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Town of Stafford, NY
Genesee County
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[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Stafford 9-1-1983 by L.L. No. 2-1983. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Solid waste — See Ch. 145.
Zoning — See Ch. 182
A clean, wholesome, attractive environment is declared to be of importance to the health and safety of the inhabitants of the Town of Stafford and the safeguarding of their material rights against unwarrantable invasion and for the protection of public health, and, in addition, such an environment is deemed essential to the maintenance and continued development of the economy of the Town and the general welfare of its citizens. It is further declared that the establishment or operation of private dumps, dumping grounds, refuse disposal areas, sanitary, municipal or industrial waste disposal areas, landfill sites, landspreading sites, or similar land uses is a hazard to such health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Town necessitating the elimination or control thereof. At the same time, it is recognized that the maintenance of a transfer station, spreading area, public dump, dumping grounds, refuse disposal area or landfill site owned, operated and permitted by the Town may be useful and necessary. By the adoption of this chapter, the Town Board of the Town of Stafford declares its intent to regulate in a manner consistent with the interest of the citizens of the Town of Stafford the spreading, dumping or otherwise disposing of garbage, refuse, rubbish, sanitary, industrial or municipal waste, ash, offensive materials and similar waste materials on the land within the Town. Disposing of all these materials can adversely affect the development of the Town and the health of its residents unless it is properly and carefully regulated. Therefore, recognizing the above and the need of the Community for an adequate and well regulated procedure in the exercise of its police powers in these regards, be it enacted by the Town Board of the Town of Stafford as follows.
[Amended 5-11-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
This chapter shall apply to dumping, spreading or otherwise disposing of offensive materials upon all lands and bodies of water, public or private, including disposal transfer stations and recycling facilities, within the Town of Stafford.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meaning indicated:
AGRICULTURAL WASTE
Includes animal excrements, manure and vegetation such as is commonly found on a farm.
ASH
The residue of the combustion of solid fuels, such as wood, coal, coke, charcoal or like substances.
DISPOSAL TRANSFER STATION
Includes any parcel of land where refuse or garbage is collected and temporarily stored for transfer to a waste disposal facility.
[Added 11-18-1991 by L.L. No. 1-1991; amended 5-11-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
DUMP
Includes any land or body of water whereon or wherein garbage, refuse, ash, sanitary, municipal or industrial waste, sewage, rubbish or other offensive material might be disposed, including, but not limited to, areas designated as dumps, dumping grounds, refuse disposal areas or stations, sanitary, municipal or industrial waste disposal areas, landspreading sites, landfill sites or similar land use areas.
GARBAGE
Includes putrescible wastes, such as waste food, or parts thereof, fruit and vegetable matter of any kind, animal, fish and fowl used as food for human consumption and includes spoiled foods and dead animals found within the Town limits.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Includes processed wastes from manufacturing, commercial or industrial processes and including sewage or other substances into which such wastes have been, inadvertently or advertently, introduced.
MUNICIPAL WASTE
Includes all sewage collected from a municipality's sewage system.
OFFENSIVE MATERIALS
Includes garbage, industrial waste, municipal waste, refuse, ash and other materials emitting obnoxious odors or capable of creating toxic contamination of lands, waters or air.
PERSON
Includes an individual, society, club, business, firm, partnership, municipality, public agency, private agency, corporation or association of persons, and the singular number shall include the plural number.
RECYCLING FACILITY
Includes any parcel of land where refuse or offensive materials are collected, processed, stored or handled with the primary objective of recycling materials which are reusable.
[Added 11-18-1991 by L.L. No. 1-1991; amended 5-11-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
REFUSE
Includes all nonputrescible wastes, such as metal, metal cans, ashes, cinders, grass, pottery, paper, concrete, cardboard, rags, bottles, rubbish, wood, lumber and all other discardable substances, other than garbage, industrial, municipal and sanitary waste.
RESIDENT
Persons having their domiciles within the limits of the said Town of Stafford, Genesee County, New York.
SANITARY WASTE
Includes sewage containing human, animal or household waste from septic systems or other individual sewage collection devices other than a public municipal sewage system.
[Amended 5-11-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
The use of private or public lands, including disposal transfer stations and recycling facilities, within the Town of Stafford as a sanitary landfill site, sanitary, industrial or municipal waste disposal area, landspreading area or dump, dumping ground or storage or disposal facility for industrial waste, ash, sanitary waste, refuse, municipal waste, garbage or other offensive material is hereby prohibited, except as hereinafter provided.
No person shall bring into or cause to be brought into or left within the Town any animal, fish or fowl waste, excrement, discharge, secretion or feces or any dead animal, fish or fowl intended to be dumped or buried, except as herein provided.
[Amended 11-18-1991 by L.L. No. 1-1991; 5-11-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
The use of any lands, streams or bodies of water, private or public, within the Town of Stafford as a dump, dumping ground, landspreading area, storage or disposal facility for any ash, refuse, garbage, sanitary or industrial waste, municipal waste, wastepaper, rags, scraps of any kind or description, or any discarded material commonly termed "junk" or "trash," or other offensive materials is hereby prohibited except upon the issuance of a special use permit.
[Amended 11-18-1991 by L.L. No. 1-1991; 5-11-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
No person, not a resident of the Town of Stafford, shall deposit ash, garbage, refuse, industrial waste, sanitary waste, municipal waste, or other offensive material of any kind on premises designated as a Town dump by the Town of Stafford.
[Amended 11-18-1991 by L.L. No. 1-1991; 5-11-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
A. 
