As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated below:
ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES
Activity that results in less than 5,000 square feet of disturbance
within a controlled area and which meets the following conditions:
A.
Is an activity for which site plan or subdivision approval is not required per Chapter
123 or
138 of the Town Code.
B.
No building or other structure, sewage disposal system, or well
is proposed in a controlled area.
C.
Does not cause the hydrological isolation of a portion of wetland.
D.
Involves the excavation, grading or depositing of less than
20 cubic yards of earth materials in a controlled area but not within
a wetland or watercourse.
E.
Removal of water-deposited silt or debris to restore the controlled
area to the condition existing before the deposit.
F.
Incidental removal of trees and shrubs within the controlled
area.
G.
Activity is not conducted in a floodplain.
APPLICANT
The person filing an application pursuant to this chapter.
CONTROLLED AREA
Shall consist of a wetland, vernal pool, water body, or watercourse
and the associated buffer.
MAJOR WETLAND PERMIT
Permit required for an activity that results in more than
5,000 square feet of disturbance within a controlled area.
MINOR WETLAND PERMIT
Permit required for an activity that results in less than
5,000 square feet of disturbance within a controlled area but does
not meet the definition of "administrative activities."
MITIGATION PLAN
The plan prepared by an applicant to compensate for proposed
impacts to a controlled area pursuant to the standards and requirements
of this chapter. Mitigation may include on- or off-site preservation,
restoration, expansion, and/or enhancement of wetlands and watercourses
and associated buffers.
PERMIT
The written municipal approval required by this chapter for
the conduct of a regulated activity within a controlled area.
PERSON
Includes any individual, individuals, corporation, firm,
partnership, association, trust, estate, joint venture, and any unit
of government, agency or subdivision thereof that is subject to this
chapter.
POLLUTION
Includes, in addition to its usual meaning, the presence
in the environment of man-induced conditions or contaminants in quantities
or with characteristics which are or may be injurious to human, plant,
wildlife, or animal forms or life or property.
STORMWATER CONVEYANCE SYSTEM
Private or public engineered drainage facilities other than
sanitary sewers by which water runoff may be conveyed to receiving
waters, and includes but is not limited to roads, streets, constructed
channels, aqueducts, storm drain, pipes, detention and retention basins,
street gutters, inlets to storm drains, or catch basins.
VERNAL POOLS
Seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive
plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of
wetland, usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe development
of natal amphibian and insect species unable to withstand competition
or predation by fish.
WATER BODY
A lake, pond, reservoir, and all other bodies of water, natural
or artificial, which ordinarily or intermittently, at least three
months a year, contain water and which have a discernible shoreline
also known as the boundary. This does not include watercourses as
defined herein.
WATERCOURSE
A river, stream, brook, creek, and all other waterways, natural
or artificial, with an identifiable channel (defined bed and banks)
through which water flows continuously or intermittently at least
three months a year.
WETLAND
A.
Lands and waters consisting of the following:
(1)
Soil types which are poorly drained, very poorly drained, alluvial
and floodplain soils as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Natural Resources Conservation Service, formally known as the Soil
Conservation Service, which soil types in the Town of Southeast have
the following map codes and names listed below, in addition to the
characteristics set forth in Subsection A(2), (3), (4), (5) and (6):
Map Code
|
Name
|
---|
25
|
Sun silt loam
|
27
|
Sun (stony silt loam)
|
28
|
Fredon loam
|
35
|
Raynham silt loam
|
100
|
Fluvaquents
|
101
|
Carlisle muck
|
103
|
Freshwater marsh (aquents)
|
108
|
Udorthents wet substratum
|
251
|
Ridgebury loam
|
252
|
Ridgebury very stony loam
|
311
|
Fluvaquents
|
1011
|
Palms muck
|
1251
|
Leicester loam
|
1252
|
Leicester very stony loam
|
(2)
Lands and submerged lands, commonly called "marshes," "swamps,"
"sloughs," "bogs" and "flats," supporting aquatic or semiaquatic vegetation
of the following vegetative types.
