No regulated earth disturbance activities within the municipality
shall commence until approval by the municipality of the BMP operations
and maintenance plan which describes how the permanent (e.g., postconstruction)
stormwater BMPs will be properly operated and maintained.
A.
The BMP operations and maintenance plan for the project site shall
establish responsibilities for the continuing operation and maintenance
of all permanent stormwater BMPs, as follows:
(1)
If a plan includes structures or lots which are to be separately
owned and in which streets, sewers and other public improvements are
to be dedicated to the municipality, stormwater BMPs may also be dedicated
to and maintained by the municipality;
(2)
If a plan includes operations and maintenance by a single owner or
if sewers and other public improvements are to be privately owned
and maintained, then the operation and maintenance of stormwater BMPs
shall be the responsibility of the owner or private management entity.
B.
The municipality shall make the final determination on the continuing
operations and maintenance responsibilities. The municipality reserves
the right to accept or reject the operations and maintenance responsibility
for any or all of the stormwater BMPs.
It shall be unlawful to alter or remove any permanent stormwater
BMP required by an approved BMP operations and maintenance plan or
to allow the property to remain in a condition which does not conform
to an approved BMP operations and maintenance plan unless an exception
is granted in writing by the municipality.
A.
The property owner shall sign an operations and maintenance agreement
with the municipality covering all stormwater BMPs that are to be
privately owned. The agreement shall be substantially the same as
the agreement in Appendix E[1] of this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix E is included as an attachment to this chapter.
B.
Other items may be included in the agreement where determined by
the municipality to be reasonable or necessary to guarantee the satisfactory
operation and maintenance of all permanent stormwater BMPs. The agreement
shall be subject to the review and approval of the municipality.
Stormwater management easements shall be provided by the property owner if necessary for access for inspections and maintenance or for preservation of stormwater conveyance, infiltration, detention areas and other BMPs by persons other than the property owner. The purpose of the easement shall be specified in any agreement under § 139-32.
A.
The owner of any land upon which permanent BMPs will be placed, constructed
or implemented, as described in the BMP operations and maintenance
plan, shall record the following documents in the office of the Recorder
of Deeds for Northampton County, as applicable, within 90 days of
approval of the BMP operations and maintenance plan by the municipality:
B.
The municipality may suspend or revoke any approvals granted for
the project site upon discovery of the failure of the owner to comply
with this section.
A.
If stormwater BMPs are accepted by the municipality for dedication,
the municipality may require the applicant to pay a specified amount
to the Municipal Stormwater BMP Operations and Maintenance Fund to
help defray costs of operations and maintenance activities. The amount
may be determined as follows:
B.
If a BMP is proposed that also serves as a recreation facility (e.g.,
ball field, lake), the municipality may adjust the amount due accordingly.
