This chapter shall be known as the "Stormwater
Management Law of the Village of Port Chester."
A.Â
The Village of Port Chester is an operator of a municipal
separate stormwater sewer system (MS4) and subject to the permitting
requirements as established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) permit. In 1991, Phase II of these regulations was finalized,
requiring smaller communities within urbanized areas to develop plans
for the control of stormwater within their jurisdictions by March
2003, to be implemented by 2008.
B.Â
The initial step toward providing a stormwater pollution
plan under the EPA Phase II NYSPES permit is to develop and implement
certain minimum pollution prevention measures that have been identified
as a necessary part of an approved stormwater management program for
the Village of Port Chester. This program includes public education,
detection and elimination of illicit connections, construction site
runoff control, postconstruction stormwater control and pollution
prevention. This chapter is intended to regulate the impacts of construction
activity on stormwater runoff and soil erosion in the Village.
The Village of Port Chester finds that:
A.Â
Land development activities and associated increases
in site impervious cover often alter the hydrologic response of local
watersheds and increase stormwater runoff rates and volumes, flooding,
stream channel erosion, or sediment transport and deposition;
B.Â
This stormwater runoff contributes to increased quantities
of water-borne pollution, including siltation of aquatic habitat for
fish and other desirable species; and
C.Â
Clearing and grading during construction tends to
increase soil erosion and add to the loss of native vegetation necessary
for terrestrial and aquatic habitat; and
D.Â
Improper design and construction of stormwater management
practices can increase the velocity of stormwater runoff, thereby
increasing stream bank erosion and sedimentation; and
E.Â
Impervious surfaces allow less water to percolate
into the soil, thereby decreasing groundwater recharge and stream
base flow; and
F.Â
Substantial economic losses can result from these
adverse impacts on the waters of the municipality; and
G.Â
Stormwater runoff, soil erosion and nonpoint source
pollution can be controlled and minimized through the regulation of
stormwater runoff from land development activities; and
H.Â
The regulation of stormwater runoff discharges from
land development activities in order to control and minimize increases
in stormwater runoff rates and volumes, soil erosion, stream channel
erosion, and nonpoint source pollution associated with stormwater
runoff is in the public interest and will minimize threats to public
health and safety; and
I.Â
Regulation of land developments activities by means
of performance standards governing stormwater management and site
design will produce development compatible with the natural functions
of a particular site or an entire watershed and thereby mitigate the
adverse effects of erosion and sedimentation from development.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish
minimum stormwater management requirements and controls to protect
and safeguard the general health, safety and welfare of the public
residing within the Village. This chapter seeks to meet this purpose
by achieving the following objectives:
A.Â
Meet the requirements of minimum measures 4 and 5
of the SPDES general permit for stormwater discharges from municipal
separate stormwater sewer systems (MS4s), Permit No. GP-02-02, or
as amended or revised;
B.Â
Require land development activities to conform to
the substantive requirements of the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES)
general permit for construction activities GP-02-01, or as amended
or revised;
C.Â
Minimize increases in stormwater runoff from land
development activities in order to reduce flooding, siltation, increases
in stream temperature, and stream bank erosion and maintain the integrity
of stream channels;
D.Â
Minimize increases in pollution caused by stormwater
runoff from land development activities which would otherwise degrade
local water quality;
E.Â
Minimize the total annual volume of stormwater runoff
which flows from any specific site during and following development
to the maximum extent practicable;
F.Â
Reduce stormwater runoff rates and volumes, soil erosion
and nonpoint source pollution, wherever possible, through stormwater
management practices, and ensure that these management practices are
properly maintained and eliminate threats to public safety; and
G.Â
Encourage
the use of green infrastructure practices to control stormwater runoff
such as protecting natural areas, reducing imperious cover, and runoff
reduction techniques to the maximum extent practicable.
[Added 2-22-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
In accordance with § 10 of the Municipal
Home Rule Law of the State of New York, the Board of Trustees of the
Village of Port Chester has the authority to enact local laws and
amend local laws for the purpose of promoting the health, safety or
general welfare of the Village of Port Chester and the protection
and enhancement of its physical environment. The Board of Trustees
of the Village of Port Chester may include in any local law provisions
for the appointment of any municipal officer, employees, or independent
contractor to effectuate, administer and enforce such local law.
