This chapter shall be known as the "Town of Farmington Separate
Storm Sewer System (MS4) Phase II stormwater management requirements
of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) regulations,
administered by New York State through the State Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (SPDES) regulations."
The following terms, as used in this chapter, shall have the
meanings indicated:
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY
The activity of an active farm, including grazing and wetting
livestock, irrigating crops, harvesting crops, using land for growing
agricultural products, and cutting timber for sale, but shall not
include the operation of a dude ranch or similar operation, or the
construction of new structures associated with agricultural activities.
CHANNEL
A natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and
banks that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
CLEARING
Any activity that removes the vegetative surface cover.
EROSION CONTROL MANUAL
The most recent version of the New York Standards and Specifications
for Erosion and Sediment Control manual, commonly known as the "Blue
Book."
GRADING
Excavation or fill of material, including the resulting conditions
thereof.
IMPERVIOUS COVER
Those surfaces, improvements and structures that cannot effectively
infiltrate rainfall, snowmelt and water.
INDUSTRIAL STORMWATER PERMIT
A State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued
to a commercial industry or group of industries which regulates the
pollutant levels associated with industrial stormwater discharges
or specifies on-site pollution control strategies.
INFILTRATION
The process of percolating stormwater into the subsoil.
JURISDICTIONAL WETLAND
An area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or
groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence
of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions,
commonly known as "hydrophytic vegetation."
LAND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY
Construction activity, including clearing, grading, excavating,
soil disturbance or placement of fill that results in land disturbance
of equal to or greater than one acre, or activities disturbing less
than one acre of total land area that is part of a larger common plan
of development or sale, even though multiple separate and distinct
land development activities may take place at different times on different
schedules.
LANDOWNER
The legal or beneficial owner of land, including those holding
the right to purchase or lease the land, or any other person holding
proprietary rights in the land.
MS4 SWPPP ACCEPTANCE FORM
Upon completing a review of the project stormwater pollution
prevention plan (SWPPP), the Stormwater Management Program Coordinator
is to sign this form approving and accepting the SWPPP for the project.
This form is to be inserted into the project SWPPP.
NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION
Pollution from any source other than from any discernible,
confined, and discrete conveyances, and shall include, but not be
limited to, pollutants from agricultural, silvicultural, mining, construction,
subsurface disposal and urban runoff sources.
NOTICE OF INTENT (NOI)
A form used to apply for coverage from the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation under the SPDES General Permit
for Stormwater Discharges from Construction Activities. All land development
activity (construction activities or otherwise) which would result
in the disturbance of one or more acres of land, except as exempted
by current General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Construction
Activities, shall be required to complete this form. This form is
required to be included within the stormwater pollution prevention
plan (SWPPP) and shall be completed and submitted to the Town's Stormwater
Management Program Coordinator and Town Engineer as part of the land
development review process. The NOI form shall not be submitted to
the New York State Department of Conservation until the SWPPP and
land development plans have received final approval, and the MS4 SWPPP
acceptance form has been signed by the Stormwater Management Program
Coordinator.
NOTICE OF TERMINATION (NOT)
Upon completion of all construction activities which would
result in soil disturbance, completion and implementation of all required
post-construction stormwater management practices, and achieving final
stabilization (as defined in the SPDES General Permit for Stormwater
Discharges from Construction Activity), the applicant shall complete
the notice of termination (NOT) form and submit it to the Town's Stormwater
Management Program Coordinator and Town Engineer for review and approval.
Upon acceptance of the NOT by the Town, the applicant shall submit
this form to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
PHASING
Clearing a parcel of land in distinct pieces or parts, with
the stabilization of each piece completed before the clearing of the
next.
POLLUTANT OF CONCERN
Sediment or a water quality measurement that addresses sediment
(such as total suspended solids, turbidity or siltation) and any other
pollutant that has been identified as a cause of impairment of any
water body that will receive a discharge from the land development
activity.
RECHARGE
The replenishment of underground water reserves.
SENSITIVE AREAS
Cold water fisheries, shellfish beds, swimming beaches, groundwater
recharge areas, water supply reservoirs, habitats for threatened,
endangered or special concern species.
STABILIZATION
The use of practices that prevent exposed soil from eroding.
STOP-WORK ORDER
An order issued which requires that all construction activity
on a site be stopped.
STORMWATER
Rainwater, surface runoff, snowmelt and drainage.
STORMWATER HOTSPOT
A land use or activity that generates higher concentrations
of hydrocarbons, trace metals or toxicants than are found in typical
stormwater runoff, based on monitoring studies.
STORMWATER MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT
A legally recorded document that acts as a property deed
restriction and which provides for long-term maintenance of stormwater
management practices.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
The use of structural or nonstructural practices that are
designed to reduce stormwater runoff and mitigate its adverse impacts
on property, natural resources and the environment.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT FACILITY
One or a series of stormwater management practices installed,
stabilized and operating for the purpose of controlling stormwater
runoff.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT OFFICER
The Town Code Enforcement Officer, an employee or officer
designated by the Town Board to accept and review stormwater pollution
prevention plans, forward the plans to the applicable municipal board
and inspect stormwater management practices.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (SMPs)
Measures, either structural or nonstructural, that are determined
to be the most effective, practical means of preventing flood damage
and preventing or reducing point source or nonpoint source pollution
inputs to stormwater runoff and water bodies.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM PLAN (SWMP PLAN)
A plan document based upon guidelines accepted by the New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), prepared
by the Town's engineers and Town staff, which has been publicly
reviewed and formally adopted by the Town Board in an ongoing effort
to reduce the illicit discharge of pollutants into the groundwaters
of the Town of Farmington and the State of New York to the maximum
extent possible. The document is a living guide to achieve each of
the six minimum control measures (MCMs) as required by the NYSDEC
which is subject further to amendment based upon new information provided
by the NYSDEC. The document, upon adoption, is made part of the latest
edition of the Town of Farmington Comprehensive Plan and shall remain
as part of said plan.
