a water table less than 15 cm from the surface at some time during
the growing season; or
(2)
Poorly drained or very poorly drained (as those soil types may
be defined from time to time by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation
Service) and have either:
(a)
A water table at less than 30 cm from the surface at some time
during the growing season if permeability is equal to or greater than
15 cm/hour in all layers within 60 cm; or
(b)
A water table at less than 45 cm from the surface at some time
during the growing season if permeability is less than 15 cm/hour
in any layers within 60 cm.
(3)
Mineral soils that are ponded during any part of the growing
season; and
(4)
Mineral soils that are frequently flooded for long duration
(more than seven days) or flooded for very long duration (more than
one month) during the growing season.
INTERMITTENT POND
An area subject to flooding that forms temporary confined
bodies of water during periods of high water table and high input
from spring runoff or snowmelt or heavy precipitation and supports
wetland vegetation and does not serve as breeding habitat for species
of amphibians and is not a vernal pool.
INTERMITTENT STREAM
A body of running water that does not flow throughout the
year, including brooks and creeks, evidenced by a hydraulic connection
between bodies of water, and which flows within, into or out of an
area subject to protection under the Bylaw.
PROJECT REVIEW
A review by a qualified professional engaged by the Commission
that examines engineering design, calculations and other information
provided by the applicant and other sources for completeness, accuracy,
and effectiveness, including but not limited to the following: runoff
calculations, drainage and drainage structures, slopes, headwalls
and retaining structures, siting of septic system relative to resource
areas, soils information, subsurface hydrology, plans for sequencing
construction, and proposed erosion and sedimentation controls.
RESOURCE AREA
All areas subject to regulation under the Bylaw as listed in the Bylaw and §
500-2A.
SPECIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REVIEW
A review by a qualified professional that examines the information
provided by the applicant and other sources of implications and impacts
of a project on resources, including but not limited to hydrology,
wildlife, wildlife habitat, water quality, and the other values protected
by the Bylaw, and function and feasibility of proposed wetland replication
areas.
STRUCTURE
A combination of materials assembled or fabricated at a fixed
location to give support, storage, or shelter, such as a building,
framework, retaining wall, tent, reviewing stand, platform, bin, fences
over six feet high, sign, flagpole, recreational tramway, mast for
radio antenna, or the like. The word "structure" shall be construed,
where the context requires, as though followed by the words "or part
or parts thereof."
WORK
The performance of activities, including, but not limited
to, the following activities: filling, excavation, grading, operation
of motorized construction equipment, and storage or stockpiling of
earth or construction materials.
Emergency projects shall be initiated and carried out in accordance
with the provisions of the Bylaw, 310 CMR 10.06 and these regulations.
A. After completion of the emergency work, an as-built plan must be
filed with the Commission within 30 days from date of certification.
B. After completion of the emergency work, the Commission may, after
notice and public hearing, require restoration, project modification,
and/or mitigation measures to protect the values stated in the Bylaw.
If any section or provision of any part of these regulations
or the application thereof is held to be invalid, such invalidity
shall not affect any other section or provision thereof nor shall
it invalidate any permit or determination which previously had been
issued.