A.Â
This chapter shall be applicable to all land development
activities as defined herein.
B.Â
The municipality shall designate a Stormwater Management
Officer who shall accept and review all stormwater pollution prevention
plans and forward such plans to the Planning Commission with respect
to applications for site plan approval and the Planning Commission
and/or Board of Trustees for special exception use, as the case may
be, as well as the Planning Commission and the Board of Trustees for
subdivision plat approval. The Stormwater Management Officer may:
(1)Â
Review the plans;
(2)Â
Upon approval of the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Port Chester, engage the services of a registered professional
engineer to review the plans, specifications and related documents
at a cost not to exceed a fee schedule established by said governing
board; or
(3)Â
Accept the certification of a licensed professional
that the plans conform to the requirements of this chapter.
C.Â
All land development activities subject to review
and approval by the Board of Trustees and Planning Commission of the
Village of Port Chester under site plan, special exception use or
subdivision regulations shall be reviewed subject to the standards
contained in this chapter.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following
activities are exempt from review:
A.Â
Agricultural activity as defined in this chapter.
B.Â
Routine maintenance activities that disturb less than
five acres and are performed to maintain the original line and grade,
hydraulic capacity or original purpose of a facility.
C.Â
Repairs to any stormwater management practice or facility
deemed necessary by the Stormwater Management Officer.
D.Â
Any part of a subdivision if a plat for the subdivision
has been approved by the Village of Port Chester on or before the
effective date of this chapter.
E.Â
Land development activities for which a building permit
has been approved on or before the effective date of this chapter.
F.Â
Cemetery graves.
G.Â
Installation of a fence, sign, telephone, and electric
poles and other kinds of posts or poles.
H.Â
Emergency activity immediately necessary to protect
life, property or natural resources.
I.Â
Activities of an individual engaging in home gardening
by growing flowers, vegetables and other plants primarily for use
by that person and his or her family.
J.Â
Landscaping and horticultural activities in connection
with an existing structure.
The terms used in this chapter or in documents
prepared or reviewed under this chapter shall have the meaning as
set forth in this section.
The activity of an active farm, including grazing and watering
livestock, irrigating crops, harvesting crops, using land for agricultural
products, and cutting timber for sale, but shall not include the operation
of a dude ranch, or similar operation, or the construction of new
structures associated with agricultural activities.
A property owner or agent of a property owner who has filed
an application for a land development activity.
Any structure, either temporary or permanent, having walls
and a roof, designed for the shelter of any person, animal, or property
and occupying more than 100 square feet of area.
A natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and
banks that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
Any activity that removes the vegetative cover.
The deliberate appropriation of property by its owner for
general public use.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The "New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual,"
most recent version, including applicable updates, that serves as
the official guide for stormwater management principles, methods and
practices.
A person who undertakes land development activities.
The most recent version of the "New York Standards and Specifications
for Erosion and Sediment Control" manual, commonly known as the "Blue
Book."
Excavation or fill of material, including the resulting conditions
thereof.
Green infrastructure approaches infiltrate, evapotranspire
or reuse stormwater, using soils and vegetation rather than hardscape
collection, conveyance and storage structures. Common green infrastructure
approaches include green roofs, trees and tree boxes, rain gardens,
vegetated swales, pocket wetlands, infiltration planters, vegetated
median strips, reforestation, and protection and enhancement of riparian
buffers and floodplains.
[Added 2-22-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
Those surfaces, improvements and structures that cannot infiltrate
rainfall, snowmelt and water (e.g., building rooftops, pavement, sidewalk,
driveways, etc.)
A State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued
to a commercial industry or group of industries which regulates the
pollutant levels associated with industrial stormwater discharges
or specifies on-site pollution control strategies.
The process of percolating stormwater into the subsoil.
An area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or
groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence
of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions,
commonly known as "hydrophytic vegetation."
