Maintenance is an essential part of the successful functioning
of a stormwater management system.
A.
Maintenance during development of a project shall be the responsibility
of the developer and/or landowner and shall usually include but not
be limited to:
(1)
Removal of silt from all debris basins, traps or other structures
or measures when 60% of capacity is filled with silt;
(2)
Periodic maintenance of temporary control facilities such as replacement
of straw bale dikes, straw filters or similar measures;
(3)
Establishment or reestablishment of vegetation by seeding and mulching
or sodding of scoured areas or areas where vegetation has not successfully
been established;
(4)
Installation of necessary controls to correct unforeseen problems
caused by storm events within design frequencies;
(5)
The contractor or developer shall be responsible for removal of all
temporary measures and installation of permanent measures upon completion
of the project.
B.
Maintenance of project after physical completion:
(1)
The applicant or his agent shall demonstrate that any facilities
intended to be installed and located on an individual or group of
individual lots can be adequately maintained by the homeowner(s) and/or
lot owner(s).
(2)
It is the purpose of this chapter that Manor Township shall not become
responsible for maintenance and supervision of developed areas. Such
responsibility falls upon the party responsible for land development,
who shall remain personally responsible for those areas of the development
which are subject to the requirements of this chapter. This responsibility
may be retained or assigned to third persons as is deemed most acceptable
to the party responsible for land development. In the event that any
portion of land development would, but for the existence of areas
requiring maintenance subject to this chapter, be dedicated to the
municipality, the contractor or developer may make application to
the municipality for acceptance by the municipality of such portions
of the land development. In the event that the municipality, by formal
action, accepts such portions of land development, maintenance and
responsibility for such portions shall fall upon the municipality.
(3)
It is the intent of this chapter that the purposes of this chapter
shall be carried out through the exercise of responsibility by private
parties, and, therefore, it is anticipated that control plans shall
be developed with the view towards projects which can effectively
be contained within the tracts to be owned and maintained by private
parties. To foster this purpose, with respect to portions or parts
of a project as shown on a plan of a developer or contractor, which
portions will not otherwise become part of municipal property, such
portions shall become the responsibility of the individual property
owners on whose property such portions of a project lie, including
but not limited to retention ponds, detention ponds, sediment basins,
BMPs, energy dissipaters or grassed waterways. Persons, including
contractors and developers, conveying property of a development to
another party, which property contains any portions of a stormwater
management site plan, after that plan has been established, shall
include a specific deed reference to such grantee's responsibility
for the maintenance and care of the portions of such project as are
included within said grantee's conveyed property. The deed reference
to such portions shall be in the form of a deed restriction imposing
responsibilities upon said property owner for the maintenance of the
portions of the project, including BMPs, within the boundary lines
of said property as may be necessary for proper maintenance of the
project in accordance with the terms of this chapter. Such maintenance
shall include the following:
(a)
Liming and fertilizing vegetated channels and other areas according
to specifications in "Erosion and Sedimentation Control Handbook of
Lancaster County."
(b)
Reestablishment of vegetation by seeding and mulching or sodding
of scoured areas or areas where vegetation has not been successfully
established.
(c)
Mowing as necessary to maintain adequate strands of grass and
to control weeds. Chemical weed control may be used if state and local
regulations are met. Selection of seed mixtures acceptable to the
municipality in accordance with regulations to be established.
(d)
Removal of silt from all permanent structures which trap silt
or sediment in order to keep the material from building up in grass
waterways and thus reducing their capacity.
(e)
Inspections.
[Amended 8-1-2022 by Ord. No. 1-2022]
[1]
The landowner or the owner's designee (including the municipality
for dedicated and owned facilities) shall inspect SWM BMPs, facilities
and/or structures installed under this chapter according to the following
frequencies, at a minimum, to ensure the BMPs, facilities and/or structures
continue to function as intended:
[2]
Inspections should be conducted during or immediately following
precipitation events of four inches or more within a twenty-four-hour
period. A written inspection report shall be created to document each
inspection. The inspection report shall contain the date and time
of the inspection, the individual(s) who completed the inspection,
the location of the BMP, facility or structure inspected, observations
on performance, and recommendations for improving performance, if
applicable. Inspection reports shall be submitted to the municipality
within 30 days following completion of the inspection.
(4)
The deed restrictions hereinabove mentioned shall also include notice
that in the event the individual property owners should fail to comply
with the terms of this chapter for the maintenance and care of the
land in question, Manor Township shall have the authority to carry
out those duties hereby imposed upon individual property owners. The
municipality may, after giving notice to an individual property owner
that he is not properly maintaining the areas subject to this chapter,
and by making demand that such compliance shall be made within 30
days, enter upon said private property and take such actions as may
be required to bring the area into compliance with this chapter. The
property owner shall be responsible for reimbursing the Township for
any and all costs incurred by the Township in its actions required
to bring the area into compliance with this chapter. Should the property
owner fail to reimburse the Township, the Township shall further have
the right to file a municipal lien against such property for the cost
of maintenance work carried out under this section. The municipality
shall, in addition to the filing of a municipal lien, have any other
remedies provided by law against any property owner who should fail
to comply with the terms of this chapter.
(5)
Where the Township accepts dedication of all or some of the required
stormwater management facilities following completion, the Township
may require the posting of financial security to secure structural
integrity of said facilities as well as the functioning of said facilities
in accordance with the design and specifications as depicted on the
approved stormwater management site plan for a term not to exceed
18 months from the date of acceptance of dedication. Said financial
security shall be the same type as required with regard to installation
of such facilities, and the amount of the financial security shall
not exceed 15% of the actual cost of installation of said facilities.
(6)
In the case of condominium and planned communities, separate agreements
will be entered and be in legal form capable of being enforced against
the common elements and the ownership interests of the individual
units or properties, as the case may be, so that the municipality
has the ability to force compliance with the provisions of such agreements
and to assess the cost against all owners so that the municipality
does not incur out-of-pocket expenses.[1]
(7)
Stormwater management facilities existing on the effective date of this chapter which have not been accepted by the municipality or for which maintenance responsibility has not been assumed by a private entity, such as a homeowners' association, shall be maintained by the individual landowners. Such maintenance shall include at a minimum those items set forth in Subsection B(3) above. If the municipality determines at any time that any permanent stormwater management facility has been eliminated, altered, blocked through the erection of structures or the deposit of materials, or improperly maintained, the condition constitutes a nuisance and the municipality shall notify the landowner of corrective measures that are required, and provide for a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 30 days, within which the property owner shall take such corrective action. If the landowner does not take the required corrective action, the municipality may either perform the work or contract for the performance of the work and bill the landowner for the cost of the work plus a penalty of 10% of the cost of the work. If such bill is not paid by the property owner within 30 days, the municipality may file a municipal claim against the property upon which the work was performed in accordance with the applicable laws. The municipality shall have the right to choose among the remedies and may use one or more remedies concurrently.
(8)
No person shall place any structure, fill landscaping or vegetation
into a stormwater management facility or within a drainage easement
that will limit or alter the functioning of the facility or easement
in any manner.
