This chapter shall be known as "The Clearing,
Filling and Excavation Law of the Village of Airmont."
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Airmont
hereby finds that uncontrolled clearing, filling or excavating of
land may cause serious health, safety and environmental problems including
erosion, siltation, flooding and other potential harmful effects.
It is the purpose of this chapter to prevent such harmful effects
and thus promote the public health, safety and welfare in the Village
of Airmont.
[Added 3-21-2016 by L.L.
No. 4-2016]
A. Permit required. No person shall move any soil or change or alter
the grade of any property within the Village without first obtaining
a soil removal permit.
B. Exceptions. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the
following operations:
(1) The moving of 100 cubic yards or less of topsoil within a twelve-month
period.
(2) The moving of soil for the installation of septic tanks or sanitary
disposal systems for which applicable permits have been issued by
the Board of Health, except for mounded systems.
(3) The moving of soil for the installation of underground utility lines,
provided that all necessary permits have been issued.
(4) The moving of soil for parking areas, provided that the required
permits have been obtained.
(5) The moving of soil for detention or retention basins or similar water
control measures approved by the Village, provided that such soil
removal is only for development containing less than two acres.
(6) Abandoned wells, septic systems, or cisterns may be filled in without
a soil removal permit, provided that the owner of the lot or his agent
completes and files a permit form with the Rockland County Health
Department with a copy to the Village Building Department prior to
commencement of the work to be performed.
C. Permit to be issued to owner/agent; term of permit. No soil removal
permit shall be issued to any person other than the owner or owner's
agent of the lot, and then only if the excavation, moving or removing
of soil from, in or upon the lot is necessary for the immediate development
of the property and the normal grading of the lot concerning which
the application is made. No permit shall be issued for longer than
one year.
D. Issuance of soil removal permit. The soil removal permit shall be
issued by the Building Department or Planning Board in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter.
E. Minor soil removal permit. Anyone engaged in the movement or removal
of soil of 1,500 or fewer cubic yards shall make application to the
Building Department for a permit prior to commencing operations. The
Building Department shall require review and approval by the Village
Engineer, who shall be guided by the criteria and factors set forth
in this chapter. The issuance of a minor soil removal permit shall
be by review and approval of the Village Engineer.
F. Major soil removal permit. A major soil removal permit involving
the movement or removal of 1,500 cubic yards or more of soil shall
be required to be approved by the Planning Board after a public hearing,
with notice being required to be given to all persons as set forth
in the Village Code. The issuance of a major soil removal permit shall
be by the Planning Board.
Any person aggrieved by an action of the Planning
Board in approving or disapproving an application before it under
this chapter may take an appeal therefrom to the Board of Appeals
of the Village of Airmont.
The Code Inspector or Building Inspector shall
issue and post notices of violations of this chapter. In addition,
by resolution, the Board of Trustees may direct the Code Inspector
or Building Inspector to make such inspection and reports, initiate
and take such court proceedings and perform all other actions as required
by the Board of Trustees as may be necessary to enforce this chapter
or to invoke penalties for its violation.
Referrals under this chapter shall be accompanied by a fee as listed in Chapter
106, Fees, Article
I, Schedule of Fees, adopted by the Board of Trustees.
For the purpose of this chapter, certain words
and terms used herein are defined as follows:
BUILDING
Any structure having a roof, self-supporting or supported
by columns or walls, which is permanently affixed to the ground, and
intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals
or chattel.
BUILDING, ACCESSORY
A building subordinate to the main building on the lot and
used for purposes customarily incidental to that of the main building.
Where an accessory building is attached to the main building in a
substantial manner, as by a wall or roof, such accessory building
shall be considered part of the main building.
MOVE
To dig, excavate, remove, deposit, fill, grade, replace,
level or otherwise alter, disturb or change the location or contour
of land or to transport or supply the same. This term shall not be
construed to include plowing, spading, cultivating, harrowing or disking
of soil or any other operation usually and ordinarily associated with
the tilling of soil for agricultural or horticultural purposes.
[Added 3-21-2016 by L.L.
No. 4-2016]
OWNER
Any person seized in fee simple of any lot.
[Added 3-21-2016 by L.L.
No. 4-2016]
REDISTRIBUTION
Any change or alteration in the grade of any property.
[Added 3-21-2016 by L.L.
No. 4-2016]
SOIL
Earth, sand, clay, loam, gravel, humus, rock or dirt, without
regard to the presence or absence of organic matter and any debris,
whether organic or construction debris, including but not limited
to asphalt and concrete.
[Added 3-21-2016 by L.L.
No. 4-2016]
STRUCTURE
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires
location on the ground or attachment to something having location
on the ground. Included are swimming pools, parking garages and tennis
courts, but not anything requiring only simple paving or surfacing
of the ground such as parking lots, driveways or sidewalks.
SUBDIVISION CONSTRUCTION PLANS
Drawings as defined in and in compliance with all requirements of Chapter
180, Subdivision of Land, of the Code of the Village of Airmont.
TOPSOIL
Soil that, in its natural state, constitutes the top layer
of earth and is composed of 2% or more, by weight, of organic matter
and has the ability to support vegetation.
[Added 3-21-2016 by L.L.
No. 4-2016]
TREE
A plant with a woody main trunk with branches and a trunk
with a circumference or caliber greater than eight inches measured
at its widest point. In addition to the definition of “tree”
as used in this chapter, the definition contained herein shall apply
to all other sections of the Code and Zoning Code, unless the specific
statute defines the term contrary or there is another clear legislative
intent demonstrated.
[Added 1-9-2006 by L.L. No. 1-2006]
ZONING DISTRICT
A zoning district as specified in Chapter
210, Zoning, of the Code of the Village of Airmont.
ZONING LAW
Chapter
210, Zoning, of the Code of the Village of Airmont.