[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Babylon 12-9-1969.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Beaches — See Ch. 81.
A.
It shall be the public policy of the Town to preserve
the purity and integrity of its coastal wetlands. The health, welfare and
protection of its persons and property require that the Town reasonably restrict
the uses of its wetlands along the waterfront of the Great South Bay. It is
therefore in the exercise of this power that the Town enacts these dredging
regulations, regulating and controlling the removal of land from Town owned
property by any form of dredging.
B.
It shall further be the policy of the Town to solicit
an opinion from the New York State Conservation Department regarding the merits
of each dredging application.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
hereinafter designated:
- PRIVATE UPLAND
- Upland which abuts a waterway or watercourse and which is owned by a private person, association, partnership or corporation.
- TOWN
- The Town of Babylon.
- TOWN LAND
- Land owned by the Town, whether upland or in the bed of a waterway or watercourse.
Notwithstanding the prior granting of permission so to do, no person
shall remove any material from the bed of any waterway or watercourse or from
any private upland or any upland owned by the Town without obtaining from
the Town Clerk a written permit therefor, issued on the order of the Town
Board as hereinafter provided.
Before the granting of any application for a permit hereunder, the Town,
in its discretion, shall obtain an opinion from the State Conservation Department
regarding the merits of each such application.
A.
A permit hereunder shall be issued only on the verified
written application of the person proposing to remove or cause the removal
of such material. Said permit shall state the amount thereof proposed to be
removed, shall describe the area from which such removal is proposed by the
latitude and longitude coordinates as determined from the then current United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey of the area, if the area involved is in the
bed of a waterway or watercourse and by courses and distances, if upland,
and shall state the depth to which such removal is proposed throughout such
area.
B.
Such application shall be accompanied by a survey showing
the sounding of the area from which such removal is proposed. If the area
is in the bed of any waterway or watercourse and if Town land is involved,
said survey shall be by sections showing the manner in which such removal
is to be made and shall include a topographical map, with contours at one-foot
intervals, of the area in which the material removed is to be deposited; all
of which shall be certified by a professional engineer or surveyor, licensed
by the State of New York.
C.
The application shall also state the principals in the
applicant's firm as well as information pertaining to prior dredging
operations in Nassau County or Suffolk County.
Each application for a permit hereunder shall be filed with the Town Clerk and shall be accompanied by an application fee of $25; and if the application involves the removal of material from upland belonging to the Town, by an amount estimated by the Town Clerk as necessary to defray all expenses which will be incurred by reason of the fact that the resolution required by § 108-7 hereof will be subject to a permissive referendum.
The Town Board may adopt a resolution directing the issuance of a permit hereunder for the removal of material from Town land if it shall find that the material proposed to be removed is not required for any Town purpose, that the proposed removal will not violate the provisions of § 108-18 hereof and that the public interest will not be otherwise prejudiced thereby. If the application involves the removal of material from upland belonging to the Town, such resolution shall be subject to a permissive referendum, as provided by Article 7, §§ 90 through 94, of the Town Law.
[Amended 2-15-1972]
If the Town Board shall find that a proposed removal of Town land will benefit the Town substantially as a necessary improvement of any waterway or waterways affected thereby, the resolution directing the issuance of a permit may waive all or any part of the payments provided in § 108-14 hereof. The Town Board is hereby authorized to modify the requirements contained in § 108-12 hereof, in such manner and upon such terms and conditions as to adequately protect the Town, the applicant and the residents of the Town, without placing an undue financial burden upon the applicant or his subcontractors.
The Town Board may adopt a resolution directing the issuance of a permit hereunder for the removal of material from private upland if it shall find that such proposed removal will not violate the provisions of § 108-18 hereof and that the public interest will not be otherwise prejudiced thereby.
The Town Board may, on the adoption of a resolution directing the issuance of any permit hereunder, impose conditions on the manner and extent of the proposed removal designed to eliminate or prevent any of the contingencies outlined in § 108-18 hereof and fix the time on which the removal operations must be commenced and within which they must be completed and require a deposit in such amount as it may deem necessary to be applied on account of the payments provided in § 108-14 hereof. The Town Board may also fix the times that the dredging operation may be conducted and shall prohibit, if necessary, any operation on holidays or weekends.
The Town Clerk, after a resolution pursuant to this chapter directing
the issuance of a permit hereunder has become effective and after the receipt
of a permit fee of $75 and of a performance bond and public liability insurance
policy and of the deposit required by such resolution, shall issue such permit
conditioned on compliance with such resolution and this chapter.
The applicant for a permit hereunder shall, before the issuance thereof
by the Town Clerk, file with the Town Clerk a bond in an amount and with sureties
and in the form approved by the Town Board, conditioned on compliance with
the provisions of this chapter and with the conditions, if any, imposed in
the resolution directing the issuance of such permit; and a policy of public
liability insurance with independent contractors and assumed liability coverage
insuring the Town as the named insured at the expense of the applicant against
any liability which may arise from the removal or deposit of material under
such permit, whether or not the act or omission complained of is by the applicant
or any individual employed by the applicant or by the Town, and covering any
and all damage which may occur within two years after completion of the operations
under such permit in an amount not less than $200,000 for bodily injuries,
including death, to any one person and, subject to the same limit for one
person, in an amount not less than $500,000 on account of each accident; and
for property damage in an amount not less than $100,000 for one accident and
in an amount not less than $500,000 on account of all accidents.
