As used in this Part, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
PERSON
An individual, an association, a partnership or a corporation.
SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM
A septic tank, leaching pit, cesspool, chemical toilet, privy,
pipe or other means to dispose of sewage or sink wastes.
STRUCTURE INTENDED FOR HUMAN OCCUPANCY
Any vehicle, house car, camp car or other type of vehicle,
whether on wheels or not if used for living or sleeping purposes,
and "erection" or a structure intended for human occupancy and shall
include the parking of such a vehicle with the intent that it be occupied
by humans. A tent or camp car erected and used for less than one week
shall not be deemed a structure intended for human occupancy.
A. No sewage disposal system shall be installed or structurally
altered anywhere in the Town until an application for a building permit
shall have been filed and approved as hereinafter provided.
B. The construction or erection of any structure intended
for human occupancy shall not be commenced until an application therefor
shall have been filed and a building permit issued in the manner hereinafter
provided.
A. No sewage disposal system shall be used in the Town,
if constructed after the effective date of this Part, unless a certificate
of occupancy be issued therefor, as hereinafter provided.
B. No structure intended for human occupancy shall be
occupied or used by human beings in the Town if such structure was
erected or constructed alter the effective date of this Part, unless
a certificate of occupancy has been issued therefor as hereinafter
provided.
The Town Board shall appoint a Building Inspector,
who shall be responsible to the Town Board for the performance of
the duties hereinafter mentioned and whose appointment shall be at
the pleasure of the Town Board.
A. Applications for building permits shall be submitted
to the Town Clerk with a plot plan or sketch showing the intended
location of the sewage disposal system. In the case of subdivisions,
temporary residences or any other premises requiring the approval
of the State of New York and/or Albany County Department of Health,
such approval shall be filed with the Town Clerk at the time of filing
said application. A fee as set from time to time by resolution of
the Town Board shall be paid to the Town Clerk simultaneously with
the filing of the application.
[Amended 3-9-2005 by L.L. No. 1-2005]
B. After a building permit has been granted and the work
thereunder performed, but before the work has been covered, the applicant
shall notify the Building Inspector that the work has been completed.
Said notice shall be deemed an application for a certificate of occupancy.
It shall be the duty of the Building Inspector
to receive applications filed with the Town Clerk. He shall promptly
investigate the proposed disposal devices indicated in the application,
inspect the proposed site of the disposal system and issue a building
permit if the proposed sewage disposal system complies with the requirements
of this Part. The site investigation may, at the discretion of the
Building Inspector, be made in the company of the applicant, and/or
a representative of the Albany County Department of Health. The Building
Inspector shall also inspect the disposal system when its construction
has been completed, but before it has been completed, but before it
has been covered, and shall issue the applicant a certificate of occupancy
permitting the use of such installation, if he finds that such installation
conforms to the requirements of this Part.
No sewage disposal system shall be covered until
it has been inspected as aforesaid.
If the Building Inspector declines to issue
a building permit or a certificate of occupancy, the applicant may
appeal within 30 days of the denial thereof to the Town Board by filing
a request for a hearing with the Town Clerk. The applicant will be
notified by the Town Board of the date, time and place of said hearing.
No sewage disposal system shall be installed
unless every part of such installation shall be more than 10 feet
from the boundary line of the property on which it is located and
more than 25 feet from any lake, reservoir, stream or watercourse
not protected by rules enacted by the State Commissioner of Health;
nor shall the leaching parts of such installation be located on the
direct line of drainage to, nor less than 100 feet in a horizontal
direction from, any source of domestic water supply systems which
are located on watersheds. Public water supplies must comply with
the rules and regulations enacted by the State Department of Health
for the protection of such supplies.
No person, either as owner, lessee or tenant
of any property, or dwelling, building or place, shall construct or
maintain any sewage disposal system so as to expose or discharge the
contents or effluent therefrom to the atmosphere or on the surface
of the ground nor so as to enter any source of drinking water nor
to discharge into any watercourse, storm sewer drain, or body of water.
Settling or septic tanks for single- or two-family
dwellings shall have capacities below the flow line of not less than
one day's flow of sewage based on the rate of 150 gallons per bedroom
for small dwellings, farmhouses and summer cottages, and 75 gallons
per person for large dwellings, boardinghouses and hotels. The minimum
size of an approved septic tank shall be 500 gallons' working capacity.
Septic tanks shall be at least 10 feet outside the foundations of
buildings. Drains from buildings to septic tanks shall be watertight
and equipped with a house trap and fresh air vent. They shall have
a diameter of not less than four inches. No roof leaders or floor
or cellar drains shall drain into septic tanks. Septic tank effluents
shall be disposed of by discharging to subsurface tile systems, leaching
cesspools or by such other means as may be approved in writing by
the Building Inspector.
A subsurface tile system shall be laid with
proper slope and alignment below the ground surface in such a fashion
as to permit an even flow from the septic tank into all parts of the
tile field. A distributing box shall be used to distribute the flow
evenly to each lateral in the tile field. The diameter of distributors,
type of joints and the slopes thereof shall be as prescribed by the
Building Inspector, and the entire system shall conform to standards
set by the Building Inspector as a result of percolation tests conducted
by him.
Seepage pits or cesspools may be permitted where
the topsoil is underlaid with sand or gravel. They shall be preceded
by a septic tank. Such pits shall be made of durable material and
construction and of such proportions that the side area is approximately
three times the bottom area. The bottom of a seepage pit shall be
at least two feet above the groundwater table. The seepage area of
a pit or cesspool shall be as calculated by the Building Inspector.
Outdoor pit privies are permissible only in
porous sandy soils where the ground water level is at least two feet
below the bottom of the pit. They shall be flytight, properly ventilated
and otherwise constructed so as to facilitate maintenance in a sanitary
condition.
When the nearby groundwater must be protected,
or leaching systems cannot be utilized, a watertight vault privy,
a removable receptacle privy, or a chemical toilet can be used if
approved by the Building Inspector and adequate facilities are for
proper sanitary maintenance and disposal of wastes.
A. Nothing contained in this Part shall be construed
to permit the installation or maintenance of disposal facilities which
are or may become a nuisance.
B. The Building Inspector may at any time by personal
inspection determine that existing sewage disposal facilities on a
property are inadequate or do not function properly, or that there
is not available an adequate supply of water for use in connection
therewith. In such cases, he shall notify the tenant or owner of the
premises in writing of such fact, and a copy of such notice shall
be sent to the Town Clerk. Upon a receipt of such notice it shall
be the duty of the owner or tenant, within 10 days, to make application
to the Town Clerk for a permit to reconstruct or alter such disposal
system, and to complete such reconstruction or alteration within 30
days after receipt of said notice. Unless such reconstruction or alteration
as is required shall have been completed within said 30 days, it shall
be unlawful and improper to use the premises for human occupancy until
such reconstruction or alteration is completed and approved. The fee
for a reconstruction or alteration permit shall be the same as that
for a new installation, and such work shall be inspected and approved
in the manner provided for new installations.
Any violation of this Part is hereby declared
to be an offense and shall render the owner or owners of the land
and the tenant thereof or any other person guilty of a violation thereof
liable to a fine of not more than $50 or to imprisonment for a period
of not more than 30 days, or both. In addition, the Town Board may
also maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the Town in a
court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or to restrain
the violation of this Part.