No person shall deposit, throw or cause to be deposited any substance of any kind on a Town dump except at the places and in the manner directed by resolution adopted from time to time by the Town Board of the Town of Stafford or by a person in charge of the premises under the authority of the Town Board.
B. 
No person shall deposit, throw or cause to be deposited any substance of any kind at a disposal transfer station or recycling facility unless such station shall be operating pursuant to a current special use permit issued by the Town Board of the Town of Stafford and in the manner directed by resolution adopted from time to time by the Town Board and in the manner further described in the special use permit. The rules and requirements of the permittee shall also be followed insofar as they are not inconsistent with this chapter and the resolutions and special use permit passed by the Town Board.
Before any Town resident shall be permitted use of any Town dump, which may be created in the future by the Town Board of the Town of Stafford, which use is for the purpose of disposing of any industrial waste, or before any Town resident shall be permitted use of a Town dump for the purposes of disposing of any ashes, refuse, garbage, sanitary waste, municipal waste, or other offensive material from other than his own household or business, he shall procure a valid permit from the Town Clerk. The Town Board, by resolution, may adopt a schedule of fees for issuance of a dump permit to any Town resident. The Town Board may impose such conditions on the permit as it may be necessary to further the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Town of Stafford. The holder of said permit shall be responsible for displaying the permit upon the request of any Town official who asks that it be produced.
A. 
Any person may apply for a special use permit from the Town Board of the Town of Stafford to allow the operation by the applicant of a disposal transfer station or recycling facility. Said permit may be limited by the Town Board of the Town of Stafford in any manner consistent with law. Such disposal transfer station or recycling facility shall not accept refuse or garbage from any person, either at a disposal transfer station site or recycling facility or at a person's home or place of business, unless said person possesses a valid, current permit to use the facilities of the disposal transfer station or recycling facility duly issued by the Town Clerk.
[Amended 11-18-1991 by L.L. No. 1-1991; 5-11-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
B. 
Any person may apply for a special use permit from the Town Board of the Town of Stafford to allow landspreading of sanitary waste from septic tanks and agricultural waste on property located within the Town. Such an applicant must possess a current waste transporter permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation pursuant to 6 NYCRR Part 364. A special use permit may not be granted for the disposal of municipal wastes from a municipal sewer system, nor for industrial wastes or any other offensive material other than that specified herein.
C. 
An applicant seeking a special use permit for a disposal transfer station, recycling facility or for landspreading shall follow procedures established by resolution of the Town Board of the Town of Stafford, or established by ordinance hereinafter enacted. In granting or denying such a permit, the Planning Board for its recommendation may consider:
[Amended 5-11-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
(1) 
The unique characteristic of the proposed use;
(2) 
The protection of the health, safety and welfare and convenience of the public;
(3) 
The intrusion upon the ability of surrounding landowners to enjoy the use of their property;
(4) 
The effect on the value of other property in the surrounding area;
(5) 
The compatibility of the use with adjoining land use and the character of the zone district where it is to be located;
(6) 
The adequacy of landscaping and screening;
(7) 
The conformity of the use with all applicable statutes, ordinances, and regulations governing the district where located and governing health and environmental protection;
(8) 
The vulnerability of the particular waste material or offensive material to contamination by impermissible substances;
(9) 
Such other consideration as the Town Board shall deem relevant.
D. 
A special use permit, if granted, may be issued for an initial period of no more than one year and shall be reviewed annually thereafter. In issuing any such permit, the Town Board may impose such terms and conditions as the Town Board deems necessary and reasonable to accomplish the aims, purposes and requirements of this chapter.
[Amended 5-11-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
A violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, or of any conditions imposed in a dump permit or special use permit issued by the Town Clerk or of the resolutions of the Town Board regulating Town dumps, disposal transfer stations, recycling facilities and landspreading sites, shall subject the violator to a revocation of the permit and a denial to use any Town dump facility, disposal transfer station, recycling facility or landspreading site for disposal purposes. Said violator shall further be subject to any other penalties provided for in this chapter.
No person shall remove or transport or permit the removal or transportation of any offensive material within or through the Town of Stafford except in such manner or by such conveyance as will prevent the creation of a nuisance or the loss or discharge of such material in any place, public or private, except as otherwise provided herein. All such material shall be so handled and covered so it cannot escape or be accessible to rodents, flies, or other insects or create a nuisance.
No provision of this chapter shall be deemed to prohibit an owner or tenant of real property from disposing of his own agricultural waste and ash on his own land, provided that any such disposal of agricultural waste and ash shall conform to other requirements of the laws and regulations of the State of New York, and further provided that such agricultural waste and ash does not contaminate the soil or waters of adjoining landowners.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law or ordinance of the Town of Stafford, any person who commits, causes or permits any acts in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of an offense and, upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine of not more than $250 or imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or both such fine and imprisonment. Should violations of the provisions of this chapter continue, each day such violation continues shall constitute a separate violation. Each separate violation shall be punishable as herein set forth.
In addition to the penalties provided herein, the Town Board may also maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the Town in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or to restrain by injunction the violation of this chapter. If the Town Board prevails in such litigation, the violator shall be obligated to pay the court costs and attorneys' fees incurred as a result of such litigation.
This chapter shall not prohibit the establishment by the Town Board of a public dump or refuse disposal area owned and operated by the Town from time to time. No land or waters, other than the lands of a public dump or dumping ground heretofore or hereafter established by the Town, shall be used as a dump, dumping grounds, refusal disposal area or a landfill site in said Town, except as herein provided.
All ordinances or regulations heretofore adopted in relation to waste disposal in the Town of Stafford are still in force unless inconsistent with this chapter, and this chapter shall prevail in the event of inconsistencies.