Permits issued under this chapter shall be transferable only on the
written consent of the Town Board and on such conditions as it may impose.
The applicant for a permit hereunder shall pay to the Town such sum as may be fixed by the Town Board for all soil, sand or other material removed from Town land as a result of his operations under such permit, as shown by and accompanying the biweekly certifications required by § 108-15 hereof. The final payment shall be made within 30 days after the date specified by the Town Board resolution authorizing issuance of the permit or within 30 days after the completion of the work, whichever shall sooner occur. The Town shall consult with the State Conservation Department or any other authority at any time to determine the value of the dredged material.
Commencing on the second Friday after the issuance of a permit hereunder,
whether or not removal operations have commenced, the person to whom such
permit is issued shall furnish biweekly certifications of a competent professional
engineer, duly licensed by the State of New York, of the quantities of material
removed or, if none has been removed, a certification to that fact. There
shall be attached to such certification a sketch showing the progress of the
removal operations and any deviation from the terms of such permit.
The final payment under § 108-14 hereof shall be accompanied by a certificate by a licensed professional engineer of the amount of material removed and of compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
In computing the amount of material removed under a permit issued hereunder,
the Town Board, in its discretion, may accept a certification of the amount
of material deposited or stored as a result of such removal, as the equivalent
of the amount removed.
A.
All operations under any permit issued pursuant to this
chapter shall be performed in such manner that the removal of material and
the redepositing and storage thereof, will neither undermine, weaken nor deprive
of support other lands in the vicinity, nor otherwise adversely affect the
waterways of the Town and the lands abutting thereon, nor unless the permit
issued pursuant hereto shall expressly provide otherwise, substantially change
the course of any channel or the natural movement or flow of any waters or
cause or accelerate the drift of underwater soil, sand, gravel, bog or mud.
B.
The applicant shall, by the acceptance of a permit hereunder,
take and assume all responsibility for any and all operations thereunder and
take all precautions for the prevention of injuries to persons and property
by reason of such operations and assume the defense of and indemnify and save
harmless the Town and its officers and employees from any and all claims arising
out of or in connection with operations under such permit and any and all
acts, omissions or negligence on the part of the applicant and his agents
and employees.
C.
The Town shall require the applicant to obtain an opinion
from the State Conservation Department as to the content of this section.
A.
Upon completion of a removal operation hereunder, the
person to whom the permit therefor has been issued shall submit to the State
Director of Conservation a certificate from a competent professional engineer,
licensed by the state, that the work has been completed in accordance with
this chapter and the resolution of the Town Board directing the issuance of
such permit, together with a survey showing that the removal operation has
been completed, indicating the depth of the area from which material shall
have been removed and the slopes from which material shall have been removed
connecting with the adjoining lands.
B.
In addition, the permittee, upon the completion of his
operations hereunder, shall trim and dress the land under water and shall
leave specifically required side slopes on the boundaries of any dredging
areas adjacent to the shoreline.
If any person to whom a permit shall have been issued hereunder shall
fail at any time to comply with the provisions of this chapter or with the
conditions imposed by the resolution of the Town Board directing the issuance
of such permit, he shall, upon the direction of the State Conservation Department
or the Town Board, immediately suspend all operations under such permit for
such period as may be prescribed by the Town and shall have a period of 30
days to remedy any condition which the Town shall require of the permittee.
He shall cease all operations and remove all equipment used in connection
therewith and, upon such direction by the Town Board, his permit to dredge
shall be deemed null and void. However, the suspension or revocation of such
permit, as directed by the Town, shall in no way relieve the permittee of
any of his obligations hereunder.
A.
The Town Engineer, Building Inspector or any duly authorized
agent of the Town shall enforce the provisions of this chapter, and it shall
be the duty of said officers of the Town to see that the conditions providing
for any permit issued hereunder will be fully carried out by the permittee.
B.
The said officers shall make necessary inspections to
see that the provisions of this chapter are carried out and that the dredging
operation is safe. In addition, the officers shall have the power to order
and compel the suspension of any work and prohibit the use of any material
or equipment which shall violate the provisions of this chapter and which
may be construed as unsafe as they deem necessary. The officers hereinbefore
mentioned shall have the right to secure the necessary safeguards during the
dredging operations and to require adequate safety facilities on the job location.
C.
The officers herein shall at all times have access to
the working area and shall make such inspections as they deem necessary.
Any person who shall remove any material from Town land and any person
who shall cause such material to be so removed, without having a valid and
effective permit pursuant to this chapter, shall be liable for the payment
to the Town of $1,000 for each day or part thereof during which such removal
shall take place for the material removed such day, in addition to any penalties
prescribed by law and any other damages for which he may be liable.
Any person violating this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,
which shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500 or by imprisonment
for a period not exceeding six months for each such violation, or by both
such fine and imprisonment.