[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of County Commissioners of
Worcester County 11-19-2002 as Subtitle I of Title 3 of Bill No. 02-13.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This Subtitle repealed former Subtitle I, Coastal
Bays Critical Area, adopted 6-4-2002 by Bill No. 02-9.
(a)
Intent. In 2002 the Maryland General
Assembly passed the Atlantic Coastal Bays Protection Act for the purpose
of preserving, protecting, and improving the water quality and natural
habitats of the Atlantic Coastal Bays and their tributaries. The Legislature
has determined that the Atlantic Coastal Bays require especially sensitive
consideration with regard to development. It is the intent of the
County Commissioners to establish a local program to implement the
requirements of the Act.
(b)
Purpose. It is the purpose of the County
Commissioners in enacting this Subtitle:
(1)
To establish a Resource Protection Program for
the Atlantic coastal bays and their tributaries by fostering more
sensitive development activity for certain shoreline areas so as to
minimize damage to water quality and natural habitats;
(2)
To implement the Resource Protection Program; and
(3)
To authorize, ordain and impose a critical area
protection program to provide for reasonable restrictions, reasonably
enforced on properties in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area.
(c)
Findings. The County Commissioners find
and declare that:
(1)
The Atlantic coastal bays and their tributaries
are natural resources of great significance to the County;
(2)
The shoreline and adjacent lands constitute a valuable,
fragile, and sensitive part of this estuarine system, where human
activity can have a particularly immediate and adverse impact on water
quality and natural habitats;
(3)
The capacity of these shoreline and adjacent lands
to withstand continuing demands without further degradation to water
quality and natural habitats is limited;
(4)
Studies have documented that the quality and productivity
of the waters of the Atlantic coastal bays and their tributaries have
declined due to the cumulative effects of human activity that have
caused increased levels of pollutants, nutrients, and toxins in the
bay systems and declines in more protective land uses such as forestland
and agricultural land in the watershed.
(5)
Those portions of the Atlantic coastal bays and
their tributaries within Maryland are particularly stressed by the
continuing population growth and development activity concentrated
in the Ocean City, West Ocean City, Ocean Pines, St. Martins Neck,
South Point, and Maryland Route 611 Corridor areas;
(6)
The quality of life for the citizens of Worcester
County would be enhanced through the restoration of the quality and
productivity of the waters of the Atlantic coastal bays and their
tributaries;
(7)
The preservation of the Atlantic coastal bays and
their tributaries is dependent, in part, on minimizing further adverse
impacts to the water quality and natural habitats of the shoreline
and adjacent lands;
(8)
The cumulative impact of current development practices
is inimical to these purposes;
(9)
It is in the County's interest for the benefit
of current and future generations to foster more sensitive development
activity in a consistent and uniform manner along shoreline areas
of the Atlantic coastal bays and their tributaries so as to minimize
damage to water quality and natural habitats; and
(10)
It is the public policy of the County Commissioners
of Worcester County that, where possible, a setback of one hundred
feet from the mean high water line of tidal waters, the edge of the
bank of tributary streams, and the landward extent of tidal wetlands
be provided on all lots and for all structures and other improvements
created or erected after the effective date of this Subtitle. To that
end it is hereby declared that any private restriction or covenant
heretofore or hereinafter enacted which has the effect of precluding,
impeding or encumbering the ability of the owner of a lot to maximize
a yard setback on the waterfront and/or wetlands side of a lot in
order to achieve the setback of one hundred feet or as much thereof
that may be reasonable is hereby declared void as against public policy,
provided zoning minimums are met.
(11)
Because of the limited distance between the headwaters
of the watershed of the Atlantic coastal bays and the bays themselves,
upstream activities have a direct impact on the quality and function
of the water bodies of the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area. Therefore,
additional protections of certain areas beyond the limits of the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area are necessary.
(12)
Existing state regulations do not require mitigation
for impacts to non-tidal wetlands and their associated buffers under
all circumstances. Therefore, the County Commissioners find it advisable
to provide for additional protection for impacts to non-tidal wetlands
and their buffers beyond the limits of the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area but within the watershed of that Critical Area.
(d)
Goals. The goals of the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area Law are to accomplish the following:
(1)
Minimize adverse impacts on water quality that
result from pollutants that are discharged from structures or runoff
from surrounding lands;
(2)
Conserve fish, wildlife, and plant habitat; and
(3)
Establish land use policies for development in
the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area which accommodate growth as
well as address the environmental impacts that the number, movement,
and activities of people may have on the area.
(e)
Citing. This Subtitle may be cited as
the "Worcester County Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Law."
(f)
Territory affected. Within Worcester
County, the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area shall mean all lands
and waters defined in § 8-1807 of the Natural Resources
Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, as from time to time amended.
They include:
(1)
All waters of and lands under the Atlantic coastal
bays and their tributaries to the head of tide as indicated by the
more restrictive of either the State Wetlands Maps or the 1989 Maryland
Department of Natural Resources Wetland Maps and all state and private
wetlands designated under Title 16 of the Environment Article, Annotated
Code of Maryland, as from time to time amended, and including all
land and water areas within one thousand feet beyond the landward
boundaries of state or private wetlands and the heads of tides designated
under Title 16 of the Environment Article, Annotated Code of Maryland,
as from time to time amended. The boundaries of the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area and the limits of each of the land classification
designations will be as shown on maps adopted by resolution of the
County Commissioners after a duly advertised public hearing in accordance
with the provisions of § ZS 1-114 of the Worcester County
Zoning Ordinance and approved by the Critical Area Commission for
the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays.
[Amended 5-20-2008 by Bill No. 08-3]
(2)
Non-tidal wetlands and their buffers beyond the
limits established in Subsection (f)(1) hereof only as provided for
in § NR 3-127 of this Subtitle.
(g)
Applicability. Except as provided herein,
the requirements of this Subtitle shall not apply to:
(1)
The initial development of a planned unit development
or residential planned community for which the following were issued
prior to June 1, 2002, and which is subdivided into recorded and legally
buildable lots:
A.
A valid Step III approval in accordance with the
provisions of the Zoning and Subdivision Control Article and at least
three of the following state permits:
B.
Any planned unit development as described in Subsection
(g)(1)A above which includes an inland marina built after April 8,
2002, shall meet the following requirements, except for those dwelling
units immediately adjacent to tidal waters of the inland marina:
1.
At least eighty-five percent of the dwelling units
in the planned unit development shall comply with the one-hundred-foot
buffer requirements contained herein; and
2.
No dwelling unit may have a buffer of less than
fifty feet from existing or proposed tidal waters, tidal wetlands
or tributary streams.
(2)
A fairground or racetrack in an A-1 Agricultural
District as defined by the Zoning and Subdivision Control Article
which received special exception approval for that use prior to January
1, 2002, only for the purpose of making improvements consistent with
said special exception.
(3)
The initial development of a Young Men's Christian
Association (YMCA) facility located on property identified on the
Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Maps adopted pursuant to § NR
3-103(b) hereof, provided that prior to July 1, 2003:
A.
The property described in Subsection (g)(3) above
has been acquired by the YMCA; and
(h)
Applicability to pending approvals. The
provisions of this Subtitle shall not apply to the granting of an
approval or activity pursuant thereto for the initial development
of land pursuant to any approval listed herein as limited herein and
strictly subject to the time limitations hereof.
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Approval
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Date of Approval/Issuance
(on or before)
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Limitation
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|---|---|---|
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§ ZS 1-325 site plan approval
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Effective date of this Subtitle
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A building permit is issued and construction commenced as evidenced
by the placement of the building foundation within six months of the
date of adoption of this Subtitle. Growth allocation is deducted where
necessary.
|
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Building permit, zoning permit, shoreline construction application
accepted for review
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Effective date of this Subtitle
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Notwithstanding the provisions of § ZS-1-115(g), if
the work described in any permit as described in any permit as described
in this subsection has not begun within six months of the effective
date of this Subtitle, such permit shall expire. Thereafter no work
shall begin until the applicant has filed for and received a new permit
which may only be issued in conformance with the requirements of this
Subtitle. For the purposes of this subsection, the placement and approval
of the building foundation shall be considered "beginning of construction."
|
|
Special exception by the Board of Zoning Appeals
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Effective date of this Subtitle
|
A building permit is issued and construction commenced as evidenced
by the placement of the building foundation within twelve months of
the date of adoption of this Subtitle. Growth allocation is deducted
where necessary.
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Preliminary plat
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June 1, 2002
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All provisions except density limitations shall apply. Plat
recorded within one year from the date of adoption of this Subtitle.
Growth allocation is deducted where necessary.
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(i)
Underlying zoning. This subtitle is supplemental
and is applicable in addition to underlying zoning and land use provisions
of this Code and other applicable land use laws and regulations. Where
such provisions are in conflict with the provisions of this Subtitle,
the stricter provisions shall prevail, provided, however, that the
minimum requirements of this Subtitle must always be met even when
a stricter standard is applicable.
(j)
Severability. Should any section or provision
of this Subtitle be declared by the courts to be unconstitutional
or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the Subtitle
as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so declared to
be unconstitutional or invalid.
(a)
AFFORESTATION
AGRICULTURE
AGRICULTURAL EASEMENT
ANADROMOUS FISH
ANADROMOUS FISH PROPAGATION WATERS
AQUACULTURE
AREAS WITH SPECIES IN NEED OF CONSERVATION
AREAS OF THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES
ATLANTIC COASTAL BAYS
ATLANTIC COASTAL BAYS CRITICAL AREA
BARREN LAND
BAYSIDE MIXED USE DISTRICT
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPS)
BONA FIDE INTRA-FAMILY TRANSFER
BUFFER
CLEARCUTTING
CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT
COLONIAL NESTING WATER BIRDS
COMAR
COMMERCIAL HARVESTING
COMMISSION
COMMISSIONERS
COMMUNITY PIERS
COMPREHENSIVE OR MASTER PLAN
CONSERVATION EASEMENT
COVER CROP
CRITICAL HABITAT
DENSITY
DEPARTMENT
DEVELOPED WOODLANDS
DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
DOCUMENTED BREEDING BIRD AREAS
DWELLING UNIT
ECOSYSTEM
ENDANGERED SPECIES
EXCESS STORMWATER RUN-OFF
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
EXPANDED NON-TIDAL WETLAND BUFFER
FISHERIES ACTIVITIES
FOREST
FOREST INTERIOR DWELLING BIRDS
FOREST MANAGEMENT
FOREST PRACTICE
GROWTH ALLOCATION
HIGHLY ERODIBLE SOILS
HISTORIC WATERFOWL STAGING AND CONCENTRATION AREA
HYDRIC SOILS
HYDROPHYTIC VEGETATION
INCLUDES
INITIAL DEVELOPMENT
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
INTRAFAMILY TRANSFER
K VALUE
LAND-BASED AQUACULTURE
LAND CLASSIFICATION AREA
LAND CLEARING
LANDFORMS
MARINA
MATURE TREE
MEAN HIGH WATER LINE (MHWL)
MITIGATION
NATURAL FEATURES
NATURAL HERITAGE AREA
NATURAL VEGETATION
NATURE DOMINATED
NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTION
NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES
NON-TIDAL WETLANDS
NON-TIDAL WETLANDS BUFFER
NON-TIDAL WETLANDS OF SPECIAL STATE CONCERN
OFFSETS
OPEN SPACE
OVERBURDEN
PALUSTRINE
PHYSIOGRAPHIC FEATURES
PIER
PLANT HABITAT
PORT
PRIVATE HARVESTING
PROGRAM
(1)
PROGRAM AMENDMENT
(1)
PROGRAM REFINEMENT
(1)
PROJECT APPROVAL
PUBLIC WATER-ORIENTED RECREATION
RECLAMATION
REDEVELOPMENT
REFORESTATION
REGULATED ACTIVITY
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
RENEWABLE RESOURCE
RIPARIAN HABITAT
SEASONALLY FLOODED WATER REGIME
SELECTION
SHORELINE EROSION PROTECTION WORKS
SIGNIFICANTLY ERODING AREAS
SPECIAL EVENTS
SPECIES IN NEED OF CONSERVATION
SPOIL PILE
SOIL CONSERVATION AND WATER QUALITY PLANS
STEEP SLOPES
SUBWATERSHED
THINNING
THREATENED SPECIES
TOPOGRAPHY
TRANSITIONAL HABITAT
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES
TRIBUTARY STREAMS
UNWARRANTED HARDSHIP
UTILITY TRANSMISSION FACILITIES
WASH PLANT
WATER-BASED AQUACULTURE
WATER-DEPENDENT FACILITIES
WATER-USE INDUSTRY
WATERFOWL
WATERSHED
WILDLIFE CORRIDOR
WILDLIFE HABITAT
Applicability. The following words have
the following meanings for the purposes of implementing the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area Law but shall not be applicable to other
portions of the Code of Public Local Laws of Worcester County, Maryland:
The establishment of a tree crop on an area from which it
has always or very long been absent or the planting of open areas
which are not presently in forest cover.
All methods of production and management of livestock, crops,
vegetation, and soil. This includes, but is not limited to, the related
activities of tillage, fertilization, pest control, harvesting, and
marketing. It also includes, but is not limited to, the activities
of feeding, housing, and maintaining of animals such as cattle, dairy
cows, sheep, goats, hogs, horses, and poultry and handling their by-products.
A non-possessory interest in land which restricts the conversion
of use of the land, preventing non-agricultural uses.
Fish that travel upstream (from their primary habitat in
the ocean) to freshwater in order to spawn.
Those streams that are tributary to the Atlantic coastal
bays where spawning of anadromous species (e.g., rockfish or striped
bass, yellow perch, white perch, shad and river herring) occurs or
has occurred.
(a) Farming or culturing of finfish, shellfish, other aquatic
plants or animals or both, in lakes, streams, inlets, estuaries, and
other natural or artificial water bodies or impoundments; (b) activities
include hatching, cultivating, planting, feeding, raising, and harvesting
of aquatic plants and animals and the maintenance and construction
of necessary equipment, buildings, and growing areas; and (c) cultivation
methods include, but are not limited to, seed or larvae development
and grow-out facilities, fish ponds, shellfish rafts, racks and longlines,
seaweed floats and the culture of clams and oysters on tidelands and
subtidal areas. For the purpose of this definition, related activities
such as wholesale and retail sales, processing and product storage
facilities are not considered aquacultural practices.
Those areas where these species, as designated by the Secretary
of the Department of Natural Resources, are found or have historically
been found and their surrounding habitats.
Those areas where these species, as designated by the Secretary
of the Department of Natural Resources, are found or have historically
been found and their surrounding habitats.
Means and includes the Assawoman Bay, Isle of Wight Bay,
Sinepuxent Bay, Newport Bay, Chincoteague Bay, associated smaller
bays forming parts thereof and other bodies of water between Assateague
Island and Ocean City on the east and the mainland on the west and
including their tidal tributaries.
All waters of and lands under the Atlantic coastal bays and
their tributaries to the head of tide as indicated on the State Wetlands
Maps and all State and private wetlands designated under Title 16
of the Environment Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, as from time
to time amended, and including all land and water areas within one
thousand feet beyond the landward boundaries of State or private wetlands
and the heads of tides designated under Title 16 of the Environment
Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, as from time to time amended.
Unmanaged land having sparse vegetation.
An area of existing large bayside parcels that are essentially
undeveloped with permanent structures, suitable for large-scale mixed
use development and offer the opportunity for well-planned, efficient,
and diversified unified development and that received approval for
the establishment of a residential planned community floating zone
prior to June 1, 2002.
Conservation practices or systems of practices and management
measures that control soil loss and reduce water quality degradation
caused by nutrients, animal waste, toxins and sediment. Agricultural
BMPs include, but are not limited to, strip cropping, terracing, contour
stripping, grass waterways, animal waste structures, ponds, minimal
tillage, grass and naturally vegetated filter strips, and proper nutrient
application measures.
A transfer to a member of the owner's immediate family of
a portion of the owner's property for the purpose of establishing
a residence for that family member.
An existing, naturally vegetated area or an area established
in native vegetation and managed to protect aquatic, wetland, shoreline
and terrestrial environments from man-made disturbances.
The removal of an entire stand of trees in one cutting with
tree reproduction obtained by natural seeding from adjacent stands
or from trees that were cut, from advanced regeneration or stump sprouts,
or from planting of seeds or seedlings by man.
A residential development in which dwelling units are concentrated
in a selected area or selected areas of the development tract so as
to provide natural habitat or other open space uses on the remainder.
Herons, egrets, terns, glossy ibis and other such birds that
for the purpose of nesting congregate (that is, colonize) in a limited
number of areas which can be susceptible to local disturbances.
