[Added 11-23-2021 by L.L. No. 24-2021]
It is the intent of this article to establish a Cultural Resources
Protection Overlay District, within which construction and development
activities requiring either a building permit, site plan approval,
subdivision approval or authorization by a Town department head for
Town-sponsored activities on Town land or in Town street rights-of-way,
which activities exceed specific site disturbance thresholds depending
on proximity to known burial and other sensitive sites, will be required
to conduct appropriate cultural resource investigations for the purpose
of identifying the existence of burial sites, human remains, associated
funerary artifacts, and other culturally sensitive archeological sites;
and to ensure that such sites, remains and artifacts are undisturbed
to the maximum extent practicable.
The provisions of this article shall apply to lands in the Town,
outside the Shinnecock Indian Nation and Incorporated Villages and
encompassing properties in the following areas:
A.Â
Cultural Resources Protection Area A: areas of greater sensitivity
encompassing the Shinnecock Fort site, Sugar Loaf Hill burial site
and other areas of sensitivity identified in the "Phase IA Cultural
Resources Survey for Shinnecock Hills, Sebonac and Environs," superimposed
upon the Zoning Map of the Town of Southampton and delineated as "Cultural
Resources Protection Overlay District Area A," as same may be updated
from time to time as a result of new information from ongoing investigations.
B.Â
Cultural Resources Protection Area B: areas of general sensitivity
beyond the more sensitive area of the Shinnecock Fort site and Sugar
Loaf Hill burial site, superimposed upon the Zoning Map of the Town
of Southampton and delineated as "Cultural Resources Protection Overlay
District Area B," as same may be updated from time to time as a result
of new information from ongoing investigations.
C.Â
Cultural Resources Protection Area C: inactive and/or abandoned family
burial sites, identified on the "Town of Southampton Historic Cemetery
List," superimposed upon the Zoning Map of the Town of Southampton
and delineated as "Cultural Resources Protection Overlay District
Area C," as same may be updated from time to time as a result of new
information from ongoing investigations.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have meanings
as indicated:
Standards established by the New York Archaeological Council
(NYAC) and adopted by the New York State Office of Parks Recreation
and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP), as may be amended from time
to time. These standards can be located at <https://nysarchaeology.org/nyac/professional-standards/>.
Reconnaissance and documentary research intended to gather
information concerning the environmental/physical setting of a specific
project as well as its cultural setting as more fully outlined by
the NY Archaeological Council standards referenced herein.
Field investigations designed to assess archaeologically
sensitive areas that include, but are not limited to, systematic surface
survey, subsurface shovel testing, and remote sensing studies as more
fully outlined by the NY Archaeological Council standards referenced
herein.
The primary goals of Phase II Cultural Resource Investigations
are to obtain detailed information on the integrity, limits, structure,
function, and cultural/historical context of an archaeological site
sufficient to evaluate its potential National Register eligibility
as more fully outlined by the NY Archaeological Council standards
referenced herein.
Phase III Cultural Resource Investigations are required if
an archaeological/historical resource listed on or eligible for inclusion
on the State or National Register of Historic Places (SHPO) is identified
and impacts to this resource by a proposed project are anticipated.
When a data recovery plan is developed, it should be based on a balanced
combination of resource-preservation, engineering, environmental and
economic concerns. Mitigation may take the form of avoidance through
project redesign, reduction of the direct impacts on the resource
with data recovery on the portion to be destroyed, data recovery prior
to construction, recordation of structural remains, and/or a combination
of the above, as more fully outlined by the NY Archaeological Council
standards referenced herein.
Disturbance, excavation or regrading of the ground surface
associated with all forms of construction, development, landscaping,
and vegetation removal in conjunction with any application to the
Town Building Division or to the Town Planning Board for site plan
or subdivision approval.
Portions of the Overlay District are designated as Critical Areas of Particular Concern with Respect to Locations having Social, Cultural, Historic, Archaeological or Educational Importance, pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act and § 157-10 (Environmental Quality Review, Critical areas) of the Code of the Town of Southampton.
A.Â
Site disturbance plan. To ensure the protection of archeological
and cultural resources, particularly human burial sites and funerary
artifacts, any application to the Town Building Division or to the
Town Planning Board, within the Overlay District, shall include a
site disturbance plan. In addition, any work performed on Town-owned
land or Town street rights-of-way, either directly by the Town, a
contractor or an outside agency, shall be required to submit a site
disturbance plan to the Town Planning Division prior to the issuance
of any permits or the commencement of any work or disturbance. The
site disturbance plan shall be based on a recent survey of the subject
property (less than six months) at a minimum scale of one inch to
40 feet, with topographic contour intervals not more than five feet.