[Added 4-13-2021 by L.L.
No. 8-2021]
SURFACE WATERS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs,
wells, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals,
the Atlantic Ocean with the territorial seas of the State of New York
and all other bodies of surface water, natural or artificial, inland
or coastal, fresh or salt, public or private (except those private
waters that do not combine or effect a junction with natural surface
or underground water), which are wholly or partially within or bordering
the state or within its jurisdiction. Storm sewers and waste treatment
systems, including treatment ponds or lagoons which also meet the
criteria of this definition, are not waters of the state. This exclusion
applies only to man-made bodies of water which neither were originally
created in waters of the state (such as a disposal area in wetlands)
nor resulted from impoundment of waters of the state.
WATERCOURSE
A permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water,
either natural or man-made, which gathers or carries surface water.
WATERWAY
A channel that directs surface runoff to a watercourse or
to the public storm drain.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish minimum stormwater
management requirements and regulations to enable Town control over
the review and approval of stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWPPPs)
as required by the New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (SPDES) Program during subdivision and site plan reviews and
approvals.
The objectives of this chapter are to establish minimum stormwater management requirements and soil and erosion controls to protect and safeguard the general health, safety and welfare of the public residing within the Town; and to address the findings of fact set forth by the Town's reviews of subdivision plats and site plans as further required in Chapters
144 and
165 of the Town Code. This chapter seeks to achieve the following objectives:
A. Meet the requirements of minimum measures four and five of the SPDES
General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Municipal Separate Stormwater
Sewer Systems (MS4s), Permit No. GP-0-15-003, as amended or revised;
B. Require land development activities to conform to the substantive
requirements of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's
State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) General Permit
for Construction Activities GP-0-15-002, as amended or revised;
C. Minimize increases in stormwater runoff from land development activities
in order to reduce flooding, siltation, increases in stream temperature
and streambank erosion and maintain the integrity of stream channels;
D. Minimize increases in pollution caused by stormwater runoff from
land development activities that would otherwise degrade local water
quality;
E. Minimize the total annual volume of stormwater runoff that flows
from any specific site during and following development to the maximum
extent practicable; and
F. Reduce stormwater runoff rates and volumes, soil erosion and nonpoint
source pollution, wherever possible, through stormwater management
practices and to ensure that these management practices are properly
maintained and eliminate threats to public safety.
The following activities may be exempt from review under this
chapter:
A. Agricultural activity as defined in this chapter.
B. Silvicultural activity, except that landing areas and log haul roads
are subject to this chapter.
C. Routine maintenance activities that disturb fewer than five acres
and are performed to maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic
capacity or original purpose of a stormwater management facility.
D. Repairs to any stormwater management practice or facility deemed
necessary by the Stormwater Management Program Coordinator.
E. Any part of a subdivision if a plat for the subdivision has been
approved by the Town of Farmington on or before the effective date
of this chapter.
F. Land development activities for which a building permit has been
approved on or before the effective date of this chapter.
H. Installation of fence, sign, telephone and electric poles and other
kinds of posts or poles.
I. Emergency activity immediately necessary to protect life, property
or natural resources.
J. Activities of an individual engaging in home gardening by growing
flowers, vegetables and other plants primarily for use by that person
and his or her family.
K. Landscaping and horticultural activities in connection with an existing
structure.
All land development activities shall be subject to the following
performance and design criteria:
A. Technical standards. For the purpose of this chapter, the following
documents shall serve as the official guides and specifications for
stormwater management. Stormwater management practices that are designed
and constructed in accordance with these technical documents shall
be presumed to meet the standards imposed by this chapter:
(1) The New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual (New York
State Department of Environmental Conservation, most current version
or its successor, hereafter referred to as the "Design Manual").
(2) New York Standards and Specifications for Erosion and Sediment Control
(Empire State Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society,
November 2016, most current version or its successor, hereafter referred
to as the "Erosion Control Manual") (Blue Book).
B. Equivalence to technical standards. Where stormwater management practices are not in accordance with technical standards, the applicant or developer must demonstrate equivalence to the technical standards set forth in Subsection
A herein, and the SWPPP shall be prepared by a New York State licensed professional engineer.
C. Shall meet all standards contained in the latest adopted
edition of the Town of Farmington stormwater management program plan
(SWMP plan).
[Added 4-13-2021 by L.L.
No. 8-2021]
Water quality standards. Any land development activity shall
not cause an increase in turbidity that will result in substantial
visible contrast to natural conditions in surface waters of the State
of New York.
If any building or land development activity is installed or
conducted in violation of this chapter, the Code Enforcement Officer
may prevent the issuance of said building or use of said land.
Any violator may be required to restore land to its undisturbed
condition. In the event that restoration is not undertaken within
a reasonable time after notice, the Town of Farmington may take necessary
corrective action, the cost of which shall become a lien upon the
property until paid.
The Town of Farmington may require any person undertaking land
development activities regulated by this chapter to pay reasonable
costs at prevailing rates for review of SWPPPs, inspections or SMP
maintenance performed by the Town of Farmington or performed by a
third party for the Town of Farmington.