The Code of Maryland Regulations.
A commercial operation that would alter the existing composition
or profile, or both, of a forest, including all commercial cutting
operations done by companies and private individuals for economic
gain.
The Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic
coastal bays.
The County Commissioners of Worcester County.
Boat docking facilities associated with subdivisions or similar
residential areas, and with townhouse, condominium, apartment and
other multiple family dwelling units. Individual private piers are
excluded from this definition.
A compilation of policy statements, goals, standards, maps
and pertinent data relative to the past, present and future trends
of the local jurisdiction including, but not limited to, its population,
housing, economics, social patterns, land uses, water resources and
their use, transportation facilities and public facilities prepared
by or for the Planning Commission and County Commissioners.
A non-possessory interest in land which restricts the manner
in which the land may be developed in an effort to reserve natural
resources for future use.
The establishment of a vegetative cover to protect soils
from erosion and to restrict pollutants from entering the waterways.
Cover crops can be dense, planted crops of grasses or legumes, or
crop residues such as corn, wheat or soybean stubble which maximize
infiltration and prevent runoff from reaching erosive velocities.
Habitat necessary for the survival of threatened or endangered
species or species in need of conservation.
The number of dwelling units within a defined and measurable
area expressed in units per acre.
The County department designated by the County Commissioners
to administer and enforce this Title.
Those areas of one acre or more in size which predominantly
contain trees and natural vegetation and which also include residential,
commercial, or industrial structures and uses.
The construction or substantial alteration of residential,
commercial, industrial, agricultural, institutional or transportation
facilities or structures.
Forested areas where the occurrence of interior dwelling
birds, during the breeding season, has been demonstrated as a result
of on-site surveys using standard biological survey techniques.
A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities
for at least one person, including permanent provisions for sanitation,
cooking, eating, sleeping, and other activities routinely associated
with daily life. A dwelling unit may include a living quarters for
a domestic or other employee or tenant, an in-law or accessory apartment,
a guest house, or a caretaker residence.
[Added 9-21-2004 by Bill No. 04-6]
A more or less self-contained biological community together
with the physical environment in which the community's organisms occur.
Any species of fish, wildlife, or plants which have been
designated as such by regulation by the Secretary of the Department
of Natural Resources. Designation occurs when the continued existence
of these species as viable components of the state's resources are
determined to be in jeopardy. This includes any species determined
to be an endangered species pursuant to the Federal Endangered Species
Act, 16 USC § 1531 et seq., as from time to time amended.
All increases in stormwater resulting from:
An increase in the imperviousness of the site, including all
additions to buildings, roads, driveways, and parking lots;
Changes in permeability caused by compaction during construction
or modifications in contours, including the filling or drainage of
small depression areas;
Alteration of drainageways, or regrading of slopes;
Destruction of forest or developed woodlands; or
Installation of collection systems to intercept street flows
or to replace swales or other drainageways.
A regulated area one hundred feet in width surrounding a
non-tidal wetland, measured from the outer edge of a non-tidal wetland,
and established by the Maryland Department of the Environment as non-tidal
wetlands of special state concern.
Commercial water-dependent fisheries facilities including
structures for the packing, processing, canning, or freezing of finfish,
crustaceans, mollusks, and amphibians and reptiles and also including
related activities such as product storage facilities, crab shedding,
off-loading docks, shellfish culture operations, and shore-based facilities
necessary for aquacultural operations but not including wholesale
and retail sales.
A biological community dominated by trees and other woody
plants covering a land area of one acre or more. This also includes
forests that have been cut, but not cleared.
Species of birds which require relatively large forested
tracts in order to breed successfully, including but not limited to
various species of flycatchers, warblers, vireos, and woodpeckers.
The protection, manipulation, and utilization of the forest
to provide multiple benefits, such as timber harvesting, water transpiration,
wildlife habitat, etc.
The alteration of the forest, either through tree removal
or replacement, in order to improve the timber, wildlife, recreational,
or water quality values.
The number of acres of land in the Atlantic Coastal Bays
Critical Area that a local jurisdiction may use to create new Intensely
Developed Areas and Limited Development Areas.
Those soils with a slope greater than fifteen percent or
those soils with a K value greater than zero and thirty-five hundredths
and with slopes greater than five percent.
An area of open water and adjacent marshes where waterfowl
gather during migration and throughout the winter season. These areas
are historic in the sense that their location is common knowledge
and because these areas have been used regularly during recent times.
Soils that are wet frequently enough to periodically produce
anaerobic conditions, thereby influencing the species composition
or growth, or both, of plants on or in those soils.
Plants cited in "Vascular Plant Species Occurring in Maryland
Wetlands" (Dawson, F. et al., 1985) which are described as growing
in water or on a substrate that is at least periodically deficient
in oxygen as a result of excessive water content (plants typically
found in wet habitats).
Includes or including by way of illustration and not by way
of limitation.
In a planned unit development or residential planned community,
the original construction of those uses as originally contemplated
on the Step I and Step II plans which require approval of a § ZS1-325
site plan in accordance with the Worcester County Zoning Ordinance
and subsequently shown on such approved § ZS1-325 site plan
or for single-family residential structures, the residential structure
itself as originally approved and not including any uses or structures
accessory to the residential structure, unless authorized by a building
or zoning permit in conjunction with the original residential structure.
A father, mother, son, daughter, grandfather, grandmother,
grandson or granddaughter.
The subdivision of a parcel of land for the purpose of transferring
title to an immediate family member that would otherwise not be allowed
by the density limitations of the Resource Conservation Area.
The soil erodibility factor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation.
It is a value that has been experimentally determined.
The raising of fish or shellfish in any natural or man- made,
enclosed or impounded, water body.
The designation of land in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area in accordance with the criteria adopted by the County Commissioners
as an intensely developed area or district, a limited development
area or district, or a resource conservation area or district.
Any activity that removes the vegetative ground cover.
Features of the earth's surface created by natural causes.
Any facility for the mooring, berthing, storing, or securing
of watercraft, but not including community piers, piers serving single-family
dwellings and other non-commercial boat docking and storage facilities.
A large woody plant having one or several self-supporting
stems or trunks and numerous branches that reach a height of at least
twenty feet at maturity.
The average level of high tides at a given location.
Creation, restoration or enhancement of forest or other plant
communities that were or will be lost due to regulated activities.
Components and processes present in or produced by nature,
including, but not limited to, soil types, geology, slopes, vegetation,
surface water, drainage patterns, aquifers, recharge areas, climate,
floodplains, aquatic life, and wildlife.
Any community of plants or animals which is considered to
be among the best statewide examples of its kind and is designated
by regulation by the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources.
Those plant communities that develop in the absence of human
activities.
A condition where landforms or biological communities, or
both, have developed by natural processes in the absence of human
activities.
Pollution generated by diffuse land use activities rather
than from an identifiable or discrete facility. It is conveyed to
waterways through natural processes, such as rainfall, storm runoff,
or groundwater seepage rather than by deliberate discharge.
Resources that are not naturally regenerated or renewed.
An area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or
groundwater at a frequency or duration sufficient to support, and
that under normal circumstances does support, a prevalence of vegetation
typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, commonly
known as "hydrophytic vegetation." The determination of whether an
area is a non-tidal wetland shall be made in accordance with the publication
known as the "Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional
Wetlands," published in 1989 and as may be amended. Non-tidal wetlands
do not include tidal wetlands regulated under Title 16 of the Environment
Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
A regulated area no less than twenty-five feet in width surrounding
a non-tidal wetland, measured from the outer edge of the non-tidal
wetland.
The areas designated based on criteria in COMAR 26.23.01.04,
as from time to time amended, and listed in COMAR 26.23.06.01, as
from time to time amended, as having exceptional ecological or educational
value of statewide significance.
Structures or actions that compensate for undesirable impacts.
Land and water areas retained in an essentially undeveloped
state.
The strata or material in its natural state, before its removal
by surface mining, overlying a mineral deposit or in between mineral
deposits.
All non-tidal wetlands dominated by trees, shrubs, persistent
emergent plants, or emergent mosses or lichens and all such wetlands
that occur in tidal areas where the salinity due to ocean-derived
salts is below one-half part per one thousand parts of water.
The soils, topography, land slope and aspect, and local climate
that influence the form and species composition of plant communities.
Any pier, wharf, dock, walkway, bulkhead, breakwater, piling
or other similar structure. "Pier" does not include any structure
on pilings or stilts that was originally constructed beyond the landward
boundaries of state or private wetlands.
A community of plants commonly identifiable by the composition
of its vegetation and its physiographic characteristics.
A facility or area established or designated by the State
or local jurisdiction for purposes of waterborne commerce.
The cutting and removal of trees for personal use.
The Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Protection Program
of the County, including all laws, resolutions, maps and plans necessary
for the implementation, application, and enforcement of this Subtitle.
"Program" includes any amendments to the Program.
Any change to the adopted Program that the County Commissioners
determine will result in a use of land or water in the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area in a manner not provided for in the adopted Program.
"Program amendment" includes a change to a zoning map that is
not consistent with the method for using the growth allocation contained
in the adopted Program.
Any change to the adopted Program that the County Commissioners
determine will result in a use of land or water in the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area in a manner consistent with the adopted Program.
"Program refinement" includes:
The approval of development, other than development by the
state or local government, in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area
by the appropriate local approval authority. The term includes approval
of subdivision plats and site plans; inclusion of areas within floating
zones; issuance of variances, special exceptions or expansions of
non-conformities; and issuance of zoning permits. The term does not
include building permits.
Shore-dependent recreation facilities or activities provided
by public agencies which are available to the general public.
The reasonable rehabilitation of disturbed land for useful
purposes, and the protection of the natural resources of adjacent
areas, including water bodies.
The process of developing land which is or has been developed.
The establishment of a forest through artificial reproduction
or natural regeneration.
With the exception of an agricultural or forestry activity,
any of the following activities which are directly undertaken or originate
in a non-tidal wetland or within the buffer or expanded buffer of
a non-tidal wetland:
Removal, excavation or dredging of soil, sand, gravel, minerals,
organic matter, or materials of any kind;
Changing existing drainage characteristics, sedimentation patterns,
flow patterns, or flood retention characteristics;
Disturbance of the water level or water table by drainage, impoundment
or other means;
Dumping, discharging of material, or filling with material,
including the driving of piles or placing of obstructions;
Grading or removal of material that would alter existing topography;
or
Destruction or removal of plant life that would alter the character
of a non-tidal wetland.
A resource that can renew or replace itself and, therefore,
with proper management, can be harvested indefinitely.
A habitat that is strongly influenced by water and which
occurs adjacent to streams, shorelines, or wetlands.
A condition where surface water is present for extended periods,
especially early in the growing season, and when surface water is
absent, the water table is often near the land surface.
The removal of single, scattered, mature trees or other trees
from uneven-aged stands by frequent and periodic cutting operations.
Those structures or measures constructed or installed to
prevent or minimize erosion of the shoreline in the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area.
Areas that erode two feet or more per year.
Personal or business social engagements or other activities
conducted on a farm where guests assemble for parties, wedding events,
birthday or anniversary celebrations, children's parties, corporate
and employee appreciation parties, or other similar events for compensation,
during which food and beverages may be served to guests and music
or other entertainment is allowed.
[Added 5-19-2020 by Bill No. 20-3]
Those fish and wildlife species whose continued existence
as part of the state's resources are in question and which may be
designated by regulation by the Secretary of Natural Resources as
in need of conservation pursuant to the requirements of Natural Resources
Articles, §§ 10-2A-903 and 4-2A-1903, Annotated Code
of Maryland, as from time to time amended.
The overburden and reject materials as piled or deposited
during surface mining.
Land use plans for farms that show farmers how to make the
best possible use of their soil and water resources while protecting
and conserving those resources for the future. It is a document containing
a map and related plans that indicate:
Slopes of fifteen percent or greater incline.
A smaller geographic section of a larger watershed unit with
a typical drainage area generally of between two and fifteen square
miles and whose boundaries include all the land area draining to a
point where two second order streams combine to form a third order
stream. For the purposes of this Subtitle, the five subwatersheds
of Worcester County's Atlantic coastal bays are those of the Assawoman
Bay, the Isle of Wight Bay, Sinepuxent Bay, Newport Bay, and Chincoteague
Bay.
A forest practice used to accelerate tree growth of quality
trees in the shortest interval of time by the selective removal of
certain trees.
Any species of fish, wildlife, or plants designated as such
by regulation by the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources
which appear likely, within the foreseeable future, to become endangered,
including any species of wildlife or plant determined to be a threatened
species pursuant to the Federal Endangered Species Act, 16 USC § 1531
et seq., as from time to time amended.
The existing configuration of the earth's surface including
the relative relief, elevation, and position of land features.
A plant community whose species are adapted to the diverse
and varying environmental conditions that occur along the boundary
that separates aquatic and terrestrial areas.
Anything that is built, installed, or established to provide
a means of transport from one place to another.
Those perennial and intermittent streams in the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area which are so noted on the most recent U.S.
Geological Survey 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle maps (scale 1:24,000)
or on more detailed maps or studies at the discretion of the local
jurisdictions.
A situation wherein without a variance, an applicant would
be denied reasonable and significant use of the entire parcel or lot
for which the variance is requested.
[Added 9-21-2004 by Bill No. 04-6]
Fixed structures that convey or distribute resources, wastes,
or both, including, but not limited to, electrical lines, water conduits
and sewer lines.
A facility where sand and gravel is washed during processing.
The raising of fish and shellfish in any natural, open, free-flowing
water body.
Those structures or works associated with industrial, maritime,
recreational, educational or fisheries activities that require location
at or near the shoreline within the buffer specified in § NR
3-104 of this Subtitle. An activity is water-dependent if it cannot
exist outside the Buffer and is dependent on the water by reason of
the intrinsic nature of its operation.
An industry that requires location near the shoreline because
it utilizes surface waters for cooling or other internal purposes.
Birds which frequent and often swim in water, nest and raise
their young near water, and derive at least part of their food from
aquatic plants and animals.
The area of land that drains into a specific body of water.
A strip of land having vegetation that provides habitat and
safe passage for wildlife.
Those plant communities and physiographic features that provide
food, water and cover, nesting, and foraging or feeding conditions
necessary to maintain populations of animals in the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area.
(a)
Generally. In order to accommodate already
existing land uses and growth in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area while providing for the conservation of habitat and the protection
of water quality, the County Program has set out three land classification
areas within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area, which are as
follows: the Intensely Developed Areas (IDAs), the Limited Development
Areas (LDAs), and the Resource Conservation Areas (RCAs).
(1)
While any intense development should be directed
outside of the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area, future intense
development activities, when proposed in the Atlantic Coastal Bays
Critical Area, shall be directed towards the Intensely Developed Areas.
(2)
Additional low intensity development may be permitted
in the Limited Development Areas but shall be subject to strict regulation
to prevent adverse impacts on habitat and water quality.
(3)
Development shall be limited in the Resource Conservation
Area, which shall be chiefly designated for agriculture, forestry,
fisheries activities, other resource utilization activities and for
habitat protection.
(b)
Implementation. For the purposes of implementing
these regulations the County Commissioners have determined, based
on land uses and development in existence on June 1, 2002, which land
areas fall within the three types of land classification areas in
accordance with COMAR Title 27, as from time to time amended, and
as described in this Program. These three types of land classification
areas are designated on maps on file in the Department or its successor.
(c)
Application and interpretation of land classification area boundaries.
(1)
Where uncertainty exists about the boundaries of
land classification areas as shown on the official Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area maps due to errors in map and/or overlay registration,
the following rules shall apply:
A.
Where a known upland lot or parcel is shown as being
tidally influenced, the land classification area of the closest upland
lot or parcel shall apply.
B.
Where a land classification area district boundary
as shown on the maps does not exactly coincide with the actual property
line in existence as of the date of adoption of this Subtitle it shall
be deemed to coincide with the property line.
(2)
For development activities on properties bisected
by the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area line which have at least
fifty percent of their land area contained within the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area, the entire property may be developed in accordance
with this Subtitle if the owner so chooses and, if so, the requirements
of Subtitle 4 (Forest Conservation) of the Natural Resources Article
of the Code of Public Local Laws of Worcester County, Maryland shall
not apply.