The site disturbance plan shall identify the location of existing
and proposed structures, buildings, pools, recreation courts, driveways,
landscaping, and naturally occurring vegetated areas. The site disturbance
plan shall also delineate the location, limits and extent of areas
to be disturbed, excavated, or regraded and shall indicate the square
footage, depth and volume of all such disturbance, in conjunction
with all forms of construction, development, landscaping and vegetation
removal, whether for public or private purposes. At the time of said
application or project on Town land or street right-of-way, the corner
locations of all proposed buildings and/or structures shall be staked
by a licensed surveyor in accordance with a building survey and plastic
surveying ribbon or an equivalent shall be placed around the perimeter
of all such areas proposed to be disturbed, excavated or graded, as
depicted on the site disturbance plan. The site disturbance plan shall
be submitted and reviewed in accordance with the following site disturbance
activity procedures:
(1)Â
Activity requiring a building permit. A site disturbance plan shall
be submitted to the Town Building Division with any application requiring
a building permit. A permit shall not be issued until referral of
the site disturbance plan has been made to the Planning Division and
reviewed and approved in accordance with this section.
(2)Â
Activity requiring a site plan approval or subdivision approval.
A site disturbance plan shall be submitted to the Town Planning Board
with any application requiring site plan approval or subdivision approval.
Approvals shall not be issued until the site disturbance plan has
been reviewed and approved by the Planning Division in accordance
with this section.
(3)Â
Activity occurring on Town-owned land or street right-of-way. A site
disturbance plan shall be submitted to the Town Planning Division
prior to the issuance of any permits or the commencement of any work
or disturbance on Town-owned land or within any Town street right-of-way,
either directly by the Town, a contractor or an outside agency. Approvals
or commencement of work shall not occur until the site disturbance
plan has been reviewed and approved by the Planning Division in accordance
with this section.
(4)Â
The Planning Division shall review all site disturbance plans to
determine if site disturbances exceed any of the following thresholds
for the applicable Overlay District subarea.
(5)Â
Site disturbance thresholds. As per the table below:
Overlay District Subareas
|
Excavation Depth and Volume
|
Excavation Volume
|
New House Construction
|
Any Disturbance
|
Any Disturbance
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Area A
|
X
| ||||
Area B
|
Greater than 2-foot depth and greater than 20 cubic yards
|
Greater than 50 cubic yards
|
X
| ||
Area C
|
Within 20 feet of burial area
|
B.Â
Phase IB Cultural Resource Investigation.
(1)Â
If the Planning Division determines that a site disturbance threshold
for the respective Overlay District subarea has been exceeded, the
building permit application, site plan application or subdivision
application shall be considered incomplete and the Building Division
or Planning Board shall respectively notify the applicant that a Phase
IB Cultural Resource Investigation will be required. Likewise, for
disturbance of Town-owned land and Town street rights-of-way that
exceed a disturbance threshold, the applicable Town department head
shall be notified that a Phase IB Cultural Resource Investigation
is required.
(2)Â
A Phase IA Cultural Resource Investigation Survey for Shinnecock
Hills, Sebonac and Environs, has been conducted by the Town and will
be updated periodically to reflect newly identified burial sites and
areas of sensitivity as a result of new finds and information from
subsequent investigations in the Overlay District.
(3)Â
Said Phase IB Cultural Resource Investigation shall be conducted
by a registered professional archaeologist, in accordance with New
York State Standards for Cultural Resource Investigations, covering
the area within which a disturbance threshold is exceeded. Phase IB
Cultural Resource Investigations prepared in connection with past
subdivision or development projects will not satisfy this requirement
as they will not be as site specific as required herein.
(4)Â
The applicant for development, or the applicable Town department
head in the case of disturbances on Town-owned land or Town street
rights-of-way, shall provide the Town Planning and Development Administrator
at least a ten-day notice of the date and time for the commencement
of any field investigation and shall also provide a written outline
and description of the plan and methodology by which the investigation
will be conducted.
(5)Â
For applications located in the Cultural Resources Protection Overlay
District Areas A and B that require a Phase IB Cultural Resource Investigation,
the applicant for development, or the applicable Town department head
in the case of disturbances on Town-owned land or Town street rights-of-way,
shall be required to mail written notice by certified mail, return
receipt requested, to Shinnecock Indian Nation Tribal Office, Post
Office Box 5006, advising of the pending nature of the proposed construction,
development or disturbance, together with a copy of the project application
form or project description and the site disturbance plan. Said notice
to the Shinnecock Nation shall be mailed no less than 10 days prior
to the submission of the Phase IB Cultural Resource Investigation
to the Town. Proof of said mailing must be submitted to the applicable
Town department along with the Phase IB Cultural Resource Investigation.
The mailing of said notice shall be considered jurisdictional, and
failure to mail notice along with the project application form and
site disturbance plan or to provide the return receipt will result
in the rejection of the application until such time as the mailing
notification requirements have been satisfied.
