[Adopted 3-13-1996 by L.L. No. 3-1996]
The following terms, phrases and words and their
derivations shall have the meaning given herein:
ALTER
Any form of draining, dredging, excavation, removal of soil,
mud, sand, shells, gravel or other aggregate or any form of dumping,
filling or depositing of any soil, stones, sand, gravel, mud, rubbish
or fill of any kind, either directly or indirectly; erecting any structure;
constructing roads, driving, piling or placing of any other obstructions,
whether or not changing the ebb and flow of the water; any form of
pollution; and any other activity which substantially impairs any
of the several functions served by freshwater wetlands or the benefits
derived therefrom which are set forth in § 24-0105 of the
New York State Environmental Conservation Law.
APPLICANT
Any person who files an application for any permit issued
by the Town pursuant to this article, including the owner, the contract
vendee or the agent of the contract vendee.
AQUICULTURE
Cultivating and harvesting products, including fish and vegetation,
that are produced naturally in freshwater wetlands and installing
cribs, racks and other in-water structures for cultivating these products,
but not including filling, dredging, peat mining or the construction
of any buildings or any water-regulating structures, such as dams.
BOUNDARY OF WETLAND
The outer limit of hydrophytic vegetation, hydric soils or
hydrological indicators as further defined under "freshwater wetlands."
CLEAR-CUTTING
Any cutting of more than 30% of trees six inches or more
in diameter at breast height (4.5 feet) in an area 10,000 square feet
or more over a period of two consecutive years.
CONTROLLED AREA
Includes any freshwater wetland of 1/2 acre or larger or vernal pool and the area surrounding the same for a horizontal distance of 100 feet from the boundary of a wetland or vernal pool, or any watercourse or water body and the area surrounding the same for a horizontal distance of 50 feet from the edge of the watercourse or water body. All surfaces are measured horizontally in all directions from the designated high-water mark from a one-in-one-hundred-year storm. The controlled area is subject to §
144-4, Regulated activities, of this article.
FRESHWATER WETLANDS
Areas and waters of the Town of Putnam Valley that are comprised of hydric soils and/or are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation. Finite boundaries of wetlands are to be determined by a qualified ecologist, botanist, wetlands specialist or soil scientist as any area which provides one or more of the wetland functions as recited in §
144-1A of this article due to the presence of one or more of the following:
A. Hydrophytic vegetation. Plants which are dependent
upon seasonal or permanent flooding or sufficiently waterlogged soils
to give them a competitive advantage over other species. These plants
may belong to any of the following vegetative types: wetland trees,
wetland shrubs, emergent vegetation, submergent and rooted floating-leaved
vegetation, free-floating vegetation, wet meadow vegetation and bog
mat vegetation. The following indicators of hydrophytic vegetation
may be used in conjunction with hydric soils and/or wetland hydrology:
(1) The dominance of obligate and facultative wetland
vegetative species. Obligate upland species cannot be present on other
than microsites. Obligate and facultative wetland vegetative species
are listed in the National List of Plant Species that Occurs in Wetlands:
Northeast (Region 1, 1988, published by the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service in cooperation with the National and Regional Interagency
Review Panels), and as updated from time to time.
(2) Plants with adaptations to inundation and/or saturated
soil conditions. Such adaptations include but are not limited to buttressed
tree trunks, floating stems, floating leaves, multiple trunks and
inflated leaves, steins or roots.
B. Hydric soils. Areas with "somewhat poorly drained,"
"poorly drained" and "very poorly drained" soils, as determined by
data of the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation
Services (SCS) and the Putnam County Soil and Water Conservation District,
including but not limited to the following classification, as may
be updated or amended from time to time:
Soils List
|
---|
Ce
|
Carlisle muck
|
Ff
|
Fluvaquents-Udifluvents complex, frequently
flooded
|
Fr
|
Fredon silt loam
|
Ip
|
Ipswich mucky peat
|
LcA
|
Leicester loam, 0-3% slopes, stony
|
LcB
|
Leicester loam, 3-8% slopes, stony
|
LeB
|
Leicester loam, 2-8% slopes, very stony
|
Pc
|
Palms and Carlisle soils, ponded
|
Pt
|
Pits, gravel
|
Pv
|
Pits, quarry
|
Ra
|
Raynham silt loam
|
RdA
|
Ridgebury loam, 0-3% slopes
|
RdB
|
Ridgebury loam, 3-8% slopes
|
RgB
|
Ridgebury loam, 2-8% slopes, very stony
|
Sh
|
Sun loam
|
Sm
|
Sun loam, extremely stony
|
C. Hydrologic indicators. Any of the following:
(1) Rivers, streams, brooks and waterways which are delineated
on the most recent edition of the United States Geological Survey
topographic maps of the Town and the associated floodplains of such
water sources.
(2) Any other intermittent streams, brooks and waterways.
(3) Lakes, ponds, marshes, swamps, bogs and all other
bodies of water, natural or artificial, which are fed by or have discharge
to another wetland, watercourse or water body.
HYDRIC SOIL
A soil that is saturated, flooded or ponded long enough during
the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part
and as further defined under "freshwater wetlands."
PERMIT
That form of Town approval required by this article for the
carrying on of a regulated activity.
PERSON
Any corporation, firm, partnership, association, trust, estate,
one or more individuals and any unit of federal, state or local government
or any agency or subdivision thereof, including any state department,
bureau, commission, board or other agency, public authority or public
benefit corporation.
POLLUTION
The presence in the environment of human-induced conditions
or contaminants in quantities or characteristics which are or may
be injurious to humans, plants, animals or property.
PROJECT
Any action resulting in direct or indirect physical impact
on a freshwater wetland, watercourse or water body, including but
not limited to any regulated activity.
STATE WETLANDS MAPS
The Freshwater Wetlands Maps of Putnam County filed by the
New York Department of Environmental Conservation.
VERNAL POOLS
Small, temporary bodies of standing water which are seasonally
flooded for sufficient periods of time to support amphibian reproduction,
but these periods of inundation are interspersed with dry phases.
Vernal pools which support viable breeding populations of amphibians
are regulated as wetlands.
WATER BODIES
Any of the following: lakes, ponds and all other bodies of
water, natural or artificial, which are fed by or have discharge to
another wetland or watercourse.
WATERCOURSES
Any of the following: rivers, streams, brooks and waterways
and associated floodplains of such water sources and any other intermittent
streams, brooks and waterways.
[Adopted 1-2-2020 by L.L.
No. 1-2020]
Effective January 1, 2020, the use of any ice-retardant device,
mechanism, (de-icer, bubbler or aerator) or chemical within the entire
Lake Oscawana water body is completely and totally banned for use.
Anyone failing to comply with this law will be levied a $1,000
fine and face confiscation of the offending device. Subsequent offenses
by the same individual or property owner will result in doubling of
the preceding fine.