(d)
Activities not permitted except in Intensely Developed
Areas. Certain new development, redevelopment or expanded
activities or facilities, because of their intrinsic nature or because
of their potential for adversely affecting habitats or water quality,
may not be permitted in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area except
in Intensely Developed Areas under regulations of this section and
only after the activity or facility has demonstrated to all appropriate
local and state permitting agencies that there will be a net improvement
in water quality to the adjacent body of water. These activities include
the following:
(1)
Non-maritime heavy industry;
(2)
Transportation facilities and utility transmission
facilities, except those necessary to serve permitted uses, or where
regional or interstate facilities must cross tidal waters (utility
transmission facilities do not include power plants); or
(3)
Permanent sludge handling, storage and disposal
facilities, other than those associated with wastewater treatment
facilities. However, agricultural or horticultural use of sludge under
appropriate approvals when applied by an approved method at approved
application rates may be permitted in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area, except in the one-hundred-foot buffer;
(e)
Activities not permitted. Certain new
development activities or facilities, or the expansion of certain
existing facilities, because of their intrinsic nature or because
of their potential for adversely affecting habitat and water quality,
may not be permitted in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area unless
no environmentally acceptable alternative exists outside of the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area, and these development activities or facilities
are needed in order to correct an existing water quality or wastewater
management problem. These include:
[Amended 10-24-2006 by Bill No. 06-11]
(f)
Continuation of existing, permitted facilities. Existing, permitted facilities of the type noted in § NR
3-103(d)(1) and (2) hereof shall be subject to the standards and requirements
of the Department of the Environment, under COMAR Title 26, as from
time to time amended.
(a)
Identification of the buffer. A one-hundred-foot
buffer is hereby established from the mean high water line of tidal
waters, the edge of the bank of tributary streams, and the landward
extent of tidal wetlands.
(b)
General requirements. The functions of
the buffer with regard to the protection of the Atlantic coastal bays
include the following:
(1)
Provide for the removal or reduction of sediments,
nutrients and potentially harmful or toxic substances in runoff entering
the bays and their tributaries;
(2)
Minimize the adverse effects of human activities
on wetlands, shoreline, stream banks, tidal waters and aquatic resources;
(3)
Maintain an area of transitional habitat between
aquatic and upland communities;
(4)
Maintain the natural environment of streams; and
(5)
Protect riparian wildlife habitat.
(c)
Standards. The following criteria apply
to land use activities within the buffer:
(1)
The buffer shall be established at a minimum distance
of one hundred feet landward from the mean high-water line of tidal
waters, the edge of the bank of tributary streams and the landward
edge of tidal wetlands within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area.
(2)
The buffer shall be expanded beyond one hundred
feet to include contiguous sensitive areas such as steep slopes, hydric
soils or highly erodible soils whose development or disturbance may
impact streams, wetlands or other aquatic environments. In the case
of contiguous slopes of fifteen percent or greater the buffer shall
be expanded four feet for every one percent of slope or to the top
of the slope, whichever is greater in extent. Buffer expansion for
steep slopes is not required when the slopes are wholly within the
one-hundred-foot buffer.
(3)
The buffer shall also be required along both sides
of all drainage ditches if adjacent agricultural lands do not have
in place best management practices cited and approved under the agricultural
protection section of this Subtitle.[1] The buffer may be used to establish wildlife corridors
as defined under this Program.
[1]
Editor's Note: See § NR 3-119, Agriculture.
(4)
New development activities including structures,
roads, parking areas and other impervious surfaces, mining and related
facilities or septic systems may not be allowed in the buffer except
for those necessarily associated with water-dependent facilities approved
under § NR 3-124 of this Subtitle.
(5)
The buffer shall be maintained in natural vegetation,
but may include planted vegetation where necessary to protect, stabilize
or enhance the shoreline. When lands are proposed to be developed
or converted to new uses, the buffer shall be established. In establishing
the buffer, management measures shall be undertaken to provide forest
vegetation that ensures the buffer functions as set forth in this
section.
(d)
Tree cutting in the buffer. The buffer
shall be managed to achieve or enhance the standards stated in § NR
3-104(c) hereof. Cutting of trees or clearing of vegetation within
the Buffer shall be prohibited except that:
(1)
Cutting of trees or removal of natural vegetation
may be permitted where necessary to provide access to private piers,
or to install, repair or construct a shore erosion protection device
or measure, or a water-dependent facility, providing the device, measure
or facility has received all necessary state and federal permits.
Such cutting of trees or removal of natural vegetation shall be in
accordance with the following:
(2)
Individual trees may be cut for personal use, providing
that this cutting does not impair the water quality or existing habitat
value or other functions of the buffer as set forth in the policies
of this plan and provided that the trees are replaced within the buffer
on an equal basis for each tree cut.
(3)
Individual trees may be removed which are dead,
diseased or which are in danger of falling and causing damage to dwellings
or other structures, or which are in danger of falling and therefore
causing the blockage of streams, or resulting in accelerated shore
erosion.
(4)
Horticultural practices may be used to maintain
the health of individual trees.
(5)
Other cutting techniques may be undertaken within
the buffer and under the advice and guidance of the State Departments
of Agriculture and Natural Resources if necessary to preserve the
forest from extensive pest or disease infestation or threat from fire.
(6)
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Subtitle,
tree cutting or clearing in the Buffer may be permitted with a critical
area site plan where the applicant demonstrates that buffer impacts
have been minimized for the initial development of a lot or parcel
legally existing as of June 1, 2002, when done in conjunction with
a valid and approved forest conservation plan approved prior to the
date of adoption of this Subtitle.
(e)
Buffer management areas. The County Commissioners
may designate and map certain areas as buffer management areas. These
maps and the associated buffer management plan shall be adopted by
resolution of the County Commissioners after a duly advertised public
hearing in accordance with § ZS 1-114 of the Worcester County
Zoning Ordinance. Any measures approved as outlined herein shall be
subject to the approval of the Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake
and Atlantic Coastal Bays.
(a)
Continuation of existing uses. The Department
shall permit the continuation, but not necessarily the intensification
or expansion, of any permitted use or structure legally existing on
the date of Program approval, unless the use has been discontinued
for more than one year or is otherwise restricted by existing local
ordinances. If any existing use or structure does not conform with
the provisions of the Program, its intensification or expansion may
be permitted only in accordance with the variance procedures outlined
in § NR 3-111 of this Subtitle.
(b)
Residential density. Except as herein
provided, the Department shall permit the types of land described
in the following subsections to be developed notwithstanding the density
provisions of this Subtitle, provided it is in accordance with the
following subsections.
(1)
A vacant single lot or parcel of land legally existing
as of the date of adoption of this Subtitle may be improved with a
single-family dwelling, provided that the lot or parcel is brought
into conformance with the terms of this Subtitle to the extent possible,
including the consolidation or reconfiguration of adjoining lots owned
by the same individual or entity and the measures proposed are approved
by the Commission.
(2)
Vacant land that was subdivided into recorded and
legally buildable lots which received final plat approval as described
in the Zoning and Subdivision Control Article after June 1, 2002,
but prior to the effective date of this Subtitle may be improved with
a single-family dwelling, provided that development of the land conforms
to the requirements of this Subtitle and COMAR Title 27, as from time
to time amended, or the area of land is deducted from the County's
growth allocation.
(3)
A planned unit development in a bayside mixed use
district that receives final site plan approval and/or for which a
subdivision plat has been recorded after June 1, 2002, but prior to
the effective date of this Subtitle may be developed provided that:
A.
Development of the land conforms to the requirements
of this Subtitle and Title 27 of the Code of Maryland Regulations,
as from time to time amended, and the land area is deducted from the
County's growth allocation in accordance with § NR 3-112
hereof and COMAR 27.01.02.06, as from time to time amended; or
B.
The land is:
1.
Designated as an Intensely Developed Area;
2.
Exempted from the buffer designation in COMAR 27.01.09,
as from time to time amended, pursuant to § NR 3-104(e)
hereof; and
3.
Part of a project that complies with Title 4, Subtitle
2 of the Environment Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland as
may be amended from time to time.
(c)
Consistency. Nothing in this section
may be interpreted as altering any requirements for development activities
set out in the water-dependent facilities section or the habitat protection
section of this Subtitle.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See § NR 3-124, Water-dependent facilities,
and § NR 3-120, Habitat protection.
(d)
Destruction by forces of nature or casualty. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Subtitle, any structure
destroyed by the forces of nature or casualty which would not otherwise
comply with the requirements of this Subtitle may be repaired or reconstructed
within its original footprint, provided that such structure is repaired
or reconstructed within five years of the date of destruction. Destruction
by forces of nature or casualty shall not include demolition or destruction
by neglect or failure to maintain.
(a)
Description. Intensely Developed Areas
are areas where residential, commercial, institutional, and/or industrial
uses predominate and where relatively little natural habitat occurs
or remains. At the time of the initial mapping, these areas shall
have at least one of the following features:
(1)
Housing density equal to or greater than four dwelling
units per acre;
(2)
Industrial, institutional or commercial uses are
concentrated in the area; or
(3)
Public sewer and water collection and distribution
systems are currently serving the area and housing density is greater
than three dwelling units per acre.
(4)
In addition, these features shall be concentrated
in an area of at least twenty adjacent acres or that entire upland
portion of the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area within the boundary
of a municipality, whichever is less.
(b)
General requirements. In addition to
the one-hundred-foot buffer, new or expanded development or redevelopment
within Intensely Developed Areas shall:
(1)
Improve the quality of runoff from developed areas
that enters the Atlantic Coastal bays or its tributary streams;
(2)
Accommodate additional development of the type
and intensity designated by the County Commissioners in this Subtitle,
provided that water quality is not impaired;
(3)
Minimize the expansion of Intensely Developed Areas
into portions of the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area designated
as habitat protection areas and Resource Conservation Areas under
this program;
(4)
Conserve and enhance habitat protection areas to
the extent possible within Intensely Developed Areas; and
(5)
Use retrofitting measures to the extent feasible
to address existing stormwater management problems.
(c)
Development standards. The following
criteria are hereby adopted for Intensely Developed Areas:
(1)
All plans shall be assessed for their impacts on
water quality and other biological resources.
(2)
Best management practices shall be considered and,
where appropriate, implemented as part of all plans for development
or redevelopment.
(3)
Development and redevelopment shall be subject
to the habitat protection area requirements prescribed in §§ NR
3-120 through 3-123 of this Subtitle.
(4)
Stormwater shall be addressed in accordance with
the following provisions:
A.
The County shall require, at the time of development
or redevelopment, that technologies as required by applicable state
and local ordinances be applied by anyone undertaking development
activities in order to minimize adverse impacts to water quality caused
by stormwater. The technologies shall be developed in accordance with
the guidelines published by the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Commission.
B.
In the case of redevelopment, if the technologies
do not reduce pollutant loadings measured by use of the keystone pollutant
method by at least ten percent below the level of pollution on the
site prior to redevelopment, then offsets shall be provided to achieve
a ten percent reduction.
C.
In the case of new development, offsets as determined
by the Department shall be used if they reduce pollutant loadings
by at least ten percent of the pre-development levels.
D.
Offsets may be located either on- or off-site, provided
that water quality benefits are equivalent, that the benefits are
obtained within the same watershed, and that the benefits can be determined
through the use of modeling, monitoring or other computation of mitigation
measures as specified in the "10% Rule Compliance - Urban Stormwater
Quality Guidance for Maryland Chesapeake Bay Critical Area" (Kumble,
Peter, et al, 1993).
(5)
Proposed development sites shall provide a forest
or developed woodland cover of at least fifteen percent after development,
which may be comprised all or in part of typical landscaping as approved
by the Department, with the following exceptions:
A.
Development of a single lot for the purpose of constructing
a dwelling intended for the use of the owner, a child or grandchild
of the owner, if the development does not result in the cutting, clearing
or grading of more than forty thousand square feet of forest and the
lot was legally recorded prior to July 31, 1994; or
B.
Development of a single lot that is part of a project
that has otherwise complied with the Forest Conservation Act.
(6)
If practicable, permeable areas shall be established
in vegetation and whenever possible, redevelopment shall reduce existing
levels of pollution.
(7)
Areas of public access to the shoreline, such as
foot paths, scenic drives and other public recreational facilities
and open spaces, should be maintained and, if possible, encouraged
to be established within Intensely Developed Areas.
(8)
Ports and industries which use water for transportation
and derive economic benefits from shore access shall be located near
existing port facilities. The County Commissioners may identify other
sites for planned future port facility development and use if this
use will provide significant economic benefit to the state or county
and is consistent with the provisions of the water-dependent facilities
section[1] of this subtitle and other state and federal regulations.
[1]
Editor's Note: See § NR 3-124, Water-dependent facilities.
(9)
To the extent practicable, future development in
the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area shall use cluster development
as a means to reduce impervious areas and to maximize areas of natural
vegetation.
(10)
When the cutting or clearing of trees in forests
and developed woodland areas is associated with current or planned
development activities, the following shall be required:
A.
Development activities shall be designed and implemented
to minimize destruction of forest and woodland vegetation; and
(a)
Description. Limited Development Areas
are those areas which are currently developed in low- or moderate-intensity
uses. They also contain areas of natural plant and animal habitats.
The quality of runoff from these areas has not been substantially
altered or impaired. At the time of the initial mapping, these areas
shall have at least one of the following features:
(1)
Housing density ranging from one dwelling unit
per five acres up to four dwelling units per acre;
(2)
Areas not dominated by agricultural, wetland, forest,
barren land, surface water, or open space;
(3)
Areas meeting the conditions of an Intensely Developed
Area but comprising less than twenty acres; or
(4)
Areas having public sewer or public water, or both.
(b)
General requirements. In addition to
the one-hundred-foot buffer, the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area
Law hereby incorporates the following requirements for Limited Development
Areas. New or expanded development or redevelopment shall take place
in such a way as to:
(1)
Maintain or, if possible, improve the quality of
runoff and groundwater entering the Atlantic coastal bays and their
tributaries;
(2)
Maintain, to the extent practicable, existing areas
of natural habitat; and
(3)
Accommodate additional low- or moderate-intensity
development if:
A.
This development conforms to the water quality and
habitat protection criteria in § NR 3-107(c) hereof; and
B.
The overall intensity of development within the
Limited Development Areas is not increased beyond the level established
in a particular area so as to change its prevailing character as identified
by density and land use established in the area at the time of adoption
of this Subtitle.
(c)
Development standards. The following
criteria apply for Limited Development Areas:
(1)
For all development activities in the Limited Development
Areas, the applicant shall identify any environmental or natural feature
described below and shall meet all of the following standards of environmental
protection:
A.
Adherence to the provisions of §§ NR
3-104 and 3-120 through 3-123 of this Subtitle.
B.
Roads, bridges, or utilities may not be located
in any habitat protection area unless no feasible alternative exists.
All roads, bridges, and utilities that must cross a habitat protection
area shall be located, designed, constructed, and maintained so as
to provide maximum erosion protection and minimize negative impacts
to wildlife, aquatic life and their habitats and maintain hydrologic
processes and water quality.
C.
All development activities that must cross or affect
streams shall be designed to:
1.
Reduce increases in flood frequency and severity
that are attributable to development;
2.
Retain tree canopy so as to maintain stream water
temperature within normal variation;
3.
Provide a natural substrate for stream beds; and
4.
Minimize adverse water quality and quantity impacts
of stormwater.
D.
All development sites receiving project approval
shall incorporate a wildlife corridor system that connects the largest
undeveloped or most vegetated tracts of land within and adjacent to
the site in order to provide continuity of existing wildlife and plant
habitats with offsite habitats. The wildlife corridor system may include
habitat protection areas identified in this Subtitle. The Department
shall ensure the maintenance of the wildlife corridors by requiring
the establishment of conservation easements, restrictive covenants,
or similar instruments approved by the County Commissioners through
which the corridor is preserved by public or private groups, including
homeowners associations, land trusts, nature trusts and other organizations.
(2)
For the cutting or clearing of trees in forests
and developed woodland areas which are associated with current or
planned development activities, but not including building permits
for individual lots, in a Limited Development Area, the Department
shall:
A.
Require that the applicant seek the comments of
and comply with the recommendations of the Maryland Department of
Natural Resources to the extent possible when planning development
on forested land;
B.
Design and implement development activities to minimize
the destruction of woodland vegetation; and
C.
Provide protection for forests and developed woodlands
identified as habitat protection areas in this Subtitle.
D.
Planting associated with required replacement of
forest or developed woodland shall be performed prior to the issuance
of any zoning certificate or certificate of use and occupancy or shall
be bonded in accordance with the provisions of § ZS 1-124
of the Worcester County Zoning Ordinance.
(3)
For the alteration of forest and developed woodland
in the Limited Development Area, the following requirements shall
apply:
A.
The total acreage in forest coverage within the
County in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area shall be maintained
or preferably increased;
B.
All forests that are allowed to be cleared or developed
shall be replaced in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area on not
less than an equal area basis on sites with similar characteristics
to those on which the original forests were growing;
C.