Construction activity, including clearing, grading, excavating,
soil disturbance or placement of fill, that results in land disturbance
of equal to or greater than one acre; activities disturbing less than
one acre of total land area that is part of a larger common plan of
development or sale, even though multiple separate and distinct land
development activities may take place at different times on different
schedules; or activities that require site plan approval pursuant
to § 345-23 of the Code of the Village of Port Chester with
regard to properties located within the boundaries of the Local Waterfront
Revitalization Plan Area.
The legal or beneficial owner of land, including those holding
the right to purchase or lease the land, or any other person holding
proprietary rights in the land.
A legally recorded document that acts as a property deed
restriction and which provides for long-term maintenance of stormwater
management practices.
Pollution from any source other than any discernible, confined,
and discrete conveyances and shall include, but not be limited to,
pollutants from agricultural, silvicultural, mining, construction,
subsurface disposal and urban runoff sources.
Clearing a parcel of land in distinct pieces or parts, with
the stabilization of each piece completed before the clearing of the
next.
Sediment or a water quality measurement that addresses sediment
(such as total suspended solids, turbidity or siltation) and any other
pollutant that has been identified as a cause of impairment of any
water body that will receive a discharge from the land development
activity.
Land development activity.
A person that is knowledgeable in the principles and practices
of erosion and sediment control, such as a licensed professional engineer,
certified professional in erosion and sediment control (CPESC), or
registered landscape architect or someone working in the direct supervision
of, and at the same company as, the licensed professional engineer
or registered landscape architect, provided that person has training
in the principles and practices of erosion and sediment control.
[Added 2-22-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
The replenishment of underground water reserves.
Measures that prevent eroded sediment from leaving the site.
Cold-water fisheries; shellfish beds; swimming beaches; groundwater
recharge areas; water supply reservoirs; habitats for threatened,
endangered or special-concern species.
A permit under the New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (SPDES) issued to developers of construction activities to
regulate disturbance of one or more acres of land.
A permit under the New York State Pollutant Discharge System
(SPDES) issued to municipalities to regulate discharges from municipal
storm sewers for compliance with EPA-established water quality standards
and/or to specify stormwater control standards.
The use of practices that prevent soil from eroding.
An order issued which requires that all construction activity
on a site be stopped.
Rainwater, surface runoff, snowmelt and drainage.
A land use or activity that generates higher concentrations
of hydrocarbons, trace metals or toxicants than are found in typical
stormwater runoff, based on monitoring studies.
The use of structural or nonstructural practices that are
designed to reduce stormwater runoff and mitigate its adverse impacts
on property, natural resources and the environment.
One or a series of stormwater management practices installed,
stabilized and operating for the purpose of controlling stormwater
runoff.
The Building Inspector or Village Engineer or other employee
or officer designated by the Village Manager to accept and review
stormwater pollution prevention plans, forward the plans to the applicable
municipal board and inspect stormwater management practices.
Measures, either structural or nonstructural, that are determined
to be the most effective, practical means of preventing flood damage
and preventing or reducing point source or nonpoint source pollution
inputs to stormwater runoff and water bodies.
A plan for controlling stormwater runoff and pollutants from
a site during and after construction activities.
Flow on the surface of the ground, resulting from precipitation.
Lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs,
wells, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals,
the Atlantic Ocean within the territorial seas of the State of New
York and all other bodies of surface water, natural or artificial,
inland or coastal, fresh or salt, public or private (except those
private waters that do not combine or effect a junction with natural
surface or underground waters), which are wholly or partially within
or bordering the state or within its jurisdiction. Storm sewers and
waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds or lagoons which
also meet the criteria of this definition are not waters of the state.
This exclusion applies only to man-made bodies of water which neither
were originally created in the waters of the state (such as a disposal
area in wetlands) nor resulted from impoundment of waters of the state.
An employee from the contracting (construction) company,
who has received four hours of Department-endorsed training in proper
erosion and sediment control principles. After receiving the initial
training, the trained contractor shall receive four hours of training
every three years. It can also mean an employee from the contracting
company that meets the qualified inspector qualifications.
[Added 2-22-2011 by L.L. No. 2-2011]
A permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water,
either natural or man-made, which gathers or carries surface water.
A channel that directs surface runoff to a watercourse or
to the public storm drain.
