It is the purpose of this article to promote the public health, safety and general welfare and to minimize those losses described in §
390-176 above by establishing provisions designed to:
A. Protect the water resources of the Township of West Vincent.
B. Prevent development or use of land in the water resource protection
area in a manner tending to affect adversely the quality or quantity
of water recharged to aquifers.
C. To minimize adverse effects on the natural balance of soils, vegetation,
natural drainage, and subsurface features which contribute to beneficial
filtering of contaminants and recharge of waters to aquifers.
D. To regulate or prevent the erection of structures or location of
uses in water resource protection areas which may have a substantial
adverse effect on water quality by virtue of the creation, handling
or disposal of potentially harmful substances.
To meet the purposes and goals of this article, the regulations
contained herein shall apply to any applicable activity, development
or improvement within the water resource protection area. Where two
or more natural features overlap, the restriction on the feature with
the higher protection standard shall be used. The standards contained
herein shall be minimum standards to be met and maintained. Standards
established by other Township ordinances or by state and federal rules
and regulations shall apply where those standards are more restrictive
than the standards set forth herein. All applicable use regulations,
minimum lot areas, area and bulk regulations, as set forth for base
zoning districts in this chapter, shall be also be met.
In addition to the erosion and sedimentation control requirements
contained in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's
"Special Protection Waters Implementation Handbook," Publication #1455,
the following buffers shall apply to all new nonagricultural activities
or projects resulting in earth disturbance within any high quality
or exceptional value watershed of the Township of West Vincent, as
defined by Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection rules
and regulations, Title 25 of the Pennsylvania Code, including Chapter
93:
A. On level terrain, a minimum one-hundred-fifty-foot vegetated buffer
strip shall be provided on each side of all wetlands, special protection
streams, and around all lakes or ponds designated as high quality
or exceptional value waters. No buildings, swimming pools, structures
resulting in impervious coverage or sewage utilities shall be permitted
within the vegetated buffer.
B. Four feet of additional buffer shall be provided for every 1% increase
in slope.
C. For all new developments with land disturbance of greater than one
acre, the stream buffers shall be undisturbed or reforested to 60%
canopy cover with native trees for 150 feet on both sides of the stream
(measured from the top of bank).
The following activities shall be prohibited in the Township:
A. The use of fill containing any material which would represent a potential
contamination hazard to groundwater or surface waters. Materials shall
include, but not be limited to, wastes identified as hazardous by
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection or the United
States Environmental Protection Agency.
B. Land grading or construction of buildings or other site improvements
which would directly or indirectly diminish the flow of natural springs.
Any grading, earthmoving, or land disturbance activity occurring
in the Township shall comply with the following procedures:
A. Where individual on-lot land disturbance activities have been addressed,
approved and noted as such in an applicant's erosion and sedimentation
control plan and stormwater management plan related to a subdivision
or land development, applications for building permits for each individual
lot shall reference such approval. In these cases, it shall not be
necessary for the applicant to resubmit an erosion and sedimentation
control plan and stormwater management plan concurrent with applications
for building permits, provided the proposed grading of the lot and
the locations of houses, driveways and stormwater management facilities
of any type are not changed.
B. In all other cases, or in cases where an applicant in Subsection
A above wishes to alter grading, building locations, or the on-lot stormwater management system, the applicant shall submit a revised erosion and sedimentation control plan and stormwater management plan. These plans shall accompany the application for a building permit and shall demonstrate that all land disturbance activities related to the building construction shall comply with the performance standards in §
315-42 of Chapter
315, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Code of the Township of West Vincent and any other applicable provisions of this chapter.
C. The Township may require that the erosion and sedimentation control plan and the stormwater management plan contain all of the information mandated by §
315-13I(3) and
(4), respectively, of Chapter
315, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Code of the Township of West Vincent. The applicant and/or his/her engineer shall confer with the Township prior to the preparation of an erosion and sedimentation control plan and stormwater management plan to determine the scope and detail of the submission.
D. The applicant's erosion and sediment control plan and stormwater
management plan shall be reviewed by the Township Engineer or Code
Enforcement Officer, who shall submit a report thereon to the applicant
and the Zoning Officer.
E. Where revisions to the plans are necessary in order to meet the performance standards set forth in Chapter
315, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Township's Code, the applicant shall discuss the contents of the report with the Township. All necessary revisions shall be effected and submitted to the Township Engineer or Code Enforcement Officer.
F. The Township Engineer or Code Enforcement Officer shall review the
revisions and issue a supplementary report to the applicant and the
Zoning Officer, recommending approval or disapproval of the plans.
G. If the final erosion and sedimentation control plan or stormwater management plan is not in compliance with the performance standards set forth in Chapter
315, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Township's Code, failure to so comply may be considered grounds for denial of the building permit.
H. Approval of a building permit shall constitute approval of the accompanying
erosion and sedimentation control plan and stormwater management plan;
these approvals may be concurrent.