No more than twenty percent of any forest or developed
woodland may be removed from forest use, except as provided in Subsection
(c)(4) below. The remaining eighty percent shall be maintained through
recorded, restrictive covenants or similar instruments approved by
the County Commissioners; and
D.
Developed woodland vegetation shall be conserved
to the greatest extent practicable.
(4)
For replacement of forest and developed woodland,
if more than twenty percent is to be removed from forest use, an applicant
may clear or develop not more than thirty percent of the total forest
area, provided that the afforested area shall consist of one and one-half
times the total surface acreage of the disturbed forest or developed
woodland area, or both.
(5)
In addition, applicants seeking project approval
shall adhere to the following criteria for forest and woodland development:
A.
A performance bond in an amount determined by the
Department to ensure satisfactory replacement as required by Subsections
(c)(3) and (4) above shall be posted, if necessary;
B.
A stormwater management permit and sediment and
erosion control plan approval shall be required before forest or developed
woodland is cleared;
C.
Forests which have been cleared before obtaining
a stormwater management permit and sediment and erosion control plan
approval or that exceed the maximum area allowed in Subsection (c)(4)
above shall be replanted at three times the areal extent of the cleared
forest;
D.
If the areal extent of the site limits the application
of the reforestation guidelines in Subsections (c)(3), (4) and (5)
above, alternative provisions or reforestation guidelines may be permitted
by the Department if they are consistent with the intent of the forest
and woodland element[1] of this Subtitle to conserve the forest and developed
woodland resources of the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area. Alternative
provisions may include use of a forest mitigation bank if the provisions
are adequate to ensure the restoration or establishment of an equivalent
forest area;
[1]
Editor's Note: See § NR 3-116, Forest and woodland
protection.
E.
If no forest exists on the proposed development
site, this site shall be planted to provide a forest or developed
woodland cover of at least fifteen percent (15%);
F.
All forests designated on development plans shall
be maintained to the extent practicable, through conservation easements,
restrictive covenants or other protective instruments approved by
the County Attorney;
G.
The applicant shall designate, subject to the approval
of the Department, a new forest area on a part of the site not forested;
and
H.
The afforested area shall be maintained as forest
cover through easements, restrictive covenants or other protective
instruments approved by the County Commissioners.
(6)
Projects which receive Forest Conservation Plan
approval in accordance with the provisions of Subtitle 4 (Forest Conservation)
of the Worcester County Code of Public Local Laws prior to the date
of adoption of this Subtitle may develop under the terms of that Forest
Conservation Plan approval with a critical area site plan where the
applicant demonstrates that resource impacts have been minimized,
notwithstanding the provisions of § NR 3-107(c)(1) through
(5) above.
(7)
Development on slopes greater than fifteen percent,
as measured before development, shall be prohibited unless the project
is the only effective way to maintain or improve the stability of
the slope and is consistent with the policies in § NR 3-107(b)
above.
(8)
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection,
for stormwater runoff, impervious areas shall be limited to fifteen
percent of the site.
A.
If a parcel or lot of one-half acre or less in size
existed on or before June 1, 2002, then man-made impervious surfaces
are limited to twenty-five percent of the parcel or lot.
B.
If a parcel or lot greater than one-half acre and
less than one acre in size existed on or before June 1, 2002, then
man-made impervious surfaces are limited to fifteen percent of the
parcel or lot.
C.
If an individual lot one acre or less in size is
part of a subdivision approved after June 1, 2002, then manmade impervious
surfaces of the lot may not exceed twenty-five percent of the lot
and the total impervious surfaces of the entire subdivision may not
exceed fifteen percent.
D.
Impervious surface limits provided in Subsections
(c)(8)A through C above may be exceeded, upon findings by the Director
of the Department or his designee that all of the following conditions
exist:
1.
New impervious surfaces on the property have been
minimized;
2.
For a lot or parcel one-half acre or less in size,
total impervious surface area does not exceed impervious surface limits
in Subsection (c)(8)A by more than twenty-five percent or five hundred
square feet, whichever is greater;
3.
For a lot or parcel greater than one-half acre and
less than one acre in size, total impervious surface area does not
exceed impervious surface limits in Subsection (c)(8)B or five thousand
four hundred and forty-five square feet, whichever is greater;
4.
Water quality impacts associated with runoff from
new impervious surfaces can be and have been minimized through site
design considerations or the use of best management practices to improve
water quality; and
5.
The property owner performs on-site mitigation to
offset potential adverse water quality impacts from the new impervious
surfaces.
(9)
To reduce the extent of impervious areas and maximize
areas of natural vegetation, cluster development shall be considered
when planning for future development.
(10)
Development may be allowed on soils having development
constraints if the development includes mitigation measures that adequately
address the identified constraints and that will not have significant
adverse impacts on water quality or plant, fish or wildlife habitat.
(d)
Complementary state laws and regulations. In applying this Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area Law, the Program refers to all of the following
complementary existing state laws and regulations:
(1)
For soil erosion and sediment control (COMAR 26.17.01,
as from time to time amended):
A.
In order to prevent soil erosion and sedimentation,
a Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan shall be required whenever
a development within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area will
involve any clearing, grading, transporting, or other form of disturbance
to land by the movement of earth. This plan shall be consistent with
the requirements of Natural Resources Article §§ 8-1101
through 8-1108 and Environment Article §§ 4-103 through
4-108 and § 4-116, Annotated Code of Maryland, as from time
to time amended, and local ordinances, as may be amended from time
to time. Sediment control practices shall be appropriately designed
to reduce adverse water quality impacts.
B.
The Program requires erosion control as the basis
of sediment control plans within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area.
(2)
For stormwater runoff (COMAR 26.17.02, as from
time to time amended):
A.
Postdevelopment discharges may not cause downstream
property, watercourses, channels or conduits to receive stormwater
runoff at a higher volume or rate than would have resulted from a
ten-year storm at the predevelopment state.
B.
All stormwater storage facilities shall be designed
with sufficient capacity to achieve the water quality goals of this
section and to eliminate all runoff caused by the development in excess
of that which would have come from the site if it were in its predevelopment
state.
C.
Stormwater management measures shall be consistent
with the requirements of Environment Article 4-201 et seq., Annotated
Code of Maryland, as may be amended from time to time.
(a)
Description. Resource Conservation Areas
are areas characterized by nature-dominated environments (including,
but not limited to, wetlands, forests, abandoned fields) and resource-utilization
activities (including, but not limited to, agriculture, forestry,
fisheries activities or aquaculture). At the time of the initial mapping,
these areas shall have at least one of the following features:
(b)
General requirements. In addition to
the one-hundred-foot buffer, the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area
Law hereby incorporates the following requirements for Resource Conservation
Areas. New or expanded development or redevelopment in these areas
shall take place in such a way as to:
(1)
Conserve, protect and enhance the overall ecological
values of the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area, its biological
productivity and its diversity;
(2)
Provide adequate breeding, feeding and wintering
habitats for those wildlife populations that require the Atlantic
coastal bays, their tributaries or coastal habitats in order to sustain
populations of those species;
(3)
Conserve the land and water resource base that
is necessary to maintain and support land uses such as agriculture,
forestry, fisheries activities and aquaculture; and
(4)
Conserve the existing developed woodlands and forests
for the water quality benefits that they provide.
(c)
Development standards. The following
criteria apply for Resource Conservation Areas:
(1)
Land use management practices shall be consistent
with the policies and criteria for the habitat protection area section,
the agricultural section, and the forest and woodlands protection
section of this Subtitle.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See § NR 3-120, Habitat protection,
§ NR 3-119, Agriculture, and § NR 3-116, Forest
and woodland protection.
(2)
Agricultural and conservation easements shall be
encouraged in Resource Conservation Areas.
(3)
Land within the Resource Conservation Area may
be developed for residential uses at a density not to exceed one dwelling
unit per twenty acres. Within this limit of overall density, minimum
lot sizes shall be as prescribed by the terms of the Zoning and Subdivision
Control Article. Such mechanisms as cluster development, maximum lot
size provisions and/or additional means to maintain the land area
necessary to support the protective uses will be encouraged by the
County Commissioners and implemented as necessary.
(4)
Existing industrial and commercial facilities,
including those that directly support agriculture, forestry, aquaculture
or residential development shall be allowed in Resource Conservation
Areas.
(5)
New commercial, industrial, and institutional uses
shall not be permitted in Resource Conservation Areas. Additional
land may not be zoned or used for industrial, commercial, or institutional
development except as provided by § NR 3-108(d) and § NR
3-112 below. Non-industrial activities which support surface mining,
agriculture and forestry may be established or expanded, provided
they conform with the other requirements of this Subtitle.
(6)
The Department shall ensure that the overall acreage
of forest and woodland within the Resource Conservation Areas does
not decrease.
(7)
Development activity within the Resource Conservation
Areas shall be consistent with the requirements for Limited Development
Areas in this Subtitle as specified in § NR 3-107 hereof.
(8)
Nothing in this section shall limit the ability
of a participant in the Agricultural Easement Program to convey real
property impressed with such an easement to family members, provided
that no such conveyance will result in a density greater than one
dwelling unit per twenty acres.
(9)
In calculating the one-dwelling-unit-per-twenty-acre
density of development that is permitted on a parcel located within
the Resource Conservation Area, the Department may permit the area
of any private wetlands located on the property to be included under
the following conditions:
A.
The density of development on the upland portion
of the parcel may not exceed one dwelling unit per eight acres; and
B.
The area of private wetlands shall be estimated
on the basis of vegetative information as designated on the state
wetlands maps or by private survey approved by the Department and
the State Department of Environment.
(10)
In consideration of additional dwelling units
per lot or parcel as part of the primary dwelling unit the County
shall adhere to the following:
[Added 9-21-2004 by Bill No. 04-6]
A.
Within a Resource Conservation Area, the County
may consider one additional dwelling unit per lot or parcel as part
of the primary dwelling unit for the purpose of the density calculation
under this subsection if the additional dwelling unit meets either
of the following sets of conditions:
1.
The additional dwelling unit is located within the
primary dwelling unit or its entire perimeter is within one hundred
feet of the primary dwelling unit, it does not exceed nine hundred
square feet in total enclosed area, and it is served by the same sewage
disposal system as the primary dwelling unit; or
2.
The additional dwelling unit is located within the
primary dwelling unit, is built so that its construction does not
increase the amount of impervious surface already attributed to the
primary dwelling unit, and it is served by the same sewage disposal
system as the primary dwelling unit.
B.
An additional dwelling unit meeting all the criteria
of this section that is separate from the primary dwelling unit may
not be subdivided or conveyed separately from the primary dwelling
unit.
C.
The provisions of this section apply to density
calculations only and may not be construed to authorize the County
to grant a variance, unless the variance is granted in accordance
with the requirements and standards in this Subtitle for variances
in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area.
D.
The County shall maintain records of all building
permits issued under this section for additional dwelling units considered
part of a primary dwelling unit and shall provide this information
on a quarterly basis to the Critical Area Commission.
(d)
Land use in the Resource Conservation Area. In addition to the uses specified above, certain nonresidential
uses may be permitted in Resource Conservation Areas if permitted
by the terms of the Zoning and Subdivision Control Article and if
it is determined by the Department that the proposed use is one of
the following:
(1)
A home occupation as an accessory use on a property
used for residential purposes and as provided for in the County's
Zoning Ordinance;
(2)
A golf course, excluding principal buildings and/or
structures such as the clubhouse, pro-shop, parking lot, etc.;
(3)
A cemetery that is an accessory use to a church
existing as of june 1, 2002 if impervious surfaces are limited to
twenty thousand square feet or 15% of the site, whichever is less;
(4)
A bed-and-breakfast facility located in a residential
structure existing as of June 1, 2002, and where meals are prepared
only for guests staying at the facility;
(5)
A gun club or skeet shooting range or similar use,
excluding main buildings and/or structures, such as a clubhouse, snack
bar, etc.;
(6)
A day-care facility in a dwelling where the operators
live on the premises and there are no more than eight children;
(7)
A group home or assisted living facility with no
more than eight residents;
(8)
A public or private non-commercial dock or pier
and passive recreational areas.
[Added 3-17-2015 by Bill
No. 15-1]
A.
Dock or pier and passive recreational areas may
include:
1.
Floating platforms for the launching and retrieval
of non-motorized watercraft;
2.
A pervious storage structure for non-motorized watercraft
not to exceed twenty thousand square feet in area; and
3.
Passive recreation such as walking, hiking, bicycle
paths and trails, wildlife observation areas, and picnic areas.
B.
Dock or pier and passive recreational areas may
not include principal uses and structures or accessory uses and structures
including but not limited to: gazebos, pavilions, clubhouses, restrooms,
and parking areas.
C.
Lot coverage shall be limited to fifteen percent
of the site.
(9)
An office and/or establishment utilized by a nonprofit
environmental conservation and land preservation organization, subject
to the following:
[Added 4-19-2016 by Bill
No. 16-3]
A.
Organizations shall maintain a non-profit and/or
tax-exempt status; and
B.
The total use area shall not exceed twenty thousand
square feet in area. Areas of passive recreation such as walking,
hiking, bicycle paths and trails, wildlife observation areas, and
picnic areas shall not be subject to this limitation.
(10)
Special events in an Estate, Agricultural or Resource Protection
Zoning District as defined in the Worcester County Zoning Ordinance,
subject to the following additional standards:
[Added 5-19-2020 by Bill No. 20-3]
A.
All lot coverage pertaining to the special events activities,
including, but not limited to, temporary structures, temporary tents
and otherwise, must occur outside the buffer unless the lot coverage
existed at the time of special exception application and the provisions
of § NR 3-107(c)(8)A through D shall still apply.
B.
A scaled drawing of the site showing the location of the proposed
structures and demonstrating the site requirements for special events
in accordance with the provisions of § ZS 1-203(c)(19)
of the County Zoning Ordinance, as from time to time amended, including
any temporary structures, temporary tents and temporary parking spaces,
must be submitted with the special exception application. The scaled
drawing must demonstrate how the special event use will minimize impacts
to natural resources and protect the defined land uses in the Resource
Conservation Area found in this chapter and must also depict the site
plan requirements in accordance with the provisions of § NR 3-109(d)(1)
hereof.
C.
Provisions pertaining to lot coverage and clearing limits in
the Resource Conservation Area contained in this chapter apply to
special event activities. Special event activities shall be in close
proximity to existing structures and facilities on the property to
minimize adverse impacts to natural resources and are accessory to
the principal use of the property.
D.
This use is limited to only properties that are twenty-five
acres or greater in size and the special events shall be allowed only
during the period of April 1 through October 31 of each calendar year;
however, there shall be no limit on the number of special events that
are allowed during this time period.
E.
All lot coverage and proposed temporary structures associated
with the special event must comply with Habitat Protection Areas in
accordance with the provisions of § NR 3-120 hereof.
This includes protection of the one-hundred-foot buffer, threatened
and endangered species and species in need of conservation, plant
and wildlife habitat protection areas including non-tidal wetlands,
and anadromous fish propagation waters.
(a)
Regulated activities and applicability. In shall be unlawful to pursue any new, expanded or intensified
activities within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area, such as
development or redevelopment, grading, clearing, sediment and erosion
control, timber harvesting, shoreline erosion control, installation
of a septic system and drain field, operation of a waste collection
or disposal facility, operation of a commercial or private marina
or other water-related commercial or industrial operation (whether
public or private), mining (whether surface or sub- surface) or quarrying,
farming or other agriculturally-related activities, without first
obtaining approval by the Department after review under the provisions
of this Subtitle.
(b)
Responsible agency. All applications
for such County permits and licenses that are issued by the County
shall be made to the pertinent department. The Department shall make
available to all agencies involved in overseeing regulated activities
a set of maps showing the location so that these agencies may identify
affected properties subject to said referrals. Applications for timber
harvesting shall be reviewed by the Department of Natural Resources
through the District Forestry Board. Applications for mining and quarrying
shall be reviewed by the Department and appropriate State agencies.
Applications for farming or other agriculture- related activities
shall be reviewed by the Department or the County Soil Conservation
District, depending on the nature of the proposed activity.
(c)
Process. Upon receiving the referred
application, the Department shall review the application for compliance
of the activity with the requirements of this Subtitle. The Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area review includes, but is not limited to,
evaluating the one-hundred-foot buffer, area of impervious surface,
area of forest cover, area of steep slopes, location of tidal or non-tidal
wetlands and their buffers, and the mitigation plan if required.
