[HISTORY: Adopted by the North Hempstead Town Board 10-5-1948; amended
in its entirety 1-23-1962. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
This ordinance shall be applicable to all territory within the Town
of North Hempstead outside of incorporated villages.
[Amended 9-23-1969]
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to install,
place, erect, replace or maintain any plant, tank, container or building of
any kind or description for the storage of gasoline, petroleum, shale oil,
or the liquid products thereof, or coal tar, or of other inflammable liquids,
whether for private consumption or for sale to the public, without first making
application for and obtaining a permit from the Town Clerk as hereinafter
provided.
A permit shall be issued by the Town Clerk only when approved by the
Town Board after a public hearing and an application for such permit has been
presented to said Board.
A written application by the owner of the fee or a contract purchaser
with written consent of the owner shall be presented to the Town Board setting
forth the following details:
A.
Number of tanks.
B.
Type of each tank.
C.
Size of each tank.
D.
Capacity of each tank.
E.
Construction of each tank.
F.
Materials to be used for foundation or base.
G.
What is to be stored in each tank.
H.
Description of fire extinguishing system to be installed.
I.
Construction, height and width of dike surrounding each
tank or group of tanks.
J.
Location of loading rack.
K.
Construction of layout, including valves for feed and
discharge lines.
L.
Construction and location of pump house.
M.
Map showing the size and location of the property, the
ownership and the use of adjoining property, with the location of any building
thereon, the size and location of tanks and dikes, the location of the loading
rack and pump house, the layout of pipes and the topographical contour of
the land.
A.
The Town Board shall fix a date for a public hearing
on the above application, and the Town Clerk shall have a notice of such hearing,
setting forth the date, time and place thereof and the description of the
property covered by the application, published in a newspaper designated by
the Town Board at least ten (10) days before and not more than twenty (20)
days prior to the date of the public hearing. In addition to the notice published
by the Town Clerk, the applicant shall, on forms provided by the Town Board,
serve notice of public hearing on said application on all owners of real property
as appears from the latest completed assessment rolls of the County of Nassau
within two hundred (200) feet, either personally or by registered or certified
mail. Said notices shall be served within ten (10) days of date of public
hearing as determined by the Town Board, and the applicant shall, at least
five (5) days prior to the date of the hearing, file with the Town Board proof
of service of such notices.
[Amended 9-26-1978 by L.L.
No. 3, 1978]
B.
The Town Board may take testimony, affidavits or other
evidence pertaining to matters set forth in the application and, in addition
thereto but not limited to, fire hazards, traffic, effect on the value of
adjacent properties and proximity of residences, schools, churches or other
businesses storing flammable liquids or materials. The Board in making its
determination may pass on any of the foregoing matters and upon any information
known to the members and may impose any reasonable conditions upon the issuance
of the permit.
[Amended 9-23-1969; 10-2-1979
by L.L. No. 10, 1979]
An application under this ordinance shall be accompanied by a filing
fee of fifty dollars ($50.) which is not returnable. In addition, there shall
be a permit fee of fifty dollars ($50.) for each tank containing less than
twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons for private consumption. The permit
fee for the installation of tanks in connection with the operation of a public
garage or gasoline service station for the sale of gasoline to the public
shall be three hundred fifty dollars ($350.). The permit fee for bulk storage
of flammable materials shall be computed at the rate of two hundred dollars
($200.) for the first one hundred thousand (100,000) gallons and seventy-five
dollars ($75.) for each additional one hundred thousand (100,000) gallons
or fraction thereof.
All plans and specifications in connection with the proposed tank or
tanks shall be subject to the approval of the Building Department.
No tank shall be erected to contain more than five hundred thousand
(500,000) gallons.
The minimum distance of any part of any tank from a neighboring building
or lot line or from another tank of the group shall be as indicated for the
corresponding capacities, as follows:
|
Capacity
(gallons)
|
Minimum Distance
(feet)
|
|---|---|
|
Up to 20,000
|
3
|
|
20,000 to 40,000
|
4
|
|
40,000 to 60,000
|
6
|
|
60,000 to 80,000
|
8
|
|
80,000 to 100,000
|
10
|
|
Above 100,000
|
1/2 diameter of tank
|
The design and construction of tanks shall conform generally to accepted
good practice. Tanks approved by the Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc., and
tanks conforming to the standards of the National Board of Fire Underwriters
or of the American Petroleum Institute shall be deemed to conform to generally
accepted good practice.
[Amended 10-2-1979 by L.L.
No. 10, 1979]
Outside aboveground tanks shall rest directly on the ground or on foundations
or supports of concrete, masonry, piling or steel. Exposed piling or steel
supports shall be protected by fire-resistant materials to provide a fire-resistant
rating of not less than two (2) hours.
No tank shall, after the construction thereof, by put into use until
an inspection shall have been made by the Building Department and the conditions
of such construction found satisfactory.
A.
Any permit issued pursuant to this ordinance is issued
with the understanding that construction shall start within ninety (90) days
of the date of the permit and shall be completed within twelve (12) months
of the date of the permit, except that where a permit is issued in connection
with the construction of a building or buildings such permit shall remain
in full force and effect during the period when such building permit is valid
pursuant to the provisions of the Building Code of the Town of North Hempstead.
