It is hereby determined that:
A. Land development activities and associated increases
in site impervious cover often alter the hydrologic response of local
watersheds and increase stormwater runoff rates and volumes, flooding,
stream channel erosion, or sediment transport and deposition.
B. This stormwater runoff contributes to increased quantities
of water-borne pollutants, including siltation of aquatic habitat
for fish and other desirable species.
C. Clearing and grading during construction tends to
increase soil erosion and add to the loss of native vegetation necessary
for terrestrial and aquatic habitat.
D. Improper design and construction of stormwater management
practices can increase the velocity of stormwater runoff thereby increasing
soil erosion and sedimentation.
E. Impervious surfaces allow less water to percolate
into the soil, thereby decreasing groundwater recharge and stream
baseflow.
F. Substantial economic losses can result from these
adverse impacts on the waters of the municipality.
G. Stormwater runoff, soil erosion and non-point source
pollution can be controlled and minimized through the regulation of
stormwater runoff from land development activities and resulting disturbed
areas.
H. The regulation of stormwater runoff discharges from
land development activities controls and minimizes increases in stormwater
runoff rates and volumes, soil erosion, stream channel erosion, and
non-point source pollution associated with stormwater runoff and is
in the public interest as it will minimize threats to public health
and safety.
I. Regulation of land development and other land-disturbing
activities by means of performance standards governing stormwater
management and site design will produce development compatible with
the natural functions of a particular site or an entire watershed
and thereby mitigate the adverse effects of erosion and sedimentation
from development.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish
minimum stormwater management requirements and controls to protect
and safeguard the general health, safety, and welfare of the residents
of the Town. This chapter seeks to achieve the following objectives:
A. Meet the requirements of minimum measures 4 and 5
of the SPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Municipal
Separate Stormwater Sewer Systems (MS4s), Permit No. GP-02-02 or as
amended or revised.
B. Require land development and disturbance activities
to conform to the substantive requirements of the NYS Department of
Environmental Conservation State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(SPDES) General Permit for Construction Activities GP-02-01 or as
amended or revised.
C. Minimize increases in stormwater runoff from land
development and disturbance activities in order to reduce flooding,
siltation, increases in stream temperature, and soil erosion and maintain
the integrity of stream channels.
D. Minimize increases in pollution caused by stormwater
runoff from land development and disturbance activities which would
otherwise degrade local water quality.
E. Minimize the total annual volume of stormwater runoff
which flows from any specific site during and following development
to the maximum extent practicable.
F. Reduce stormwater runoff rates and volumes, soil erosion
and non-point source pollution, wherever possible, through stormwater
management practices and ensure that these management practices are
properly maintained and eliminate threats to public safety.
The terms used in this chapter or in documents
prepared or reviewed under this chapter shall have the meaning as
set forth in this section.
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY
All usual and customary practices and activities of, and
relating to, the growing and harvesting of crops (including plants,
fruits, vegetables, trees, turf, grass, hay and animal feed plants)
and the raising of horses, milk cows, cattle, pigs, or other livestock
and poultry, as well as game animals, fur-bearing animals or fish,
and also including the practices of horticulture, apiculture and aquaculture.
Such usual and customary practices and activities include but shall
not be limited to: plowing, tilling, cultivating, harrowing, hoeing,
planting, fertilizing, irrigating and harvesting of crops, and the
application of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and other farm
chemical products in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
Such usual and customary practices shall also include, but not be
limited to, grazing, feeding and watering of livestock and/or poultry,
game animals, fur-bearing animals or fish. Agricultural activity shall
include the incidental provision of trail rides on horses, ponies
or mules, as well as hayrides and creation and operation of "corn
mazes," but shall not include the operation of a dude ranch (a farm
or ranch which accepts paying guests who stay overnight and are allowed
to participate in the activities of operating the farm or ranch) or
similar lodging operation, or amusement park or any similar operation,
or the construction of new structures associated with agricultural
activities.
APPLICANT
A property owner or agent of a property owner who has filed
an application for a land development activity.
BUILDING
Any structure, either temporary or permanent, having walls
and a roof, designed for the shelter of any person, animal, or property,
and occupying more than 100 square feet of area.
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.
DEDICATION
The deliberate appropriation of property by its owner for
general public use.
DEPARTMENT
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
DESIGN MANUAL
The New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual, most
recent version, including applicable updates, that serves as the official
guide for stormwater management principles, methods and practices.
DEVELOPER
A person who undertakes land development activities.
DISTURBED AREA
All areas where vegetation is or will be removed and soil
is or will be exposed due to clearing, grading or excavation during
construction and/or other development activities. When calculating
the total amount of disturbed area on a contiguous site where multiple,
separate and distinct construction or development activities would
be occurring, the applicant must take a total of the disturbed area
from all of the distinct activities. For projects where construction
activity will be phased, the applicant must consider the total of
land area(s) that will ultimately be disturbed when calculating the
amount of disturbed area.
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, snow melt and water (e.g., building rooftops,
pavement, sidewalks, driveways, etc.).
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.
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT
A legally recorded document that acts as a property deed
restriction, and which provides for long-term maintenance of stormwater
management practices.
NON-POINT 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.
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, and other similar habitats
and areas.
STABILIZATION
The use of practices (erosion control measures) that prevent
exposed soil from becoming detached and being transported to receiving
waters.
STOP-WORK ORDER
An order issued which requires that all construction activity
on a site be stopped.
STORMWATER
Surface runoff and drainage, produced by precipitation and
snowmelt.
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 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 and reducing pollutant transport.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT OFFICER
An employee or officer designated by the municipality 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 non-point source pollution
inputs to stormwater runoff and water bodies.
STORMWATER RUNOFF
Flow on the surface of the ground, resulting from precipitation
or snowmelt.
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 within 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 waters), 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
during a significant portion of the year.
WATERWAY
A channel that directs surface runoff to a watercourse or
to the public storm drain during periods of significant precipitation
and/or stormwater runoff.
The following activities shall 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 facility.
D. Repairs to any stormwater management practice or facility
deemed necessary by the Stormwater Management Officer.
E. Any part of a subdivision if a plat for the subdivision
has been approved by the Planning Board 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, vegetable 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, 2004, most current version or its successor, hereafter referred
to as the "Erosion Control Manual").
B. 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.
The Town 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 or performed by a third party for
the Town.