(d)
Application requirements. In order for
the Department to make findings and specific recommendations as to
compliance of a project with the goals of the Atlantic Coastal Bays
Critical Area Law, information on land and water disturbing activities
must be submitted by the applicant. This information shall include
an Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area site plan and a written Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area report.
(1)
Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area
site plan. The Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area site
plan must be drawn to scale and shall include, but not be limited
to, the following information:
A.
Topography (if property is flat or gently sloping,
state this on the plan).
B.
Mean high-water line.
C.
Tidal wetlands (private and state).
D.
Tributary streams.
E.
Non-tidal wetlands.
F.
Soils.
G.
Forest cover (show individual trees or a tree line
defining wooded areas).
H.
One-hundred-foot buffer (drawn from mean high water,
edge of tidal wetlands or tributary streams).
1.
The buffer may be required to be expanded beyond
one-hundred-feet to include contiguous sensitive areas, such as steep
slopes, hydric soils, or highly erodible soils, whose development
or disturbance may impact streams, wetlands, or other aquatic environments.
I.
Habitat protection areas.
J.
All impervious surfaces (including all structures,
sidewalks, sheds, decks, driveways, pools, etc.) labeled as existing
or proposed.
K.
All proposed clearing, grading, and disturbance
(e.g., septic areas, wells, lawns, etc.).
L.
Computation of the amount of existing and proposed
impervious surfaces, existing forest cover and proposed clearing,
and total area of disturbance.
(2)
Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area
Report. The Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area report
must include a description of the project and an environmental assessment
of the site. This report shall include but not be limited to the following
information:
A.
Forest cover, generally describing the size and
species of trees and shrubs.
B.
Shoreline condition, including any existing or proposed
piers, bulkheads, revetments, or other shoreline stabilization methods.
C.
Proposed or existing stormwater management measures.
D.
Site topography and soil conditions, including any
areas of erosion or run-off.
E.
Proposed clearing, excavation and grading.
F.
Discussion of the proposed development, including
number of residential units, amount of proposed impervious surface,
proposed sewer treatment and water supply, and total square footage
of clearing, grading and disturbance.
G.
Discussion of the proposed development's impacts
on water quality and habitat protection areas.
H.
Documentation of all correspondence and findings
received from any County, state or federal agency.
(a)
Generally. The regulations, restrictions,
definitions, districts, classifications, and boundaries as set forth
in this Subtitle may from time to time be amended, supplanted, modified,
or repealed by the County Commissioners with the concurrence of the
Commission. The reclassification of any property, the relocation of
any district boundary, the designation or future modification of any
buffer management area and its accompanying regulations, and the award
of growth allocation shall be done by resolution of the County Commissioners
after a duly advertised public hearing in accordance with the provisions
of § ZS 1-114 of the Worcester County Zoning Ordinance and
approval of the Commission. Amendments to the text of this Subtitle
shall be passed by the County Commissioners as public local laws according
to legally required procedures and with the concurrence of the Commission.
(b)
Applications and procedures. Amendments
and refinements shall be processed in the following manner:
(1)
Proposals for any amendment or refinement may be
made by any interested person who is a resident or taxpayer in the
County or by any government agency of the County. Proposals shall
be addressed to and filed with the County Commissioners in such form
as they may prescribe. Applications shall only be accepted from January
1 to January 30 and July 1 to July 31 of each calendar year.
(2)
Any application for growth allocation shall be
reviewed by the Planning Commission but shall first be referred to
the Department for review. Comments and recommendations shall be prepared
by the Department for consideration by the Planning Commission in
its review. The Planning Commission shall review the application in
accordance with the provisions of § NR 3-112 hereof and
forward a recommendation to the County Commissioners within a reasonable
period of time as determined by the County Commissioners. Upon receipt
of the Planning Commission's recommendation, the County Commissioners
shall hold at least one public hearing in accordance with the provisions
of § NR 3-112(c)(4) et seq. hereof.
(3)
All amendments other than requests for growth allocation
shall be reviewed and acted upon by the County Commissioners but shall
first be referred to the Department for review.
A.
Upon receipt of the application the Department shall
examine the application and information submitted therewith. If the
application and information is insufficient for the purposes of review
the Department may:
B.
Any application returned as being insufficient may
only be resubmitted within the application periods as identified in
§ NR 3-110(b)(1) herein.
C.
The Department shall review the application in a
reasonable period of time as determined by the County Commissioners
and forward a report and recommendation to the County Commissioners.
D.
After receipt of the Department's recommendation,
the County Commissioners shall hold at least one public hearing in
relation to the proposed amendment, at which parties and interested
citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. At least fifteen days
notice of the time and place of such hearing and the nature of the
proposed amendment shall be published in an official paper or a paper
of general circulation in the County in accordance with the provisions
of § ZS 1-114 of the Worcester County Zoning Ordinance.
In the case of amendments to the text of this Subtitle, if no County
Commissioner is willing to introduce the proposed amendment as a bill,
it need not be considered and a public hearing need not be held.
(a)
Applicability. An Atlantic Coastal Bays
Critical Area Program variance may be granted to the terms of this
Subtitle in accordance with the provisions of § ZS 1-116(c)(4)
of the Worcester County Zoning Ordinance where, owing to special features
of a site or other circumstances, implementation of this Program or
a literal enforcement of provisions within the Program would result
in unwarranted hardship to an applicant.
(b)
Standards. The provisions for granting
such a variance shall include evidence submitted by the applicant
that the following standards are met:
(1)
Special conditions or circumstances exist that
are peculiar to the applicant's land or structure and a literal enforcement
of provisions and requirements of the County's Atlantic Coastal Bays
Critical Area Program would result in unwarranted hardship;
(2)
A literal interpretation of the provisions of the
County's Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Program and related laws
will deprive the applicant of rights commonly enjoyed by other properties
in similar areas within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area;
(3)
The granting of a variance will not confer upon
an applicant any special privilege that would be denied by the County's
Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Program to other lands or structures
within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area;
(4)
The variance request is not based upon conditions
or circumstances which are the result of actions by the applicant
nor does the request arise from any condition relating to land or
building use, either permitted or non-conforming on any neighboring
property;
(5)
The granting of a variance shall not adversely
affect water quality or adversely impact fish, wildlife or plant habitat
within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area and the granting of
the variance will be in harmony with the general spirit and intent
of the County's Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Program;
(7)
The Board of Zoning Appeals shall not make a decision
relative to a request for such a variance without reviewing the comments
of the Department and finding that the applicant has satisfied each
of the provisions and standards contained herein.
(c)
Process. Applications for a variance
shall be made in writing to the Board of Zoning Appeals on forms prescribed
by the Department.
(d)
Board procedures. The following procedures
shall be adhered to by the Board of Zoning Appeals when considering
variance requests to this Subtitle:
[Added 9-21-2004 by Bill No. 04-6[2]]
(1)
In considering an application for a variance, the
Board of Zoning Appeals shall presume that the specific development
activity in the Critical Area that is subject to the application and
for which a variance is required does not conform with the general
purpose and intent of Natural Resources Article, Title 8, Subtitle
18, COMAR Title 27, as from time to time amended, and the requirements
of the County's Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Program.
(2)
If the variance request is based on conditions
or circumstances that are the result of actions by the applicant,
including the commencement of development activity before an application
for a variance has been filed, the Board of Zoning Appeals may consider
that fact.
(3)
An applicant has the burden of proof and the burden
of persuasion to overcome the presumption of nonconformance established
in Subsection (d)(1) hereof.
(4)
Based on competent and substantial evidence, the
Board of Zoning Appeals shall make written findings as to whether
the applicant has overcome the presumption of nonconformance as established
above.
(5)
With due regard for the person's experience, technical
competence, and specialized knowledge, the written findings may be
based on evidence introduced and testimony presented by:
(e)
Appeals. Appeals from decisions concerning
the granting or denial of a variance under these regulations shall
be taken in accordance with all applicable laws and procedures of
the County for variances. Variance decisions by the Board of Zoning
Appeals may be appealed to the Circuit Court in accordance with the
Maryland Rules of Procedure. Appeals may be taken by any person, firm,
corporation, or governmental agency, including, but not limited to,
the County Commissioners, aggrieved or adversely affected by any decision
made under this section.
(f)
Conditions and mitigation. The Board
of Zoning Appeals shall impose conditions on the use or development
of a property which is granted a variance as it may find reasonable
to ensure that the spirit and intent of the Atlantic Coastal Bays
Critical Area Law is maintained, including, but not limited to, the
following:
(1)
Adverse impacts resulting from the granting of
the variance shall be mitigated by the planting of trees and shrubs
on the site at an amount equal to not less than three times the square
footage of the area of disturbance allowed by the variance or as recommended
by the Department.
(2)
New or expanded structures or impervious surfaces
shall be located the greatest possible distance from mean high water,
the landward edge of tidal wetlands, tributary streams, non-tidal
wetlands, or steep slopes.
(a)
Description. The upland area of the County
within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area comprises about twenty-two
thousand nine hundred and fifty-five acres. Within the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area, three thousand four hundred and sixty acres of
land are classified as Intensely Developed Area and three thousand
one hundred sixteen acres as Limited Development Area. The remaining
sixteen thousand three hundred and seventy-nine acres are classified
as Resource Conservation Area. The Atlantic Coastal Bays Protection
Act permits the County Commissioners to allocate five percent of this
area, or eight hundred nineteen acres, for use for future growth as
either Intensely Developed Areas or Limited Development Areas. This
acreage shall be used for the expansion of existing or the creation
of new Limited Development Areas and Intensely Developed Areas under
the following general guidelines:
(1)
The total area of expansion of Intensely Developed
or Limited Development Areas, or both, shall not exceed eight hundred
nineteen acres.
(2)
When permitting future expansion of Intensely Developed
and Limited Development Areas within one mile of an incorporated municipality,
the Department shall notify the appropriate local officials to allow
them an opportunity to comment on how the expansion may affect the
municipality.
(b)
Requirements. When locating new Intensely
Developed or Limited Development Areas the County Commissioners shall
use these guidelines:
(1)
New Intensely Developed Areas should be located
in Limited Development Areas or adjacent to existing Intensely Developed
Areas;
(2)
New Limited Development Areas should be located
adjacent to existing Limited Development Areas or Intensely Developed
Areas;
(3)
New Intensely Developed Areas shall be at least
twenty acres in size unless:
A.
They are contiguous to an existing Intensely Developed
Area or Limited Development Area; or
B.
They are a grandfathered commercial or industrial
use which was permitted and legally existing as of the date of local
Program approval. The amount of growth allocation deducted shall be
equivalent to the area of the entire parcel or parcels subject to
the growth allocation request.
(4)
No more than one-half of the allocated expansion
may be located in Resource Conservation Areas except as provided in
Subsection (b)(9) below;
(5)
New Intensely Developed Areas and Limited Development
Areas should be located in such a manner as to minimize impacts to
Habitat Protection Areas as specified in this Subtitle and in an area
and in a manner that optimizes benefits to water quality;
(6)
New Intensely Developed Areas should be located
where they minimize their impacts to the defined land uses of the
Resource Conservation Area;
(7)
New Intensely Developed Areas and Limited Development
Areas in the Resource Conservation Area should be located at least
three hundred feet landward of the limits of tidal wetlands or tidal
waters;
(8)
New Intensely Developed or Limited Development
Areas shall conform to all criteria of the Department for such areas,
shall be so designated on the County's Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area Maps and shall constitute an amendment to this Program subject
to review and approval by the Planning Commission, the County Commissioners
and the Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal
Bays.
(9)
If the County Commissioners are unable to utilize
a portion of its growth allocation as set out in Subsections (b)(1)
and (2) above within or adjacent to existing Intensely Developed or
Limited Development Areas, then that portion of the allocated expansion
which cannot be so located may be located in the Resource Conservation
Areas in addition to the expansion allowed in Subsection (b)(4) above.
An applicant shall be required to cluster any development in an area
of expansion authorized under this subsection.
(c)
Process. Applicants for growth allocation
shall submit a request for growth allocation in accordance with the
provisions of § NR 3-110 hereof which shall be accompanied
by appropriate plans and environmental reports in accordance with
the following process:
(1)
All applications for growth allocation shall be
submitted to the Department. Requests shall be accompanied by a concept
plan and appropriate environmental reports and studies so as to provide
sufficient information to permit the Planning Commission to review
the application for consistency with the County's Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area regulations and the Comprehensive Plan. The subdivision
history of parcels designated as Resource Conservation Area must be
provided as part of the growth allocation application. The date of
June 1, 2002, is the date used for the original Atlantic Coastal Bays
Critical Area mapping and shall be used as a beginning point of analysis.
(2)
All applications for growth allocation shall be
forwarded to the Planning Commission for review and shall include
comments and recommendations from the staff. The Planning Commission
shall consider the growth allocation request prior to making a recommendation
on the proposal to the County Commissioners.
(3)
The applicant shall address the Planning Commission's
comments and recommendations and may revise the concept plan accordingly.
The growth allocation request shall then be forwarded to the County
Commissioners by the Planning Commission with a recommendation for
either approval or denial.
(4)
The County Commissioners shall hold a public hearing
following due notice in accordance with § ZS 1-114 of the
Zoning and Subdivision Control Article on the request for growth allocation
and any revisions to the concept plan.
(5)
The County Commissioners may establish conditions
of approval that are consistent with the intent of the County's Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area Program.
(6)
Upon approval of the growth allocation request
by the County Commissioners, the County Commissioners shall send a
request to the Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic
Coastal Bays to utilize a portion of their growth allocation. The
request shall be accompanied by pertinent plans and environmental
reports and studies. Upon receipt of the request from the County Commissioners,
the Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal
Bays shall notify the County Commissioners regarding the processing
of the request as an amendment or refinement to the County's Program.
Refinements shall be acted on within thirty days of the Commission's
notification to the County Commissioners of a complete submission.
Amendments shall be acted on within ninety days of the Commission's
notification of a complete submission.
(7)
Following approval of the growth allocation request
by the Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal
Bays, the County Commissioners shall implement the change and the
applicant may proceed to the preparation of the final site plan or
subdivision plat for recording in the County land records.
(8)
Prior to approving the final site plan or subdivision
plat, the Planning Commission or its designee shall ensure that all
conditions of approval are incorporated into the final plan, public
works agreement, deed covenants, etc.
(9)
Final subdivision plats and site plans shall be
processed in accordance with the requirements of this Subtitle and
the County's subdivision regulations.
(10)
The County's official Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area Maps shall be amended to reflect the new land classification
area and a copy of the new map shall be provided to the Critical Area
Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays.
(11)
As a condition of approval, the County Commissioners
may require that any project approved for the use of growth allocation
shall demonstrate that it is substantially completed within three
years of the date of growth allocation approval by the Commission.
Substantially completed is defined as projects in which all public
improvements such as roads, sewer and/or water facilities, etc. have
been built and approved as required by the County Commissioners.
(d)
Standards. Applicants for growth allocation
shall demonstrate that the following design standards will be met
or exceeded by the proposed project:
(1)
All requirements of the County's Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area Program, Zoning Ordinance, and subdivision regulations
can be met.
(2)
In addition to meeting the minimum requirements
of the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area regulations, the project
design shall enhance the habitat value or improve water quality in
the area.
(3)
For residential development, where possible a community
pier shall be provided rather than individual piers.
(e)
Deduction methodology. The following
standards shall be used to determine the area of growth allocation
to be deducted when the designation of a parcel or a portion of a
parcel is changed through the growth allocation process:
(1)
Subdivision of any lot of record existing as of
June 1, 2002, and which is classified as Resource Conservation Area
or Limited Development Area, where all or part of the parcel is identified
by the County Commissioners as a growth allocation area, shall result
in the acreage of the entire parcel, excluding tidal wetlands, being
deducted from the jurisdiction's growth allocation, unless the development
envelope concept outlined in Subsection (e)(2) below is used.
(2)
In order to allow some flexibility in the use of
growth allocation when development is only proposed on a portion of
the property, the following methodology may be used for parcels designated
as Resource Conservation Area. On a parcel proposed for the use of
growth allocation, a single development envelope may be specified
and the acreage of the development envelope rather than the acreage
of the entire parcel shall be deducted from the County's growth allocation
if the development envelope meets the following criteria:
A.
The development envelope shall include individually
owned lots, required buffers, impervious surfaces, roads, utilities,
stormwater management measures, on-site sewage disposal measures,
any areas subject to human use such as active recreation areas, and
any additional acreage needed to meet the development requirements
of the criteria. The required buffers refer to the minimum one-hundred-foot
buffer and the twenty-five-foot non-tidal wetlands buffer.
B.
Only one development envelope shall be established
per parcel of land.
C.