Any permit so issued shall be subject to revocation unless this provision
is complied with.
B.
Renewals. There shall be no renewals of permits or extension
of the time as limited by the provisions of this section of the ordinance.
No permit for a storage plant shall be issued for any building or enclosure:
A.
Which is occupied as a tenement house, hotel or lodging
house.
B.
Where paints, varnishes or lacquers are manufactured
or kept for sale.
C.
Where dry goods or other highly inflammable materials
are manufactured or kept for sale.
D.
Where rosin, turpentine, hemp or cotton or any explosives
are stored or kept for sale.
E.
Which is situated within two hundred (200) feet of the
nearest wall of a building occupied as a school, hospital, church, public
library, theater or other place of public amusement or assembly.
All tanks erected or maintained aboveground shall comply with the following
regulations:
A.
Levee or concrete retaining wall. Every tank or group
of tanks having a capacity of twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons or over
shall be completely surrounded by a levee or reinforced concrete retaining
wall.
B.
Where a levee is used, it shall be made of clay core,
cinder fill and suitable earthwork, free from stones and vegetable matter,
shall be firmly and compactly built, to be continuous, with no openings of
any kind for pipes or roadways and shall have a flat section on top not less
than three (3) feet in width, and a height of not less than three (3) feet
and not more than six (6) feet, and shall have slopes on both sides of not
less than one and one-half to one (1 1/2:1). The enclosure within said
levee shall have a cubic capacity equal to the largest tank plus ten percent
(10%) of the remainder of the tanks surrounded.
C.
Where a reinforced concrete retaining wall is used, said
wall shall be of a design to be approved by the Building Department and the
enclosure within said wall shall have a cubic capacity equal to that required
where a levee is used as set forth in the preceding subsection.
D.
Fire-extinguishing appliances. Every tank or group of
tanks having a capacity of twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons or more shall
be equipped with foam fire-extinguishing equipment or other system approved
by the Building Department. Each tank shall be fitted with a permanent pipe
connection to which the central or movable tank generator may be attached.
E.
Vents. An open vent pipe of design and construction approved
by the Building Department shall be provided for each tank.
F.
Pipes. All tanks of a storage system shall be so connected
with each other by a system of pipes that the contents of each tank or container
can be transferred to any other tank or container at will. All pipings shall
be aboveground and shall be equipped with valves or other safety devices of
a design construction approved by the Building Department.
G.
Horizontal tanks. All tanks having a storage capacity
of twenty thousand (20,000) gallons or less shall be horizontal tanks and
shall be placed upon steel or concrete bases designed to carry the load.
H.
Lighting. No system of artificial light other than vapor-proof,
incandescent electric light shall be installed in any portion of a premises
used for the storage of inflammable liquids.
I.
Painting. No tank shall be painted within four (4) months
after its erection, at which time each tank shall be scratch-brushed to remove
the scale and painted with rust-resisting material.
[1]
Editor's Note: former § 29-16, Buried tanks, was repealed
10-2-1979 by L.L. No. 10, 1979.
This ordinance shall not apply to any existing tank now in operation, except that all existing tanks shall be required to conform to the provisions of § 29-15D relating to the equipment and installation of fire-fighting apparatus. Nothing herein contained, however, shall require the installation of permanent pipe connections within an existing tank or tanks. Nothing herein contained shall apply to the keeping or storage of inflammable liquids in five-gallon tin cans. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to apply to the installation of tank or tanks for the storage of fuel oil to be used for the heating of a premises upon or in which said installation is made, or to be in conflict with the provisions of Article III of the Building Code[1] of the Town of North Hempstead providing for the issuance of permits
by the Chief Building Inspector in connection with the installation of off-burning
equipment and the construction of storage tanks not in excess of twelve thousand
(12,000) gallons.
The provisions of §§ 29-8, 29-9 and 29-15A, B, C and D shall not apply in connection with the storage of the liquids mentioned in § 29-2 hereof which have a flash point above two hundred degrees Fahrenheit (200º F.). In such cases, however, the applicant shall be required to give all information required under this ordinance and have the approval of the Nassau County Fire Commission for the installation and shall submit proof by affidavit that said building, tank or container will not at any time be used for the storage of liquids having a flash point below two hundred degrees Fahrenheit (200º F.).
[Added 4-27-1976 by L.L.
No. 1, 1976; amended 9-12-1989
by L.L. No. 6, 1989]
The installation and use of coin- or credit-card-operated, self-service or customer-operated dispensing pumps is governed by the provisions of § 70-203O.
[Added 4-27-1976 by L.L.
No. 1, 1976]
Every violation of this chapter shall constitute a violation and shall
be punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250.) or
imprisonment for a period not to exceed fifteen (15) days, or both. Each day's
continued violation of this chapter shall be deemed to constitute a separate
and/or additional violation.
All ordinances or regulations heretofore adopted in conflict with this
ordinance are hereby repealed.
