This chapter will be known as "Chapter 159 of the Code of Ordinances" and shall be entitled "The City of Newburgh Conservation Advisory Council."
A.Â
This chapter is adopted under the authority of the Municipal Home
Rule Law, the New York General Municipal Law Article 12-F, the New
York General Municipal Law Waterfront Revitalization and Coastal Resources
Act of the State of New York (Article 42 of the Executive Law), and
New York General Municipal Law Article 5, § 96-B, Tree Conservation.
B.Â
The City of Newburgh ("City") is renowned for its scenic beauty and
bucolic open spaces, urban and historic character, natural resources
and outstanding quality of life. The City is also known for the care
it takes to ensure that its nationally recognized resources are protected
and preserved. The preservation and improvement of the quality of
the natural environment within the City are of vital importance to
the health, welfare and economic well-being of present and future
residents and require action by the City Council. The City recognizes
its vulnerabilities to changing weather patterns and the need to take
measures to both mitigate and adapt to them; the City also acknowledges
that green infrastructure tempers warming, sequesters carbon and helps
to absorb stormwater. It is recognized that the biologic integrity
of the natural environment, on which residents depend for survival
and the natural and functional beauty of our surroundings, which affect
the quality of our life experiences, must be protected with the full
cooperation and participation of all the people of the City working
in partnership with local, state and federal officials and with various
public and private institutions, agencies and organizations. Recognizing
the effects of climate change, the preservation, enhancement, remediation,
and utilization of the natural and man-made resources of the City,
including its unique coastal area, must take place in a coordinated
and comprehensive manner to ensure a proper balance between natural
resources and the need to accommodate population growth and economic
development. Accordingly, this chapter is intended to achieve such
a balance, permitting the beneficial use of natural resources while
preventing: loss of living estuarine and riparian resources and wildlife;
diminution of open space areas or public accesses to the waterfront;
erosion of shoreline and stream banks; impairment of scenic beauty;
losses due to flooding, erosion and sedimentation; encroachment on
such other lands owned by the City that would negatively impact its
drinking water sources; or permanent adverse changes to ecological
systems.
C.Â
Establishment of a Conservation Advisory Council is a necessary step
in fostering coordinated action on environmental issues. It is essential
that the City Council designate one entity for coordinating and communicating,
in a timely manner, all relevant information on the natural environment
among the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, City Council, City
Manager, Corporation Counsel, City Engineer, Water Department, Department
of Public Works, City Planner, Architectural Review Commission, the
Arborist, Code Compliance Bureau, and Building Inspector.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Action as defined in NYCRR 617.2(b).
Any board, agency, department, office, other body or any
officer of the City of Newburgh.
The professional retained by the City to perform services
with regard to the selection, identification, treatment and removal
of trees.
The form contained in Appendix A, used by an agency to assist
it in determining the consistency of an action with the Local Waterfront
Revitalization Program.[1]
That the action will fully comply with the LWRP policy standards
and conditions and, whenever practicable, will advance one or more
of them.
The Local Waterfront Revitalization Program is both a plan
and a program. The term refers to both the planning document prepared
by the City, as well as the program established to implement the plan
The LWRP contains the City's policies and recommendations, consistent
with the coastal management policies of the state, to promote beneficial
waterfront development enhanced by or dependent on the City's waterfront
resources and in balance with protection of its natural coastal resources.
The Local Waterfront Revitalization Program of the City of Newburgh,
approved by the Secretary of State pursuant to the Waterfront Revitalization
and Coastal Resources Act (Executive Law Article 42), is on file in
the office of the Clerk of the City of Newburgh.
A compilation of the natural resources of the City, including
locations appropriate for expansion of natural resources, areas appropriate
for green infrastructure, and open areas, as defined by New York General
Municipal Law § 239-y, and of the ownership, present use
and proposed use of such areas, described and listed according to
the priority of preservation. This compilation shall be maintained
in a usable format; the primary purpose of the Natural Resource Inventory
is to provide data that can provide a basis for municipal planning
to maintain or enhance the conservation of natural or scenic resources.
A visual and geographically accurate representation of the
natural resources and open areas contained in the Natural Resource
Inventory that has been accepted and approved by the City Council.
All public parks that have individual names.
All other grounds owned by the City of Newburgh, County of
Orange.
All shade and ornamental trees growing in the City's rights-of-way,
parks or any public areas where otherwise indicated.
The New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, which
requires local legislatures and land use agencies to consider, avoid,
and mitigate significant environmental impacts of the projects that
they approve, the plans or regulations they adopt, and the projects
they undertake directly.
Woody plants with many more-or-less erect stems.
An action that may have a significant adverse impact on the
environment as determined under NYCRR 617.7.
The entire width of every public way or right-of-way when
any part thereof is open to the use of the public, as a matter of
right, for the purposes of vehicular or pedestrian traffic.
All woody plants having one well-defined stem or a more-or-less
definitely formed crown and attaining a height of at least 15 feet
and a diameter of not less than two inches at maturity.
That portion of New York State coastal waters and adjacent
shorelands, as defined in Article 42 of the Executive Law, which is
located within boundaries of the City of Newburgh, as shown on the
Coastal Area Map on file in the office of the Secretary of State and
as delineated in the City of Newburgh Local Waterfront Revitalization
Program.
[1]
Appendix A is on file in the City offices.