If a development envelope is proposed in the Resource
Conservation Area, a minimum of twenty acres must remain outside of
the development envelope or the acreage of the entire parcel must
be deducted. If the original parcel in the Resource Conservation Area
is less than twenty acres, then the acreage of the entire parcel must
be deducted. If there is a permanently protected Resource Conservation
Area (an area protected by recorded easement) adjacent and contiguous
to an undeveloped remainder which totals less than twenty acres and
which together will result in a minimum twenty-acre undeveloped area,
then only that portion of the parcel which is to be developed has
to be deducted.
D.
The minimum twenty-acre undeveloped remainder outside
of the development envelope may be developed at an Resource Conservation
Area density unless some type of permanent protection exists that
restricts development.
(3)
For growth allocation proposed in the Resource
Conservation Area, a three-hundred-foot naturally vegetated buffer
is strongly encouraged and where it is provided, it shall not be deducted
even if the buffer does not meet the twenty-acre requirement.
(b)
Required subdivision. A bona fide intrafamily
transfer from a portion of a parcel of land shall be a subdivision
of the parcel of land that is subject to approval under the Subdivision
Regulations of the County.
(c)
Approval of subdivision of parcels. The
Department may approve the subdivision of a parcel of land into the
number of lots indicated in this subsection by means of a bona fide
intrafamily transfer and may not approve any greater subdivision of
the parcel of land or any portion of it as follows:
(d)
Conditions of approval. As a condition
of approval the Department shall require that:
(1)
Any deed for a lot that is created by a bona fide
intrafamily transfer shall contain a covenant approved by the County
Commissioners stating that the lot is created subject to the provisions
of Natural Resources Article § 8-1801, Annotated Code of
Maryland, as from time to time amended; and
(2)
A lot created by a bona fide intrafamily transfer
may not be conveyed subsequently to any person other than a member
of the owner's immediate family, except under provisions set forth
in Subsection (e) of this section.
(3)
This subsection does not prevent the conveyance
of the lot to a third party as security for a mortgage or deed of
trust or any subsequent conveyance as a result of any bona fide foreclosure
or sale of any such mortgage or deed of trust or other bona fide and
valid legal lien.
(e)
Standards and procedures for subsequent conveyance of lots created
by intrafamily transfer to persons other than immediate family members.
Prior to the conveyance of such lots to persons other than immediate
family members, the current owner shall make application on forms
prescribed by the Department in accordance with the following procedures:
(1)
The request shall be accompanied by a title history
of the parcel originally approved as an intrafamily transfer and any
fee as established by prior resolution of the County Commissioners.
(2)
The Department shall review the application and
accompanying documents and provide a report and recommendation to
the County Commissioners with regard to the consistency of the application
with the requirements and standards as established by this subsection.
(3)
The County Commissioners shall provide for an opportunity
for the applicant to be heard and may, where determined necessary,
hold a public hearing relative to the matter following due notice
in accordance with § ZS 1-114 of the Zoning and Subdivision
Control Article. In evaluating the request and prior to approving
any such transfer, the County Commissioners shall make findings of
fact with respect to the following:
A.
The lot was created as part of a bona fide intrafamily
transfer and not with the intent of subdividing the original parcel
of land for purposes of ultimate commercial sale; and
B.
A change in circumstances has occurred since the
original transfer was made that is not inconsistent with this Subtitle
and that warrants an exception; or
C.
Other circumstances exist that are consistent with
this Subtitle and with the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area criteria
to maintain land areas necessary to support the protective uses of
agriculture, forestry, open space and natural habitats in Resource
Conservation Areas and thus warrant an exception.
(4)
The County Commissioners by resolution may approve
the request and may furthermore establish conditions of approval consistent
with the intent of the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Program.
Any resolution so passed by the County Commissioners shall be recorded
in the land records of Worcester County and shall render null and
void any previously recorded covenants limiting non-intrafamily transfers.
(a)
Responsible agencies. The responsibility
for the administration and enforcement of this Subtitle shall be vested
in such Department (hereinafter called the "Department") as designated
or created for such purpose by the County Commissioners. The Department
may be provided with such personnel and resources as the County Commissioners
may direct. The Department may delegate to its own personnel and to
other persons such duties and responsibilities in connection with
the administration and enforcement of this Subtitle as are appropriate
in the Department's judgement.
(b)
Enforcement provisions. Violation of
any provision hereof or any program adopted hereunder shall be a civil
infraction and each day of a violation shall be a separate offense.
Violators of the provisions of programs approved or adopted by the
Commissioners shall be subject to prosecution or suit by the Commissioners,
who may invoke the sanctions and remedies afforded by state or local
law. The Commissioners may invoke any sanction or remedy available,
in any court of competent jurisdiction in which the Commissioners
would be authorized to prosecute or sue the violator. In addition
to any other sanction or remedy available, the Commissioners may bring
an action in equity to compel compliance or restrain noncompliance
with the requirements of approved project plans, and to compel restoration
of lands or structures to their condition prior to any modification
which was done in violation of approved project plans. Notwithstanding
any other provision of this section, whenever a development in the
Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area is proceeding in violation of
approved project plans and threatens to immediately and irreparably
degrade the quality of tidal waters or fish, wildlife or plant habitat,
the Commissioners may bring an action to restrain the violation and,
as appropriate, to compel restoration of any land or water areas affected
by the development.
(c)
Additional penalties. In addition to
any other penalty applicable under state or County law, a person who
violates a provision of Natural Resources Article, Title 8, Subtitle
18, as from time to time amended, or the County's Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area Law is subject to a fine not exceeding ten thousand
dollars. In determining the amount of the penalty to be assessed under
this subsection, the County may consider the following:
[Added 9-21-2004 by Bill No. 04-6]
(b)
Additional remedies. If a person cuts
or clears or plans to cut or clear trees within the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area in violation hereof or any program adopted by the
Commissioners, the Commissioners may bring an action:
(c)
Actions by the Commissioners. The Commissioners may invoke the remedies available to the local jurisdiction under Subsection (b) of this section in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(d)
Preparation, approval, etc. of plan to replant trees. On the request of the Commissioners, the State Forester, a registered
professional forester or a registered landscape architect may prepare,
oversee, and approve the final implementation of a plan to replant
trees in any part of the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area where
trees are cut or cleared in violation of this subsection.
(a)
General requirements. Recognizing the
value of forested land for its water quality benefits and for habitat
protection while accommodating the utilization of forest resources,
the following policies for forest and woodland protection should be
adhered to wherever possible:
(1)
Maintain and increase the forested vegetation in
the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area;
(2)
Conserve forests and developed woodlands and provide
for expansion of forested areas;
(3)
Provide that the removal of trees associated with
development activities shall be minimized and, where appropriate,
shall be mitigated; and
(4)
Recognize that forests are a protective land use
and should be managed in such a manner so that maximum values for
wildlife, water quality, timber, recreation, and other resources can
be maintained, even when they are mutually exclusive.
(b)
Identification. The County Commissioners
may identify and map forests and developed woodlands within the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area and may identify and map habitat protection
areas as described in §§ NR 3-104 and 3-121 through
3-123 hereof. More detailed evaluation of forest resources on specific
sites shall be accomplished as part of the environmental analysis
required prior to site plan and subdivision approval.
(c)
Requirements for the protection of riparian and forest
habitat. The purpose of the following requirements is
to protect habitat:
(1)
Vegetation within the one-hundred-foot buffer shall
be maintained in its natural condition along all streams to provide
wildlife corridors and for water quality protection.
(2)
A minimum one-hundred-foot buffer shall extend
landward from the mean high water line of tidal water, the banks of
tributary streams and the landward boundary of tidal wetlands. This
area is to be conserved for wildlife protection and for water quality
protection.
(3)
Non-tidal wetland forests shall be left in a natural
state for wildlife and water quality protection.
(4)
Forest areas utilized as breeding areas by forest
interior dwelling birds and other wildlife species shall be conserved.
(5)
Existing riparian forests which are documented
breeding areas shall be conserved.
(d)
Process. If a forest is to be developed
or to be harvested, a site-specific field investigation shall be conducted
to determine if important sensitive species are present and to make
sure that appropriate protection measures are incorporated into the
development plan or Timber Harvest Plan. The Department may seek a
recommendation of the Department of Natural Resources based on an
evaluation of the site and the proposed development. In general, the
following measures are required:
(1)
Minimize forest and woodlands disturbance from
off-road vehicles, public use or logging from May through August of
each year;
(2)
Focus all development on the periphery of the forest
or woodlands;
(3)
Retain the forest canopy as well as shrub understory;
(4)
Retain snag and mature seed trees as dens for woodpeckers
and as nests for bald eagles;
(5)
Discourage the creation of small clearings and
expansion of forest edge habitats;
(6)
Encourage re-establishment of native forests and
woodlands; and
(7)
Adopt harvest techniques to maintain or improve
habitat.
(e)
Requirements for the establishment or replacement
of forest. The following policies shall be used for afforestation
and reforestation:
(1)
The replacement or establishment of forests or
developed woodlands should ensure a diversified plant community and
should include canopy trees, understory trees, shrubs and herbaceous
plants.
(2)
Native species must be used for all reforestation
and afforestation, except as otherwise approved by the Department
but in no case shall less than seventy-five percent of the plant material
be native species.
(f)
Buffer protection standards for timber for personal
use. Individual trees may be cut for personal use if the
trees cut are replaced on an equal basis and provided the cutting
does not impair the water quality or existing habitat value or other
functions of the buffer set forth in § NR 3-104. Cutting
or clearing of trees and natural vegetation within the buffer shall
be prohibited except that:
(1)
Cutting of trees or removal of natural vegetation
may be permitted where necessary to provide pedestrian access of no
more than six feet in width to private piers, or to install or construct
a shore erosion protection device or measure, or a water-dependent
facility, providing the device, measure or facility has received all
necessary County, state and federal permits.
(2)
Individual trees may be removed which are in danger
of falling and causing damage to dwellings or other structures, or
which are in danger of falling and therefore causing the blockage
of streams, or resulting in accelerated shore erosion.
(3)
Horticultural practices may be used to maintain
the health of individual trees.
(4)
Other cutting techniques may be undertaken within
the buffer and under the advice and guidance of the State Departments
of Agriculture and Natural Resources if necessary to preserve the
forest from extensive pest or disease infestation or threat from fire.
(g)
Enforcement. Unauthorized clearing, cutting,
or removal of vegetation; unauthorized clearing, cutting, or removal
of vegetation in the Buffer; and clearing, cutting or removal of vegetation
in excess of the area permitted to be cleared by this Subtitle is
considered a civil infraction.
(1)
For unauthorized clearing, cutting, or removal
of vegetation that does not exceed the area that could be authorized
in accordance with this Subtitle, fines shall be assessed in the amount
of five hundred dollars for each day the violation continues and reforestation
shall be required on an equal area basis if less than twenty percent
of the forest cover is removed. For clearing between twenty percent
and thirty percent of the existing forest cover, reforestation shall
be required at a three-to-one basis.
(2)
For unauthorized clearing, cutting, or removal
of vegetation that exceeds the area that could be authorized in accordance
with this Subtitle, fines shall be assessed at five hundred dollars
($500.00) for each day the violation continues and reforestation shall
be required at three times the total surface acreage of forest cleared.
(3)
For unauthorized clearing, cutting, or removal
of vegetation in the buffer or another Habitat Protection Area, fines
shall be assessed at one thousand dollar for each day the violation
continues and one thousand dollars for each separate occurrence of
clearing, cutting or removal of vegetation in the buffer and reforestation
shall be required at three times the total surface acreage of forest
cleared and such replantings shall be within the buffer wherever possible.
(4)
Fines collected from enforcement actions in the
Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area shall be maintained in a separate
account to be used by the County Commissioners for reforestation or
other habitat enhancing efforts within the same subwatershed of the
Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area as the site.
(a)
General requirements. A goal of the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area Program is to maintain or increase the
lands in forest cover, because forests provide protection of the water
quality and habitat values of the Atlantic coastal bays and their
tributaries. The problems of sedimentation and erosion can occur when
poorly managed timber operations take place in the watershed. These
problems can be substantially reduced by proper management of harvest
operations.
(b)
Process. Landowners proposing to harvest
timber on one or more acres in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area shall submit a Timber Harvest Plan. This plan shall be prepared
by a registered professional forester. The Timber Harvest Plan shall
be reviewed and approved by the Department of Natural Resources through
the District Forestry Board. The approved plan shall be filed with
the Soil Conservation District and a copy of the approved plan shall
be sent to the Department prior to beginning timbering operations.
(c)
Timber Harvest Plan contents. Plans shall
include measures to protect surface and groundwater quality and identify
whether the activities will disturb or affect Habitat Protection Areas
as identified in §§ NR 3-104 and 3-121 through 3-123
of this Subtitle and shall incorporate protection measures for these
areas as specified in those sections. To provide for the continuity
of habitat, the plans shall address mitigation through forest management
techniques which shall include scheduling, size, timing and intensity
of harvest cuts, afforestation and reforestation.
(d)
Sediment Control Plans. In the Worcester
County Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area, any landowner who plans
to harvest timber on an area which will disturb five thousand square
feet or more including harvesting on agricultural lands shall submit
a Sediment Control Plan for approval. This plan is also required for
any harvests which will cross perennial or intermittent streams.
(1)
If cuts and fills are three feet or more, if grades
for roads are fifteen percent or more, or if landings are on slopes
of ten percent or more, then the landowner must get a custom Sediment
Control Plan for the operation. These are prepared by registered professional
foresters and include controls necessary to prevent site erosion and
to ensure site stabilization. This plan shall be submitted to the
local Soil Conservation District for approval and notice of approval
sent to the Department.
(2)
Either the owner or the operator shall take responsibility
for implementation of the Sediment Control Plan or each subcontractor
must file a separate plan.
(3)
The landowner must sign the agreement to certify
that he understands the terms of the plan and is responsible for preventing
erosion and sedimentation during the forest harvesting.
(e)
Buffer protection standards for timber harvests. A minimum fifty-foot buffer shall be maintained in natural, native
vegetation between tidal waters, wetlands and streams and uplands.
The buffer is measured landward from the mean high water line (MHWL)
of tidal waters, from each bank of perennial tributary streams and
from the landward edge of tidal wetlands. Where necessary the buffer
can be planted to protect, stabilize or enhance the shoreline.
(a)
Definition. Surface mining is defined
as the breaking of the surface soil in order to extract or remove
minerals in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area. Surface mining
includes any activity or process constituting all or part of a process
for the extraction or removal of minerals from their original location
in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area and the extraction of sand,
gravel, rock, stone, earth or fill from borrow pits for highway construction
purposes or for other facilities. For the purpose of this section,
surface mining is also defined as operations engaged in processing
minerals at the site of extraction; removal of overburden and mining
of limited amounts of any mineral when done for the purpose of prospecting
and to the extent necessary to determine the location, quantity or
quality of any natural deposit; and mining operations, if the affected
land exceeds one acre or more in area.
(b)
General requirements. The Department
shall ensure that all available measures are taken to protect the
Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area from all sources of pollution
from surface mining operations including, but not limited to sedimentation,
siltation, chemical and petrochemical use and spillage, and storage
and disposal of waste, dusts and spoils. The Department shall further
ensure that surface mining is conducted in a way to permit the reclamation
of surface mining sites as soon as possible and to the extent possible.
(c)
Mineral Resource Plan and Program. The
County mineral resources plan and program is included in the Comprehensive
Plan.
(d)
Standards. Surface mining operation permits
are issued by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and
periodic site inspections of permitted areas are made to determine
whether the conditions of the permit and the accompanying Reclamation
Plan are being fulfilled. Permits for surface mining are also issued
by the Department and permits for such operations in the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area shall only be granted if the following
conditions are met:
(1)
A Reclamation Plan shall be submitted as part of
the permit application which specifies the use which is proposed to
be made of the site following reclamation, the manner in which soil
and subsoil are to be conserved and restored, the specifications for
surface gradient restoration suitable for the subsequent use, the
proposed manner and type of re-vegetation or other surface treatment
of affected areas and an acceptable schedule to the Department for
the implementation of reclamation measures. Reclamation is to occur
as mining on each segment of a site is completed.
(2)
The operation will not have an unduly adverse effect
on wildlife, forests, or fresh water, estuarine or marine fisheries.
(3)
The operator has provided applicable permits from
all federal, state and local regulatory agencies responsible for air
and water pollution and sediment control.
(4)
Adequate consideration shall be given by the Board
of Zoning Appeals to:
A.
The effects of the proposed action on the environment,
including adverse and beneficial environmental effects that are reasonably
likely if the proposal is implemented or if it is not implemented.
B.
