All street signs shall be provided and constructed in accordance with
the Town of Princess Anne's Specifications and Design Standards for Roads,
Streets and Improvements (see Appendix A).
All stormwater management shall be provided and constructed in accordance
with Maryland's Stormwater Management Program.
All public sanitary sewers and public water supply systems shall be
in accordance with the Somerset County Sanitary District.
All sidewalks shall be provided and constructed in accordance with the
Town of Princess Anne's Specifications and Design Standards for Roads,
Streets and Improvements (see Appendix A).
In addition to the other provisions of Chapter
163, Zoning, the following design standards will apply to all subdivision of land located within the Town of Princess Anne Critical Area Overlay District:
A. Where a tract of land bordering tidal water, tidal wetlands or tributary streams in the critical area is to be subdivided and a buffer exemption has not been granted by the Critical Area Commission, a buffer of at least 100 feet shall be established in natural vegetation (except areas of the buffer which are planted in vegetation where necessary to protect, stabilize or enhance the shoreline). No development, including impervious surfaces, parking areas, roads or structures, is permitted in the buffer. However, approved development or expansion of a water-dependent facility, as defined in Chapter
61, Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program, is excepted from these buffer provisions.
B. If the lot ownership extends to the water, wetlands or
streambed, then the buffer shall be included in the required setback distance
for buildings on that lot, except in the case of water-dependent facilities.
Where the buffer is to be owned and maintained by a homeowners' or similar
appropriate organization, the required setback distance shall be measured
from the property line separating that lot from the designated buffer. The
buffer, when not included in the lots, may be included in calculating the
gross density.
C. The buffer will be expanded to include contiguous sensitive
areas. This expansion will occur whenever new land development or other land-disturbing
activities, such as clearing natural vegetation for agriculture or mining,
are proposed. The expanded buffer must be shown on plans required for such
development or activities. Sensitive areas are defined as follows: hydric
soils and soils with hydric properties as designated by the Soil Conservation
Service and highly erodible soils with a K value greater than 0.35 and steep
slopes greater than 15%. The buffer shall be expanded according to the following
rules:
(1) When the site of the proposed land disturbance drains
to a slope greater than 15% contiguous to the buffer, the buffer shall be
expanded four feet for every percent of slope or to the top of the slope,
whichever is greater, but in no case more than 10 feet beyond the top of the
slope greater than 15%.
(2) The applicant may provide afforestation in the buffer as an alternative to expanding the buffer to include hydric soils, soils with hydric properties and erodible soils, provided that no area of hydric soils is classified as a nontidal wetland. Afforestation must be in accordance with Chapter
61, Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program.
(3) All subdivisions in the Princess Anne critical area shall be subject to the habitat protection criteria and guidelines prescribed in Chapter
61, Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program.
(4) The applicant shall be required to identify stormwater
management policies appropriate to site development which achieve the following
standards:
(a) In areas designated as intensely developed areas on the
Town of Princess Anne Official Critical Area Map, the applicant shall demonstrate
that the best management practices for stormwater assure a ten-percent reduction
of predevelopment pollutant and loadings.
(b) The subdivider shall delineate those site areas not covered by impervious surfaces to be maintained or established in vegetation. Where vegetation is not proposed, the developer shall demonstrate why plantings for such portions of the site are impracticable. The types of planting and vegetation proposed shall be in accordance with guidelines established as part of Chapter
61, Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program.
(c) The subdivision shall be designed to assure those features or resources identified as habitat protection areas are offered protection as prescribed in the habitat protection element of Chapter
61, Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program.
(5) Roads, bridges and utilities serving lots shall be located
to avoid disturbances to habitat protection areas. When no alternative exists
and such infrastructure must cross or be located in a habitat protection area,
the developer shall demonstrate how impacts to habitats have been minimized
and that no feasible alternative location of such infrastructure exists.
(6) All roads, bridges, lots or other development which crosses
or is located adjacent to tributary streams in the critical area shall:
(a) Not be located in the buffer and shall be designed in
a manner to reduce increases in flood frequency and severity.
