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 waterborne pollutants, including siltation of aquatic habitats
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 habitats;
D. Improper design and construction of stormwater management
practices can increase the velocity of stormwater runoff, thereby
increasing stream bank 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 nonpoint source
pollution can be controlled and minimized through the regulation of
stormwater runoff from land development activities;
H. The regulation of stormwater runoff discharges from
land development activities in order to control and minimize increases
in stormwater runoff rates and volumes, soil erosion, stream channel
erosion, and nonpoint source pollution associated with stormwater
runoff is in the public interest and will minimize threats to public
health and safety;
I. Regulation of land development 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 article is to establish minimum stormwater management requirements and controls to protect and safeguard the general health, safety, and welfare of the public residing within this jurisdiction and to address the findings of fact in §
99-86. This article seeks to meet those purposes by achieving the following objectives:
A. Meet the requirements of minimum measures 4 and 5
of the New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES)
General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Municipal Separate Stormwater
Sewer Systems (MS4s), Permit No. GP-02-02, as amended or revised;
B. Require land development activities to conform to
the substantive requirements of SPDES General Permit for Construction
Activities, GP-02-01, 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 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; and
F. Reduce stormwater runoff rates and volumes, soil erosion
and nonpoint source pollution, wherever possible, through stormwater
management practices, 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 article.
C. Routine maintenance activities that disturb less 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.
F. Land development activities for which a building permit
has been approved on or before the effective date of this article.
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.
The terms used in this article or in documents
prepared or reviewed under this article shall have the meaning as
set forth in this section.
APPLICANT
A property owner or agent of 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.
EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency.
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 (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 1,000 square feet.
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.
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.
NYS DEC
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 services.
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 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 OFFICER (SMO)
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 nonpoint source pollution
inputs to stormwater runoff and water bodies.
SURFACE WATERS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs,
wells, rivers, steams, 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.
WATERWAY
A channel that directs surface runoff to a watercourse or
to the public storm drain.
All land development activities shall be subject
to the following performance and design criteria:
A. Technical standards. For the purpose of this article,
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 article:
(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. 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 and the SWPPP shall be prepared by a licensed professional.
C. 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 Incorporated Village of Floral Park may
require any person undertaking land development activities regulated
by this article to pay reasonable costs at prevailing rates for review
of SWPPPs, inspections, or SMP maintenance performed by a third party
for the Incorporated Village of Floral Park.