Measures that might be taken to minimize potential
adverse environmental effects and maximize potential beneficial environmental
effects, including monitoring, maintenance, replacement, operation
and other follow-up activities.
C.
An applicant's previous experience with similar
operations which indicates that the operation will not result in substantial
deposits of sediment in stream beds or lakes, landslides, or other
causes of water pollution.
(e)
Location of future sites.
(1)
New surface mining operations are permitted within
the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area provided that identification
of appropriate post-excavation uses for this land such as recreation,
habitat restoration, open space use, or development are accomplished
according to the appropriate land management classification and other
applicable County and State codes and ordinances.
(2)
Areas such as the following shall not be used for
surface mining:
A.
Areas where important natural resources such as
threatened and endangered species, areas of scientific value, or rare
assemblages of species occur;
B.
Areas where highly erodible soils exist;
C.
Areas where the use of renewable resource lands
would result in the substantial loss of long-range (twenty-five years
or more) productivity of forest and agriculture, or would result in
a degrading of water quality or a loss of vital habitat;
D.
Lands that are within one hundred feet of the mean
high water line of tidal waters, tidal wetlands, or the edge of streams.
(3)
Surface mining operations shall operate under the
following conditions:
A.
Future wash plants, including ponds, spoil piles
and equipment, may not be located within the buffer as defined in
this Subtitle.
B.
Existing wash ponds shall be reclaimed as soon as
possible after the cessation of a sand and gravel operation.
C.
To the fullest extent possible, existing sand and
gravel operations shall conduct their extraction activities so as
to provide, at a minimum, a one-hundred-foot buffer of natural vegetation
between the operation and the mean high water line of tidal waters
or the edges of streams and tidal wetlands, whichever is further inland.
(a)
General requirements. The County Commissioners
and the Department shall follow all of the following requirements
with regard to agriculture in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area:
(1)
Ensure that agricultural lands are identified and
that programs are established for the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area to maintain, where appropriate, agricultural lands in agricultural
use, to the greatest extent possible.
(2)
Recognize that agriculture is a protective land
use that should be properly managed so that it minimizes its contribution
to pollutant loadings to the Atlantic coastal bays and their tributaries.
(3)
Ensure that the creation of new agricultural lands
is not accomplished:
A.
By diking, draining or filling of any class or subclass
of palustrine wetlands, as described in this Program, which have a
seasonally flooded or wetter water regime, unless mitigation is accomplished
in accordance with applicable state and County regulations;
B.
By clearing of forests or woodlands on soils with
a slope greater than fifteen percent or on soils with a "K" value
greater than 0.35 and slope greater than five percent;
C.
If the clearing will adversely affect water quality
or will destroy plant and wildlife habitat as defined in this Subtitle;
or
D.
By the clearing of existing natural vegetation within
the buffer as defined in this Subtitle.
(4)
Ensure that the drainage of non-tidal wetlands
for the purpose of agriculture be done in accordance with a Soil Conservation
and Water Quality Plan, approved by the Soil Conservation District.
(5)
Ensure that best management practices for the control
of nutrients, animal wastes, pesticides and sediment runoff be used
to protect the productivity of the land base and enhance water quality.
These practices shall minimize contamination of surface and groundwater
and, further, shall minimize adverse effects on plants, fish and wildlife
resources.
(6)
Ensure that animal feeding operations, including
retention and storage ponds, feed lot waste storage and manure storage
minimize the contamination of water bodies.
(7)
Ensure that agricultural activity permitted within
the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area uses best management practices
in accordance with a Soil Conservation and Water Quality Plan approved
by the Soil Conservation District.
(b)
Inventory of agricultural lands. Worcester
County's intent is to maintain agriculture and forestry as viable
and productive land uses within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Watershed.
The County Commissioners may inventory and map the general extent
of agricultural lands within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area
and also map the Habitat Protection Areas referenced in §§ NR
3-120 through 3-123 of this Subtitle. When developed, these maps shall
be used to make an initial determination regarding how a proposed
agricultural activity may adversely impact a Habitat Protection Area.
(c)
Performance standards for agriculture. The following performance standards shall apply to all land in agricultural
use or to be converted to agricultural use within the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area:
(1)
The County Commissioners hereby incorporate the
agricultural components of the Clean Water Act and other federal,
state and local water quality plans into this Program. These components
shall be applicable to all agricultural activities in the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area.
(2)
Soil Conservation and Water Quality Plans and best
management practices shall be developed and implemented for those
portions of farms which lie within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area. Landowners shall cooperate with the Worcester County Soil Conservation
District for approval of their proposed plans. Landowners who have
signed up as Conservation District operators but who do not have a
Conservation Plan prepared for them by the local Soil Conservation
District shall be allowed to continue to farm until a Conservation
Plan is developed, provided that the goals of this Program are being
met.
(3)
A landowner shall select and implement practices,
with the assistance of a technically trained soil conservation planner
or technician, from among the several best management practices that
minimize impacts to water quality, conserve fish, wildlife, and plant
habitat, and integrate best with the farming operation.
(4)
Cover crops shall be planted to reduce erosion
where practical.
(5)
Nutrients shall be applied at the appropriate time
and appropriate methods shall be used where practical.
(6)
Reduced tillage (e.g. no-till) practices shall
be utilized where practical.
(7)
Crop rotations shall be implemented where practical.
(8)
Agricultural activities are permitted in the buffer,
if, as a minimum best management practice, a twenty-five-foot vegetated
filter strip measured landward from the mean high water line of tidal
waters or tributary streams, or from the edge of tidal wetlands, whichever
is further inland, is established and further provided that:
A.
The filter strip shall be composed of either trees
with a dense ground cover or a thick sod of grass and shall be so
managed as to provide water quality benefits and habitat protection
consistent with the policies stated above. Noxious weeds, including
Johnson grass, Canada thistle, and multiflora rose, which occur in
the filter strip, may be controlled by authorized means.
B.
The filter strip shall be expanded by a distance
of four feet for every one percent of slope, for slopes greater than
six percent.
C.
The twenty-five-foot vegetated filter strip shall
be maintained until such time as the landowner is implementing, under
an approved Soil Conservation and Water Quality Plan, a program of
best management practices for the specific purposes of improving water
quality and protecting plant and wildlife habitat; and provided that
the portion of the Soil Conservation and Water Quality Plan being
implemented achieves the water quality and habitat protection objectives
of the twenty-five-foot vegetated filter strip.
D.
The best management practices shall include a requirement
for the implementation of a grassland and manure management program
where appropriate and that the feeding or watering of livestock may
not be permitted within fifty feet of the mean high water line of
tidal water and the edge of the bank of tributary streams and the
landward edge of tidal wetlands within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area.
E.
Clearing of existing natural vegetation in the buffer
is not allowed.
F.
Farming activities, including the grazing of livestock,
shall not disturb stream banks, tidal shorelines or other Habitat
Protection Areas as described in this Subtitle.
G.
Where agricultural use of lands within the buffer
ceases and the lands are proposed to be converted to other uses, the
buffer shall be established. In establishing the Buffer, management
measures shall be undertaken to provide forest vegetation that ensures
the Buffer functions as set forth in § NR 3-104 of the this
Subtitle which shall not preclude normal agricultural drainage ditch
maintenance in accordance with best management practices.
(a)
Description. The Habitat protection section
of the Worcester County Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Law addresses
protection of the following four habitats:
(b)
Identification. Maps illustrating the
general location, extent and configuration of Habitat Protection Areas
in Worcester County may be developed and filed with the Department.
If developed, they will be used as a flagging device to assist property
owners, developers, any person proposing development activity, the
Department, the Planning Commission and other agencies of the County
government when reviewing development plans. While these maps give
a general indication of the area, they do not excuse any property
owner or operator from establishing to the satisfaction of the Department
whether or not the property or activity will affect the element of
habitat to be protected. Prior to the time of development activity
on the site the applicant will be responsible for providing an on-site
analysis and inventory.
(a)
Identification. The approximate location
of rare, threatened and endangered species and species in need of
conservation are shown on the one-inch-equals-six-hundred-feet-scale
Resource Inventory Maps filed with the Department. These maps will
be used as a flagging device.
(b)
General requirements. The Department
shall provide for the protection of the known habitats of species
in need of conservation and threatened and endangered species and
also the habitats of these species that may be identified in the future.
Protection measures for these Habitat Protection Areas are to be developed
in the following way:
(1)
The Department shall review the proposed activities
on a case-by-case basis and seek technical advice from the Department
of Natural Resources. Development of property located within the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area of Worcester County will require a site
specific survey to be submitted along with design plans and a written
description of the measures the property owner proposes to take to
protect any habitats identified. This information concerning habitats
will be incorporated into the County's Resource Inventory Maps for
future reference.
(c)
Standards for bald eagle protection. A
three-zone protection area of one-fourth mile (one thousane three
hundred twenty feet) in radius around each bald eagle nest shall be
established and within the zones the following protection measures
shall apply:
(1)
Zone 1 shall include the area extending from the
nest out to a radius of three hundred thirty feet from the nest. In
this zone timber cutting, land clearing, and development activities
are prohibited. Hiking, fishing, and agricultural activities may be
permitted from June 16 to December 14. These activities and human
activity in general shall not be permitted in this zone from December
15 to June 15.
(2)
Zone 2 extends from the outer limit of Zone 1 to
a radius of six hundred sixty feet from the nest. In this zone, major
habitat changes shall be avoided including clear-cutting, land clearing,
and development activity. Hunting, hiking, fishing, and agricultural
activities may be permitted from June 16 to December 14. These activities
and human activity in general shall not be permitted in this zone
from December 15 to June 15. Agricultural activities may be permitted
if Department of Natural Resources data indicate that the nesting
eagles are tolerant of these activities. From August 16 to November
14, selective thinning and maintenance of timber stands and building
and road maintenance may be permitted.
(3)
Zone 3 extends from the outer limit of Zone 2 to
a radius of one thousand three hundred twenty feet from the nest.
Timber cutting, land clearing, and development activities shall be
restricted from December 15 to June 15. Other activities in this zone
that are within sight of the eagles on the nest may need to be restricted
during this time period in accordance with Department of Natural resources
recommendations.
(4)
If a bald eagle nest has not been used for three
successive nesting seasons, then any protective regulations applied
to the specific site may be removed after verification by the Department
of Natural Resources that the nest has been abandoned.
(d)
Implementation. The owner of any property containing a portion of, or adjacent to, a habitat of a threatened or endangered species or a species in need of conservation on which a land altering or land development activity is proposed shall prepare and submit a Habitat Protection Plan, as described in Subsection (e) hereof, to the Department prior to beginning the activity. The Department will request review and comments from the Department of Natural Resources. A land altering activity shall include, but not be limited to, such activities as subdivision, timbering, sand and gravel mining, clearing new farmlands, grading and the construction of homes or commercial structures.
(e)
Habitat Protection Plans. Habitat Protection
Plans shall consist of the following elements:
(1)
Designation of a protection area or buffer around
each of the habitats occurring on a particular site or in the jurisdiction
where development activities are proposed. Development activities
and other disturbances shall be prohibited within the protection areas
unless it can be shown that these activities or disturbances will
not have or cause adverse impacts on these habitats.
(2)
Development and implementation of specific protection
measures or best management practices such as time of year restrictions,
landscaped buffers, water quality control structures, etc. designed
to protect the habitat from adverse impacts associated with a change
in land use, development activity, or increased human activity.
(f)
Public notice. The determination of the
existence and extent of these habitats and protection areas shall
result from a cooperative effort between the Department and public
agencies or private organizations. Designation of habitat and protective
measures may not be accomplished unless the affected public is given
an adequate opportunity to be heard. If the Secretary of the Department
of Natural Resources designates additional species by regulation in
the future, a public hearing, as appropriate, shall be held to consider
comments on the protection measures proposed for these species. The
protection measures shall be adopted within twelve months of the date
of the Secretary's designation.
(1)
The establishment of Habitat Protection Areas shall
not be intended to restrict or affect, beyond any existing local,
state or federal laws or regulations, or, on private land, any private
restrictions, such activities as non-commercial passive recreation,
educational pursuits, scientific observation, or non-commercial hunting,
trapping or fishing.
(2)
Development activities in areas of threatened or
endangered species in need of conservation may be subject to other
provisions and requirements of this Program.
(a)
Description. The following plant and
wildlife habitats shall be identified in the Atlantic Coastal Bays
Critical Area:
(1)
Colonial water bird nesting sites;
(2)
Historic waterfowl staging and concentration areas
in tidal waters, tributary streams or tidal and non-tidal wetlands;
(3)
Existing riparian forests, for example relatively
mature forests of at least three hundred feet in width which occur
adjacent to streams, wetlands, or the bay shoreline and which are
documented breeding areas;
(4)
Forest areas utilized as breeding areas by forest
interior dwelling birds and other wildlife species, for example relatively
mature forested areas within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area
of one hundred acres or more or forest connected with such areas;
(5)
Other plant and wildlife habitats determined to
be of local significance and so designated by resolution of the County
Commissioners;
(6)
Natural heritage areas which have been designated;
and
(7)
Non-tidal wetlands.
(b)
General requirements. The requirements
of Worcester County regarding plant and wildlife habitat in the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area shall be to:
(1)
Conserve wildlife habitat in the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area;
(2)
Protect those wildlife habitats that tend to be
least abundant or which may become so in the future if current land
use trends continue;
(3)
Protect those wildlife habitat types which are
required to support the continued presence of various species;
(4)
Protect those wildlife habitat types and plant
communities which are determined by the County Commissioners to be
of local significance;
(5)
Protect natural heritage areas; and
(6)
Protect and conserve non-tidal wetlands.
(c)
Standards. In addition to the standards
set forth in § NR 3-104 hereof for the protection of the
buffer, the following standards shall apply to new development and
redevelopment within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area:
(1)
Any development or significant land use change
on property located within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area
of Worcester County will require a site specific survey to determine
the presence of any plant and wildlife habitat areas. The survey shall
be submitted along with design plans and a written description of
the measures the property owner proposes to take to protect the habitats
identified. This information concerning habitats will be incorporated
onto the Resource Inventory Maps for future reference.
(2)
The Department may seek additional information
and comments from the Department of Natural Resources and other appropriate
agencies and adjacent jurisdictions.
(3)
For development activities in the Resource Conservation
Area and Limited Development Area, wildlife corridors shall be established
and used to connect the area left in forest cover with any large forest
tracts which are located outside of the area of the property being
developed or subdivided. The area left in forest cover shall be adjacent
to larger forest, not left as an isolated island of trees. Planting
required as a mitigation measure shall also be adjacent to other habitat.
Tree planting which serves only as a visual screening does not meet
these requirements.
(4)
Buffer areas for colonial water bird nesting sites
shall be established (if such birds are found to exist in the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area) so that these sites are protected from
the adverse impacts of development activities and from disturbance
during the breeding season.
(5)
New water-dependent facilities shall be located
to prevent disturbance to sites of significance to wildlife such as
historic aquatic staging and concentration areas for waterfowl.
(6)
Protection measures, including a buffer area, shall
be established where appropriate for other plant and wildlife habitat
sites identified in this Subtitle.
(7)
Forested areas required to support wildlife species
identified above in § NR 3-122(a)(1) and (4) shall be protected
and conserved by developing management programs which have as their
objective, conserving the wildlife that inhabit or use the areas.
Development activities or the clearing or cutting of trees which might
occur in these areas shall be conducted so as to conserve riparian
habitat, forest interior wildlife species and their habitat. Management
measures may include incorporating appropriate wildlife protection
elements into Timber Harvest Plans, Forest Management Plans, cluster
zoning or other site design criteria which provide for the conservation
of wildlife habitat. Measures may also include Soil Conservation Plans
which have wildlife habitat protection provisions appropriate to the
areas defined above, and incentive programs which use the acquisition
of recorded easements in perpetuity and other similar techniques.
(8)
When development activities or the cutting or clearing
of trees occurs in forested areas, corridors of existing forest or
woodland vegetation shall be maintained to the extent practical to
provide effective connections between wildlife habitat areas.
(9)
Those plant and wildlife habitats considered to
be of local significance by the County Commissioners shall be protected.
Examples of these are those whose habitat values may not be of statewide
significance but are of importance locally or regionally because they
contain species uncommon or of limited occurrence in the jurisdiction
or because the species are found in unusually high concentrations.
(10)
Natural heritage areas shall be protected from
alterations due to development activities or cutting or clearing so
that the structure and species composition of the areas are maintained.
A.
Development activities or cutting and clearing in
natural heritage areas shall be prohibited unless an analysis is performed
and measures proposed to mitigate any adverse impacts of the proposed
activities. The analysis and mitigation measures shall be prepared
by qualified professionals (e.g., ornithologists, zoologists, environmental
engineers and planners) at the expense of the applicant and shall
address the expected effects on the natural environment within the
natural heritage area.