(a)
Wetland trees, which depend upon seasonal or permanent flooding
or sufficiently waterlogged soils to give them a competitive advantage
over other trees, including, among others, red maple (Acer rubrum),
willows (Salix spp.), black spruce (Picea mariana); swamp white oak
(Quercus bicolor), red ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), American elm
(Ulmus americana) and larch (Larix laricina);
(b)
Wetland shrubs, which depend upon seasonal or permanent flooding
or sufficiently waterlogged soils to give them a competitive advantage
over other shrubs, including, among others, alder (Alnus spp.), buttonbush
(Cephalanthus occidentalis), bog rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla),
leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), spicebush (Lindera benzoin),
winteberry (Ilex montana), redosier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) and
highbush blueberry (Vaccinum corymbosum);
(c)
Emergent vegetation, including, among other, cattails (Typha
spp.), pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata), bulrushes (Scirpus spp.),
arrow arum (Peltandra virginica), arrowheads (Sagittaria spp.), reed
(Phragmites communis), wild rice (Zizania aquatica), bur-reeds (Sparganium
spp.), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), swamp loosestrife (Decodon
verticillatus) and water plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica);
(d)
Rooted, floating-leaved vegetation, including, among others,
water lily (Nymphaea odorata), water shield (Brasenia schreberi) and
spatterdock (Nuphar spp.);
(e)
Free-floating vegetation, including, among others, duckweed
(Lemna spp.), big duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza) and watermeal (Wolffia
spp.);
(f)
Wet meadow vegetation, which depends upon seasonal or permanent
flooding or sufficiently waterlogged soils to give it a competitive
advantage over other open land vegetation, including, among others,
sedges (Carex spp.), rushes (Juncus spp.), cattails (Typha spp.),
rice cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides), reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinanced),
swamp loosestrife (Decodon verticillatus), spikerush (Eleocharis spp.),
skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) and false hellebore (Veratrum
viride);
(g)
Bog mat vegetation, including, among others, sphagnum mosses
(Sphagnum spp.), bog rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla), leatherleaf
(Chamaedaphne calyculata), pitcher plant (Sarrancenia purpurea), and
cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon and V. oxycoccos);
(h)
Submergent vegetation, including, among others, pondweeds (Potamogeton
spp.), mavads (Najas spp.), bladderworts (Ultricularia spp.), wild
celery (Vallisneria americana), coontails (Ceratophyllum demersum),
watermilfoils (Myriophyllum spp.), muskgrass (Chara), stonework (Nitella
spp.), waterweeds (Elodea spp.), and water smartweed (Polygonum amphibium).
(3)
Lands and submerged lands containing remnants of any vegetation
that is not aquatic or semiaquatic that has died because of wet conditions
over a significantly long period, provided that such wet conditions
do not exceed a maximum seasonal water depth of six feet, and provided
further that such conditions can be expected to persist indefinitely,
barring human intervention.
(4)
Lands enclosed by aquatic or semiaquatic vegetation as set forth
in Subsection A(2) and dead vegetation as set forth in Subsection
A(3), the regulation of which is necessary to protect and preserve
the aquatic and semiaquatic vegetation.
(5)
Waters overlying the areas set forth in Subsection A(1) through
A(3) and lands underlying areas set forth in Subsection A(4).
(6)
Lands and waters possessing the characteristics described in
Subsection A(1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) that are less than one acre
but are both hydrologically connected to and within 50 meters (165
feet) of other wetlands and together with these exceed one acre.
B.
Unvegetated open water is part of a wetland if it is more than
50% enclosed by wetland vegetation and is no larger than 2.5 hectares
(6.2 acres). If the body of open water, substantially enclosed by
wetland vegetation, is larger than 2.5 hectares, then only that portion
within 50 meters (165 feet) of the wetland vegetation is part of the
wetland.
C.
Unvegetated open water adjacent to wetlands but not substantially
surrounded by wetland vegetation may be considered to be part of the
wetland to a depth of two meters (6.6 feet) below low water or to
the maximum extent of nonpersistent emergents, if these grow at depths
greater than two meters.
WETLAND INSPECTOR
The agent appointed by the Town Board to fulfill the designated
enforcement and permit-processing responsibilities set forth in this
chapter. A qualified Wetland Inspector shall have a degree from an
accredited college or university in a related field, a minimum of
two years of delineation experience, and scientific knowledge about
the biogeophysical structure, function, or interrelationships of terrestrial
and aquatic/semiaquatic plant and animal communities.
WETLAND, VERNAL POOL, WATER BODY, AND WATERCOURSE BUFFER
An area of 100 feet surrounding a wetland, vernal pool, water
body, or watercourse that is also subject to the regulations defined
herein. The 100-foot buffer will be established as follows:
A.
For wetlands, the buffer will be measured horizontally and outward
from the delineated boundary of the wetland. Protection of vernal
pools may require buffers greater than 100 feet based on the presence
of protected species and at the discretion of the Wetland Inspector
and/or Planning Board.
B.
For watercourses and water bodies, the 100-foot buffer will
be measured horizontally and outward from the top of bank or mean
high-water mark of the watercourse or water body.