(6)Â
For applications located in the Cultural Resources Protection Overlay
District Area C that require a Phase IB Cultural Resource Investigation,
the applicant shall erect a temporary fence around the typical burial
limits of any unfenced marked or unmarked burial site during the conduction
of the Phase IB CRI, to avoid disruption of possible remains associated
with the known burial site, either marked or unmarked. At the conclusion
of all required CRIs, where there is no existing fencing, the applicant
shall install a permanent fence around the typical burial limits of
any unfenced marked or unmarked burial site.
(7)Â
For those applications and projects determined to exceed a site disturbance
threshold, the Phase IB Cultural Resource Investigation shall be submitted
by the applicant to the Building Division in connection with a building
permit and to the Planning Board in connection with a site plan or
subdivision application, which shall then be referred to the Town
Planning and Development Administrator, or designated alternate, for
review. Phase IB Cultural Resource Investigations for projects on
Town-owned land or Town street rights-of-way shall be submitted to
the Town Planning and Development Administrator.
(8)Â
The Town Planning and Development Administrator shall ensure a copy
of the Phase IB Cultural Resource Investigation to the Shinnecock
Indian Nation Tribal Office and to the New York State Historic Preservation
Office (SHPO) at least two weeks prior to making a determination on
the Phase IB.
(9)Â
If the Town Planning and Development Administrator, or designated
alternate, determines that the conclusions and recommendations of
the cultural resource investigation are accepted and no further investigation
is warranted, the Administrator is empowered to authorize the review
and issuance of permits and approvals to proceed accordingly.
C.Â
Phase II Cultural Resource Investigation.
(1)Â
If the conclusions and recommendations of the Phase IB Cultural Resource
Investigation suggest that further investigations are warranted, a
Phase II Cultural Resource Investigation shall be required, in order
to establish the significance of the archaeological site, covering
the area within which a disturbance threshold is exceeded. The Phase
II investigation shall be conducted by a registered professional archaeologist,
in accordance with New York State Standards for Cultural Resource
Investigations, and shall include, at a minimum, information on boundaries,
integrity and significance of the archaeological resource(s), evaluation
of the impact of the proposed project, and any additional data necessary
to evaluate eligibility. The applicant shall provide the Town Planning
and Development Administrator at least a ten-day notice of the date
and time for the commencement of any field investigation and shall
also provide a written outline and description of the plan and methodology
by which the investigation will be conducted.
(2)Â
The Town Planning and Development Administrator will provide a copy
of the Phase II Cultural Resource Investigation to the Shinnecock
Indian Nation Tribal Office and to the New York State Historic Preservation
Office (SHPO) at least one week prior to making a determination on
the Phase II.
(3)Â
As an alternative to preparation of a required Phase II investigation,
the applicant shall have the option of submitting a revised site disturbance
plan, which would require a new Phase IB investigation.
D.Â
Phase III Cultural Resource Investigation. If a National Register
listed or eligible resource cannot be avoided, some form of mitigation
is required, which would be in the form of a Phase III Data Retrieval
Plan, conducted by a registered professional archaeologist in accordance
with New York State Standards for Cultural Resource Investigations.
Mitigation may include the reduction of the direct impact on the resource
as well as data retrieval for the portion of the site to be impacted.
A data retrieval plan should be developed that balances resource-preservation,
engineering, environmental and economic concerns, while addressing
research questions. The Town Planning and Development Administrator
will provide a copy of the Phase III Cultural Resource Investigation
to the Shinnecock Indian Nation Tribal Office and to the New York
State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) at least one week prior
to making a determination on the Phase III. The full implementation
of the data retrieval plan shall ensure adequate mitigation of the
resource.
E.Â
Stop-work order for revised site disturbance plan. The Town Planning and Development Administrator shall assign appropriate Land Management staff to conduct a site inspection to determine whether or not the areas proposed for construction and site disturbance, as staked and marked at the site, are consistent with the approved construction plans and survey and the site disturbance plan. The Administrator may request the Town Archaeologist or other qualified expert be present to assist in making a determination, assessment or recommendation related to the site disturbance plan. Should there be a violation of the site disturbance plan, a stop-work order, as provided in Chapter 123 of the Town Code, shall be issued. It shall be the burden of the applicant to prove that areas of site disturbance comply with the approved construction plans and the site disturbance plan by the submission of an as-built survey. Should the Town Planning and Development Administrator, or designated alternate, determine there is no further violation, the stop-work order shall be rescinded. Should the Town Planning and Development Administrator, or alternate, determine that said as-built survey depicts a violation of these provisions, the stop-work order shall remain in effect and a revised site disturbance plan shall be submitted to determine if a new or revised Phase IB Cultural Resource Investigation is required.
F.Â
Stop-work order for discovery of unmarked burial site and/or human remains. In the event of a discovery of an unmarked human burial site or possible human remains, either in the course of a cultural resource investigation or during site construction or excavation following the issuance of a building permit or authorization to commence work, a stop-work order, as provided in Chapter 123 of the Town Code, shall be issued and provisions of § 330-333 of the Town Code (Protection and treatment of unmarked graves) shall immediately take effect.