A. 
Title. This chapter shall be known as the "Steep Slopes Protection Law of the Town of Ossining." It is a chapter regulating the disturbance of steep slopes in the Town of Ossining.
B. 
Findings and policy. The Town Board of the Town of Ossining finds and declares it to be the public policy of the town to regulate, preserve, protect and conserve its steep slopes so as to maintain and protect the natural terrain and its vegetative features, preserve wetlands, water bodies and watercourses, prevent flooding, protect important scenic views and vistas, preserve areas of wildlife habitat, provide safe building sites and protect the subject property and the adjoining property by preventing erosion, creep and sudden slope failure. In this connection, the Town Board finds as follows:
(1) 
Protection of steep slopes is a matter of concern to the entire town. Once a steep slope is disturbed, that disturbance is, for all practical purposes, irreversible. The establishment of regulatory and conservation practices to prevent disturbance of steep slopes is needed to protect the public health, safety and general welfare. Experience has demonstrated a need for effective protection of steep slopes, including careful review and regulation and the implementation of stringent mitigation measures where, in the opinion of the approval authority, no practicable alternative to such disturbance exists. However, in all cases where the approval authority determines that total avoidance of steep slopes is not practicable, such disturbance should constitute the minimum disturbance necessary to ensure the property owner a reasonable use of the property.
(2) 
The disturbance of steep slopes can aggravate erosion and sedimentation beyond rates experienced in natural geomorphological processes. Erosion and sedimentation often include the loss of topsoil, a valuable natural resource, and can result in the disturbance of habitats, degradation of the quality of surface water and wetlands, alteration of drainage patterns, the gullying of land, the obstruction of drainage structures, the intensification of flooding both on and off the subject site, the failure of slopes and the mass movement of earth and danger to the natural environment, man-made structures and the safety of persons.
(3) 
Steep slopes, including vegetation and rock outcroppings located thereon, are important environmental features that contribute significantly to the visual impression one forms while traveling through the town. Overdevelopment of or improperly managed disturbance to these steep slopes is detrimental to the visual character of the town.
(4) 
Regulation can allow the reasonable use of private property by encouraging flexible development design so as to avoid disturbance of steep slopes. Regulation can also permit environmentally sound disturbance of steep slopes conducted in accordance with acceptable engineering practices.
(5) 
To minimize the potential adverse impacts of development on steep slopes, the approval authority should seek the preservation of such areas by the use of flexible site design, including the application of § 278 of the New York State Town Law, the establishment of conservation easements and other land preservation techniques.
(6) 
These regulations are enacted with the intent of providing a reasonable balance between the rights of the individual property owners and the public interest in preserving the valuable functions of steep slopes.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meaning indicated:
ANGLE OF REPOSE
The maximum angles at which the exposed face of various soil and rock materials can deviate from the horizontal without incurring the likelihood of a slope failure.
APPLICANT
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, organization or other legal entity of any kind, excluding the Town of Ossining and its governmental agencies, who requests the approval authority to issue a permit, or to whom a permit has been granted under the provisions of this chapter. This chapter shall only serve as a guide to the Town of Ossining, and its governmental agencies.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY
The town agency(s) or public official(s) empowered to administer the permit procedures of this chapter.
BUILDING INSPECTOR
The Building Inspector of the Town of Ossining.
DISTURBANCE
The removal of vegetation, except as specifically permitted in § 167-5A(1) herein, or the filling, excavation, regrading or removal of soil, rock or retaining structures in areas of steep slope, whether by manual labor, machine or explosive. The condition of disturbance will be deemed to continue until the area of disturbance is revegetated and/or permanently stabilized.
DISTURBED AREA
Any steep slope area for which a disturbance is proposed or is ongoing.
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Environmental Advisory Committee of the Town of Ossining.
GRADING
Adjusting the degree of inclination of the natural contours of the land, including leveling, smoothing and other modification of the natural land surface.
MATERIAL
All liquid, solid or gaseous substances.
PERSON
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, organization or other legal entity of any kind, including public agencies and municipal corporations.
PLANNING BOARD
The Planning Board of the Town of Ossining.
PROJECT
Any proposed or ongoing action that may result in direct or indirect physical impact on a steep slope, including, but not limited to, any regulated activity.
STATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REVIEW ACT
The law, pursuant to Article 8 of the New York Environmental Conservation Law, providing for the environmental review of actions.
STEEP SLOPE
Any geographical area, whether on a single lot or not, having a topographical gradient of 15% or greater (ratio of vertical distance to horizontal distance), with a minimum horizontal dimension of 10 feet, and a minimum area as defined below, whether man-made or natural, and whether created by a retaining structure or not.
A. 
Steep slopes are further categorized as:
(1) 
MODERATELY STEEP SLOPE- A slope equal to or greater than 15% but less than 25% and covering a minimum horizontal area of 3/10 of an acre (13,068 square feet).
(2) 
VERY STEEP SLOPE- A slope equal to or greater than 25% but less than 35% and covering a minimum horizontal area of 2/10 of an acre (8,712 square feet).
(3) 
EXTREMELY STEEP SLOPE- A slope equal to or greater than 35% and covering a minimum horizontal area of 1/10 of an acre (4,356 square feet).
B. 
The most steeply sloped area that meets the minimum area threshold, as specified above, shall determine approval authority jurisdiction and review procedures.
C. 
If the areas within each of the three categories of steep slope are individually less than the minimum areas defined above, then to determine if the disturbance of such steep slopes shall nevertheless be subject to the provisions of this chapter, the following steps shall be taken:
(1) 
Area calculation.
(a) 
The area within each category of steep slope shall be adjusted as follows:
[1] 
The area of moderately steep slope shall be multiplied by a weighting factor of 1.0.
[2] 
The area of very steep slope shall be multiplied by a weighting factor of 1.5.
[3] 
The area of extremely steep slope shall be multiplied by a weighting factor of 3.0.
(b) 
The areas determined under Subsection C(1)(a)[1], [2] and [3] above shall be aggregated.
(2) 
A steep slope area shall be regulated pursuant to the provisions of this chapter if the total of all such steeply sloped areas, as adjusted above, exceeds a sum of 3/10 of an acre (13,068 square feet). The single slope category that has the largest area after the application of the relevant weighting factor shall determine approval authority jurisdiction and review procedures. All area measurements of square feet shall be to the nearest whole number.
(3) 
An example of the calculations mandated by this Subsection C follows: The moderately steep slope area is 5,000 square feet, the very steep slope area is 3,000 square feet and the extremely steep slope area is 2,000 square feet. After adjustment by reason of the weighting factors, the moderate steep slope area remains 5,000 square feet, the very steep slope area is 4,500 square feet and the extremely steep slope area is 6,000 square feet. Since the aggregate of the adjusted areas exceeds 13,068 square feet, the proposed disturbance of the steep slope is subject to regulation by this chapter. The approval authority shall be the Planning Board, as the extremely steep slope area, as adjusted, has the largest single area.
STEEP SLOPE PERMIT
The written form of town approval granted by the approval authority and required by this chapter for the issuance of a work permit and the conduct of any steep slope regulated activity.
STRUCTURE
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on or in the ground or attachment to something having location on the ground, including, but not limited to, buildings, tennis courts, swimming pools and decks.
TOWN
The unincorporated portion of the Town of Ossining.
TOWN BOARD
The Town Board of the Town of Ossining.
TOWN COUNSEL
The duty appointed counsel of the Town of Ossining.
WORK PERMIT
The written approval issued by the Building Inspector permitting the actual commencement and continuation of work within a regulated steep slope area, consistent with the conditions, terms and requirements of the steep slope permit issued by the approval authority.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
The Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Ossining.
The applicant shall be responsible for having the boundaries of the steep slope determined by field investigation, flagging and subsequent survey by a licensed land surveyor. The approval authority may also consult, at the expense of the applicant, and/or may also require the applicant to consult with a landscape architect, architect, professional engineer, soils scientist or other experts and professionals as deemed necessary to make this determination. The town shall maintain at the office of the Planning Board a map showing a general description of steep slope areas, which shall be available to the public. The existence of said map shall be for guidance to applicants, who shall in all cases have the obligation of determining if their property contains a steep slope.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all lands defined and/or designated as steep slope areas.