(b) Provide for the retention of natural streambed substrate.
(c) Minimize adverse impacts to water quality and stormwater
runoff.
(d) Retain existing tree canopy.
(7) Lots and open space acres shall be located and designed
to provide for maintenance of existing site wildlife and plant habitats and
continuity with those on adjacent sites. Existing wildlife corridors shall
be identified on proposed development plats. When wildlife corridors exist
or are proposed, they shall include any existing habitat protection areas
and connect large forested areas on or adjacent to the site.
(8) Impervious surfaces in subdivisions located in limited
development areas (LDA) and resource conservation areas (RCA) of the Critical
Area District shall be limited to 15% of the gross site area proposed for
development, except that impervious surfaces on any lot not exceeding one
acre in size in a subdivision approved after December 1, 1985, may be up to
25% of the lot. However, the total of the impervious surfaces over the entire
subdivision may not exceed 15%.
(9) Development on slopes greater than 15% shall be prohibited
unless such development is demonstrated to be the only effective way to maintain
or improve slope stability.
(10) No clearing or grading is permitted in the buffer nor
on steep slopes and hydric or highly erodible soils for other than agricultural
practices, not involving the clearing of natural vegetation in the buffer,
or commercial forestry practices in the buffer between March 1 and May 15.
(11) Land to be subdivided shall be designed and improved
in reasonable conformity with existing topography in order to minimize grading,
cuts and fill and to retain, insofar as possible, the natural contours, minimize
stormwater runoff and conserve the natural cover and soil. No soil, sand or
gravel shall be removed from any lots shown on any subdivision plat, except
in accordance with the provisions of the sediment control plan approved by
the Soil Conservation District Board.
(12) Subdivisions and development in the Town of Princess
Anne critical area are encouraged to increase natural vegetation on the development
site.
(13) Subdivisions located in limited development areas (LDA) and resource conservation areas (RCA) are required to meet the following minimum standards for forest and developed woodlands. Forest and developed woodlands, as defined by Chapter
61, Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program, shall be created or protected in accordance with the following:
(a) When no forest exists on the site, at least 15% of the
gross site area shall be afforested. The location of the afforested area should
be designed to reinforce protection to site habitats or provide connections
between forested areas when they are present on adjacent sites.
(b) When forests or developed woodland exists on the site
and proposed development requires the cutting or clearing of trees, areas
proposed for clearing shall be identified on the proposed development plan.
The developer shall submit plans for development and areas to be cleared to
the Maryland Forest, Park and Wildlife Service for comments and recommendations
and shall transmit comments to the Princess Anne Town Office. A grading permit
shall be obtained prior to any clearing or cutting associated with proposed
development. In addition, cutting or clearing which is associated with development
shall be subject to the following limits and replacement conditions:
[1] All forests cleared or developed shall be replaced on
not less than an equal area basis, either on the site or on another site approved
by the Planning and Zoning Commission, except that if clearing on a fully
forested lot is limited to a development pad of 10,000 square feet or less
and cleared areas are reforested to the extent possible, the forest shall
be considered a developed woodland and no replacement is required.
[2] No more than 20% of the forested or developed woodland within the site proposed for development may be removed, except as provided for in Subsection
C(13)(b)[3] below, and the remaining 80% shall be maintained as forest cover through the use of appropriate instruments (e.g., recorded restrictive covenants). Removal of forest or developed woodlands cover in the buffer is prohibited.
[3] Clearing of forest or developed woodland up to 20% shall
be replaced on an area basis of one to one. A developer may propose clearing
up to 30% of the forest or developed woodland on a site, but the trees removed
in excess of 20% must be replaced at the rate of 1.5 times the amount removed
either on the site or on another site approved by the Planning and Zoning
Commission.
[4] If more than 30% of the forest on a site is cleared,
the forest is required to be replanted at three times the total area extent
of the cleared forest.
[5] If the cutting of forests occurs before a grading permit is obtained, the forest is required to be replanted according to the requirement in Subsection
C(13)(b)[4] above.
[6] All reforestation and/or afforestation shall be included
in a planting plan.