This chapter shall affect all land within the unincorporated areas of
the Town of Mount Pleasant and activities conducted thereon which are set
forth and defined hereafter and shall be binding upon all departments, boards
and official acts of the Town of Mount Pleasant.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
DEPOSIT
To fill, place, eject discharge or dump any material, but not including
stormwater.
MATERIAL
Soil, sand, gravel, clay, bog, peat, mud, debris and refuse or any
other organic or inorganic substance, whether liquid, solid or gaseous or
any combination thereof.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, trust, corporation,
company, organization or legal entity of any kind, including municipal corporations,
governmental agencies or subdivisions thereof.
PLANNING BOARD
The Planning Board of the Town of Mount Pleasant, New York (Article
16, § 271, of the Town Law, McKinney's Consolidated Laws of
New York).
TOWN ENGINEER
The Town Engineer of the Town of Mount Pleasant, New York (Article
3, § 20, Subdivision 2a, of the Town Law, McKinney's Consolidated
Laws of New York).
WATERCOURSES
Any water body, natural or artificial, such as but not limited to
a pond, reservoir, lake, stream or brook.
WETLANDS
A.
All lands and submerged lands known as "bogs," "marshes," "swamps,"
"fresh meadows" and "estuarine areas" having types of soils such as alluvial
land, Carlisle muck, Limerick and Sloan, including adjacent and peripheral
land with vegetation evidencing the same habitat, whether inundated at any
given time or not, and shall more specifically mean and include:
(1)
FLOODPLAINSoils covered with water during variable seasonal periods.
(2)
FRESH MEADOWSWaterlogged soil containing such vegetation as sedges, rushes, grasses and various broad-leaved plants.
(3)
SHALLOW FRESH MARSHESAreas bordering on lakes, ponds, deep marshes and wet areas of a depth to six inches, with vegetation such as cattails or hybrids thereof, bulrushes or hybrids thereof and arrowheads or other species of Sagittarius.
(4)
DEEP FRESH MARSHESAreas covered with water of depths from six inches to three feet, with such vegetation as cattails or hybrids thereof, reeds or other species of Sparganium, wild rice and bulrushes.
(5)
SHRUB SWAMPSWaterlogged soil with vegetation such as alders, buttonbush and dogwoods and up to six inches of water.
(6)
WOODED SWAMPSWaterlogged soil with vegetation such as red maple, elm or cedar and up to one foot of water.
(7)
BOGSUsually waterlogged, acid soil with both woody and herbaceous plants in the heath family, as well as sedges and sphagnum mosses.
B.
Notwithstanding the definitions of "wetlands" based on vegetation [Subsection
A(l) through (7) above], "wetlands," in general, shall be defined by types
of soil, as exemplified by the Wetlands District Control Map.
C.
"Wetlands" shall further include but not be limited to all those lands
designated as "wetlands" by the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation under the authority granted by the Freshwater Wetlands Act.
WETLANDS CONTROL DISTRICT MAP
The Wetlands Control District Map prepared from soil maps furnished
by the Soil Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture
and the Department of Environmental Conservation of New York State. This map
shall serve only as a guide to the general boundaries of wetlands control
districts in the Town of Mount Pleasant and shall not, in itself, define the
location of wetlands control districts, which are defined in "wetlands control
district" above.
Except as provided in §
111-5 of this chapter, the following activities shall be prohibited and unlawful:
A. To deposit, directly or indirectly, or permit to be deposited
any material into, upon or within 50 feet of the edge of any river, wetlands
water body or watercourse situated in an area that has been designated as
a wetlands control district.
B. To construct or permit to be constructed any building
or structure of any kind within, upon or within 50 feet of the edge of any
river, wetlands water body or watercourse situated in an area that has been
designated as a wetlands control district.
C. To remove or permit to be removed any material (other
than debris, refuse or water) from any river, wetland, water body or watercourse
which is situated in an area that has been designated as wetlands control
district or from the land within 50 feet of the edge of any such wetlands
water body or watercourse.
In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this chapter
shall be held to be the requirements adopted for the promotion of the public
health, safety, general welfare and economic benefit and for the preservation,
proper maintenance and utilization of natural resources, so as to be beneficial
to the community.
This chapter or any part thereof, including the Wetlands Control District
Map, may be amended, supplemented or repealed from time to time by the Town
Board on its own motion or on petition as provided in the Town Law. Every
such proposed amendment shall be referred by the Town Board to the Planning
Board and the Conservation Advisory Council for written reports before any
public hearing which may be held by the Town Board pursuant to Town Law. The
Town Board shall not take action on any such amendment without such reports
from the Planning Board and Conservation Advisory Council unless such Board
or Commission shall fail to report within 30 days after its regularly scheduled
meeting next following the receipt of such referral, but in no case later
than within 45 days after the receipt of such referral by the Town Board.
All appeals shall be carried out according to the provisions of Title
11 of the New York State Freshwater Wetlands Act.