B.
The analysis shall be submitted to the Department
which will then submit it to the State Department of Natural Resources
for review and comment. Upon receiving said comment and, if appropriate,
upon seeking the advice of expert consultants, the Department shall
find against or in favor of the activities or may make suggestions
for changing the analysis and ask the applicant to resubmit the analysis.
The State Department of Natural Resources shall make a recommendation
for consideration by the Department in making its decision as to whether
to find against or in favor of the activities.
(d)
Public notice. The determination of the
existence and extent of plant and wildlife habitats shall result from
a cooperative effort between the County Commissioners and public agencies
or private organizations. Designation of habitat and protective measures
may not be accomplished unless the affected public is given an adequate
opportunity to be heard. If additional plant and wildlife habitat
areas are to be designated in the future, local public hearings, as
appropriate, shall be held to consider comments on the areas and protection
measures proposed.
(a)
Identification. The County Commissioners
may identify and map anadromous fish propagation waters as defined
in § NR 3-102 hereof and, if developed, these maps will
be available at the Department.
(b)
General requirements. The requirements
of the Program with regard to anadromous fish propagation waters shall
be to:
(1)
Protect the instream and streambank habitat of
anadromous fish propagation waters;
(2)
Promote land use policies and practices in the
watershed of spawning streams within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area which will minimize the adverse impacts of development on the
water quality of the streams; and
(3)
Provide for the unobstructed movement of spawning
and larval forms of anadromous fish in streams.
(c)
Standards. Within anadromous fish propagation
watersheds, the following criteria shall apply:
(1)
The installation or introduction of concrete or
stone riprap or other artificial surfaces onto the bottom of natural
streams shall be prohibited unless it can be demonstrated that water
quality and fisheries habitat can be improved.
(2)
Channelization or other physical alterations which
may change the course or circulation of a stream and thereby interfere
with the movement of fish shall be prohibited.
(3)
The Department shall require each development activity
that occurs within a watershed draining to anadromous fish propagation
waters to fulfill the following objectives:
A.
Minimize development activities or land disturbances
within the watershed;
B.
Maintain, or, if practicable, improve water quality
in affected streams or other water bodies;
C.
Minimize to the extent possible the discharge of
sediments into affected streams or other water bodies;
D.
Maintain, or, if practicable, increase the natural
or native vegetation of the watershed and tree canopy over the streams;
E.
Indicate how any portion of the development activity
outside the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area will maintain or improve
water quality of the affected watershed;
(a)
Identification. Water-dependent facilities
include, but are not limited to, ports, the intake and outfall structures
of power plants, water-use industries, marinas and other boat docking
structures, public beaches and other public water-oriented recreation
areas, and fisheries activities. Excluded from this regulation are
individual private piers installed or maintained by riparian landowners
which are located in a subdivision which does not provide community
piers.
(b)
General requirements. The requirements
of the Program with regard to water-dependent facilities shall be
to limit development activities in the buffer to those that are water-dependent
and provide by design and location criteria that these activities
will have minimal individual and cumulative impacts on water quality
and fish, wildlife, and plant habitat in the Atlantic Coastal Bays
Critical Area.
(1)
In order to protect water quality and fish, wildlife
and plant habitats, water-dependent facilities as defined herein shall
not extend more than two hundred fifty feet over state or private
wetlands.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection (b)(2), as amended 1-6-2004
by Bill No. 03-14 and 12-21-2004 by Bill No. 04-13, which immediately
followed and provided for the abrogation of § NR 3-124(b)(1),
was repealed 1-17-2006 by Bill No. 05-16.
(c)
Standards. The following standards shall
apply to new or expanded development activities associated with water-dependent
facilities:
(1)
New or expanded development activities may be permitted
in the Buffer in the Intensely Developed and Limited Development Areas
provided that it can be shown:
A.
That they are water-dependent;
B.
That the project meets a recognized private right
or public need;
C.
That adverse effects on water quality, fish, plant
and wildlife habitat are minimized;
D.
That, insofar as possible, non-water-dependent structures
or operations associated with water-dependent projects or activities
are located outside the buffer; and
E.
That the facilities are consistent with an approved
local plan as set forth below.
(2)
Except as otherwise provided in this Subtitle,
new or expanded development activities may not be permitted in those
portions of the buffer which occur in Resource Conservation Areas.
(d)
Implementation. Applicants for new or
expanded water-dependent facilities in Intensely Developed Areas or
Limited Development Areas shall set out in the application how the
above requirements are met. Other than those cited in Subsections
(H) through (K) of this section, water-dependent facilities in Resource
Conservation Areas shall only be allowed through the award of growth
allocation in accordance with the provisions of § NR 3-112.
(e)
Evaluating plans for new and expanded water-dependent
facilities. The Department shall evaluate on a case-by-case
basis all proposals for expansion of existing or new water-dependent
facilities. The Department shall work with appropriate state and federal
agencies to ensure compliance with applicable regulations. The following
factors shall be considered when evaluating proposals for new or expanded
water-dependent facilities:
(1)
That the activities will not significantly alter
existing water circulation patterns or salinity regimes;
(2)
That the water body upon which these activities
are proposed has adequate flushing characteristics in the area;
(3)
That disturbance to wetlands, submerged aquatic
plant beds, or other areas of important aquatic habitats will be minimized;
(4)
That adverse impacts to water quality that may
occur as a result of these activities, such as non-point source runoff,
sewage discharge from land activities or vessels, or from boat cleaning
and maintenance operations, is minimized;
(5)
That shellfish beds will not be disturbed or be
made subject to discharge that will render them unsuitable for harvesting;
(6)
That dredging shall be conducted in a manner and
using a method which causes the least disturbance to water quality
and aquatic and terrestrial habitats in the area immediately surrounding
the dredging operation or within the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area, generally;
(7)
That dredged spoil will not be placed within the
buffer or elsewhere in that portion of the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical
Area which has been designated as a Habitat Protection Area except
as necessary for:
(8)
That interference with the natural transport of
sand will be minimized; and
(9)
That disturbance will be avoided to historic areas
of waterfowl staging and concentration or other habitat protection
areas identified in § NR 3-104 and 3-121 through 3-123 of
this Subtitle.
(f)
Industrial and port-related facilities. New, expanded or redeveloped industrial or port-related facilities
and the replacement of these facilities may be permitted only in buffer
management areas in Intensely Developed Areas.
(g)
Marinas and other commercial maritime facilities. New, expanded or redeveloped marinas may be permitted in the buffer within Intensely Developed Areas and Limited Development Areas subject to the requirements set forth in this section. New marinas or related maritime facilities may not be permitted in the buffer within Resource Conservation Areas except as provided in Subsections (i) through (k) hereof. Expansion of existing marinas may be permitted by the Department within Resource Conservation Areas provided that it is sufficiently demonstrated that the expansion will not adversely affect water quality and that it will result in an overall net improvement in water quality at or leaving the site of the marina. New and existing marinas shall meet the sanitary requirements of the Department of the Environment as required in COMAR 26.04.02 or as amended from time to time. New marinas shall establish a means of minimizing the discharge of bottom wash waters into tidal waters.
(h)
Community piers. New or expanded community
marinas and other non-commercial boat- docking and storage facilities
may be permitted in the buffer subject to the following requirements:
(1)
These facilities may not offer food, fuel, or other
goods and services for sale and shall provide adequate and clean sanitary
facilities;
(2)
The facilities are community-owned and established
and operated for the benefit of the residents only of a platted and
recorded riparian subdivision;
(3)
The facilities are associated with a residential
development approved by the Department for the Atlantic Coastal Bays
Critical Area and consistent with all State requirements for the Atlantic
Coastal Bays Critical Area;
(4)
Disturbance to the buffer is the minimum necessary
to provide a single point of access to the facilities; and
(5)
If community piers or slips are provided as part
of the new development, private piers in the development are not allowed.
(6)
The number of slips, or piers, permitted at the
facility shall be the lesser of Subsection (h)(6)A or B below:
A.
One slip for each fifty feet of shoreline in the
subdivision in the Intensely Developed and Limited Development Areas
and one slip for each three hundred feet of shoreline in the subdivision
in the Resource Conservation Area; or
B.
A density of slips or piers to platted lots or dwellings
within the subdivision in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area
according to the following schedule:
|
Platted Lots or Dwellings in the Atlantic Coastal Bays
Critical Area
|
Slips
| |
|---|---|---|
|
Up to 15
|
1 for each lot
| |
|
16 - 40
|
15 or 75% whichever is greater
| |
|
41 - 100
|
30 or 50% whichever is greater
| |
|
101 - 300
|
50 or 25% whichever is greater
| |
|
Over 300
|
75 or 15% whichever is greater
|
(i)
Public beaches and other public recreation or education
areas. Public beaches or other public water-oriented recreation
or education areas including, but not limited to, publicly owned boat
launching and docking facilities and fishing piers may be permitted
in the buffer in Intensely Developed Areas. These facilities may be
permitted within the buffer in Limited Development Areas and Resource
Conservation Areas provided that:
(1)
Adequate sanitary facilities exist;
(2)
Service facilities are, to the extent possible,
located outside the buffer;
(3)
Permeable surfaces are used to the extent practicable,
if no degradation of groundwater would result;
(4)
Disturbance to natural vegetation is minimized;
and
(5)
Areas for possible recreation, such as nature study,
and hunting and trapping, and for education, may be permitted in the
buffer within Resource Conservation Areas if service facilities for
these uses are located outside of the buffer.
(j)
Research areas. Water-dependent research
facilities or activities operated by state, federal, or local agencies
or educational institutions may be permitted in the buffer, if non-water-dependent
structures or facilities associated with these projects are, to the
extent possible, located outside of the buffer.
(k)
Fisheries activities. Lands and water
areas with high aquacultural potential will be identified by the County
Commissioners in cooperation with the state when applications for
new or expanded fisheries or aquaculture facilities in these areas
are submitted to the County Commissioners. These areas are encouraged
for that use and if so used, should be protected from degradation
by other types of land and water use or by adjacent land and water
uses. Commercial water-dependent fisheries including, but not limited
to, structures for crab shedding, fish off-loading docks, shellfish
culture operations and shore-based facilities necessary for aquaculture
operations and fisheries activities may be permitted in the buffer
in Intensely Developed, Limited Development and Resource Conservation
Areas.
(a)
General requirements. Individual private
piers or docks may be installed or maintained when in conformance
with all other applicable laws and regulations by riparian landowners
of lots or parcels legally existing on the effective date of this
Subtitle.
(b)
Standards. The following standards shall
apply in addition to any other applicable laws or regulations to the
construction, expansion, replacement or modification of an existing
or newly constructed private pier or dock:
(1)
New piers or docks shall not extend more than one
hundred feet in length over state or private wetlands.
(2)
Existing piers or docks shall not be expanded,
altered, replaced or modified in whole or in part so as to cumulatively
exceed more than one hundred feet in length over State or private
wetlands.
(3)
Any disturbance of the buffer shall be the minimum
necessary for the construction and/or maintenance of the pier or dock.
(4)
A reasonable pedestrian access path to an individual
pier or dock may be located in the buffer subject to the following:
A.
A maximum of one access path shall be permitted
per lot or parcel.
B.
The access path may include clearing and stabilization
of no more than eight six feet in width.
C.
Impervious areas constructed within the six-foot
width identified in Subsection (b)(4)B above are limited to three
feet in width. Impervious area created is subject to all other limitations
as established by this Subtitle.
D.
All access paths shall be along the most direct
route located to minimize impacts from the pier or dock to the principal
structure on the same lot or parcel or to the path's point of exit
from the buffer.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection (c), as amended 1-6-2004
by Bill No. 03-14 and 12-21-2004 by Bill No. 04-13, which immediately
followed and provided for the abrogation of § NR 3-125(b)(1)
and (2), was repealed 1-17-2006 by Bill No. 05-16.
(a)
Generally. As an alternative to structural
erosion controls which can disturb the aquatic environment and increase
erosion downstream, the County Commissioners encourage the use of
non-structural controls such as marsh creation, maintenance of buffer
zones, and the establishment of natural barriers to prevent intrusion
on fragile vegetated shorelines. The criteria set forth in this chapter
are not intended to apply to those structures necessarily associated
with water-dependent facilities as discussed in § NR 3-124
of this Subtitle.
(b)
General requirements. In protecting shore
areas from erosion the Department shall follow these requirements:
(1)
Encourage the protection of rapidly eroding portions
of the shoreline in the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area by public
and private landowners;
(2)
Where such measures can effectively and practically
reduce or prevent shore erosion, encourage the use of non-structural
shore protection measures in order to conserve and protect plant,
fish and wildlife habitat.
(c)
Implementation. Each application for
shore erosion protection shall demonstrate how it complies with the
following objectives:
(1)
Structural control measures shall only be used
in areas with significantly eroding shorelines and where non-structural
measures would not be practical or effective in controlling erosion.
(2)
Where structural erosion control is required, the
measure that best provides for conservation of fish and plant habitat
and which is practical and effective shall be used;
(3)
Non-structural measures shall be utilized in areas
of erosion where they would be a practical and effective method of
erosion control;
(4)
Structural erosion measures shall not be encouraged
in areas where no significant erosion occurs;
(5)
If significant alterations in the characteristics
of a shoreline occur, the measure that best fits the change may be
used for sites in that area.
(6)
Vegetation removed in the buffer for construction
of shore erosion control measures shall be replaced at an equal basis.
(d)
Process. The Department, in reviewing
any application for a permit for structural erosion control devices,
may refer the application to the soil Conservation District, the Department
of Natural Resources and the Department of the Environment for field
verification of the need for the structural erosion control as well
as for recommendations on proposed erosion control mechanisms.
(a)
Generally. For development activities
located on lots and parcels created after June 1, 2002, within the
Atlantic coastal bays watershed lying outside the Atlantic Coastal
Bays Critical Area where the state permits non-tidal wetland buffer
impacts without mitigation, mitigation as provided for below is required
by this subsection. For activities in these areas that the state classifies
as "temporary impacts", mitigation is not required.
(b)
Site plan requirements. For any project
that impacts the non-tidal wetland or its buffer, the following must
be shown in addition to the other site plan requirements of this Subtitle
on any site plan submitted to the Department:
(1)
The boundary of any non-tidal wetlands and any
non-tidal wetlands buffers.
(2)
The limits of disturbance within the non-tidal
wetlands and non-tidal wetlands buffer.
(3)
The location and boundaries of any on-site mitigation
project proposed or required by this subsection.
(4)
The location and boundaries of any off-site mitigation
project proposed or required by this subsection.
(c)
Required mitigation. For regulated activities
that impact the non-tidal wetland and non-tidal wetland buffer, mitigation
will be required at an equal basis on-site and at an areal extent
twice that off-site. Natural vegetation similar to the vegetation
destroyed by the impact shall be used, either through regeneration
of the disturbed area or through planting. Mitigation of non-tidal
wetland and non-tidal wetland buffer impacts shall not be allowed
to count toward a project's afforestation and/or reforestation requirements.
(d)
Priority sequence for mitigation site selection. All mitigation sites proposed for compliance with this subsection
shall be accomplished in accordance with the following preferred locational
sequence:
(1)
On-site adjacent to a non-tidal wetland or its
buffer.
(2)
On-site between and connecting existing forested
areas.
(3)
On-site where establishing or enhancing forest
buffers adjacent to critical habitats where appropriate.
(4)
On-site within the one-hundred-year floodplain.
(5)
Off-site mitigation will only be allowed if it
is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Department that on-site
mitigation is not practicable. Offsite mitigation shall be on a two-to-one
ratio and shall take place in accordance with the locational sequence
specified in Subsection (d)(1) through (4) above.
(e)
Planting methodology. If the mitigation
project requires planting, the planting shall take place in accordance
with the provisions of the current Forest Conservation Manual with
respect to planting techniques and specifications. Planting associated
with required mitigation shall be performed prior to the issuance
of any zoning certificate or certificate of use and occupancy or shall
be bonded in accordance with the provisions of § ZS 1-124
of the Worcester County Zoning Ordinance. Natural regeneration may
be permitted in lieu of planting where:
(f)
Perpetual protective agreements. Any
person required to mitigate impacts to a non-tidal wetland or non-tidal
wetland buffer in accordance with the provisions of this subsection
shall enter into a perpetual protective agreement as prescribed by
§ NR 1-415(g) and (h) hereof to ensure that the vegetation
used for mitigation shall be protected against clearing and the detrimental
effects of invasive species.
