[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting
of the Town of Yarmouth 4-7-1981 by Art. 16.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This chapter was derived from
regulations adopted by the Board of Health to be effective 8-25-1978.
For purposes of enforcing these regulations,
the Health Agent or a designated agent of the Board of Health shall
be the approving authority.
No individual sewage disposal system or other
means of sewage disposal shall be located, constructed, altered, repaired
or installed until a permit for such work has been issued by the agent
of the Board of Health. At the time of filing of the application with
said agent, a fee shall be charged. The fee for new construction shall
be $15. The fee for repair shall be $10. Fees for permits shall not
be returned if repair or construction is abandoned.
Each disposal works installer shall be required
to complete a simple septic installer's test questionnaire and execute
a memorandum of understanding to qualify as an applicant for an installer's
permit. The fee for a disposal works installer's permit shall be $20.
A disposal works construction permit shall become
void if the installation of a subsurface sewage disposal system is
not completed and in operation within six months from the date of
issue of such permit. Following submission of reapplication, a new
permit may be issued by the agent of the Board of Health. The fee
for reapplication shall be $15.
A.
As part of the application for a disposal works construction
permit to install, construct or repair, if applicable, a sewage system
in the Town of Yarmouth, a plan of the proposed system is required.
B.
Emergency repairs to existing systems may commence
immediately; however, a plan of the proposed repairs as required by
this regulation must be submitted to the agent of the Board of Health
within 72 hours.
D.
In addition, the site plans must be prepared by the
registered land surveyor and must bear his seal and signature.
E.
The submitted plans must show:
(1)
The property and building to be served by the proposed
sewage disposal system.
(2)
The location of such system.
(3)
The precise location of manholes and cleanout plugs.
(4)
Location of any streams, drains or other known sources
of water within 200 feet of the proposed system.
(5)
Existing and proposed contours of the land (two-foot interval contours may be required by the agent of the Board of Health due to elevation variations), lot lines and distances necessary to satisfy requirements set forth in § 200-15.
(6)
A detailed layout of the proposed system, including
inverts, elevations of the septic tank, distribution box, leaching
pipes or pits, and dimensions of leaching area or pits, including
spacing of pipes or pits.
(7)
Size and gradation of stones used in the disposal
field.
(8)
Location and depth of the observation pits.
(9)
Location and results of percolation tests, including
the name of the agent of the Board of Health who witnesses the test.
(10)
Elevation of the highest water table and soil log.
(11)
A cross section showing elevations drawn through the
property lines and building foundation walls, septic tank, leaching
field or pits.
(12)
The center line of the street if the system is in
front of the building.
(13)
Assessors' map number and the parcel number.
(14)
In a floodplain zone, the bench mark shall be based
on mean sea level.
F.
In addition, provisions shall be made on the plan
for the endorsement of approval by the agent of the Board of Health.
No permit shall be issued until the plan, submitted in quadruplicate,
has been reviewed and endorsed by the agent of the Board of Health.
Dwellings with expansion attics shall provide
a septic system according to the total number of finished and/or unfinished
bedrooms.
The owner or other person(s) having control
over any existing building(s) hereafter seeking to alter, add to or
extend existing foundation(s) shall not commence construction under
a building permit until first obtaining a permit for the alteration
of the sewage disposal system, if applicable, from the agent of the
Board of Health. Septic tanks must be installed for any building(s)
being altered, added to or extending existing foundation(s), if applicable,
that do not already have an existing septic tank. Tank size shall
be determined in accordance with Regulation 6 of Title V of the Department
of Environmental Quality Engineering (DEQE).
Occupancy of any such affected structure (§ 200-7) shall not take place until a certificate of compliance has been issued by the agent of the Board of Health as relating to the design of the plans, materials and the construction of the completed installation of the sewage disposal system.
A.
The Board of Health requires that all construction
be inspected by the agent of the Board of Health before backfilling.
Prior notice of at least 24 hours for a final inspection must be provided
to the agent of the Board of Health.
B.
A certificate of compliance will not be issued unless
all construction has been completed in accordance with the approved
plan and required inspection.
C.
If an installer must make any changes during the installation
of a septic disposal system which diverts from the original approved
plans, permission must first be obtained from the agent of the Board
of Health and the engineer or sanitarian who prepared the plans. The
agent and the engineer or sanitarian shall then reinspect and approve
the proposed installation change. Upon approval, the engineer or sanitarian
shall file corrected plans with the agent of the Board of Health.
Construction of leaching facilities in clean
granular fill is permissible when the following conditions exist:
A.
When the impervious material can be excavated to pervious
material below and be replaced with clean fill and the underlying
pervious strata is at least four feet thick.
The common use of an individual sewage system
by more than one property, dwelling or other premises is prohibited,
unless written approval is obtained from the agent of the Board of
Health. The sewage disposal system shall be located on the one lot
which it serves.
A.
Every owner or agent of premises in which there are
any private sewers, individual sewage disposal systems or other means
of sewage disposal shall keep the sewer, sewage disposal system or
other means of sewage disposal in good repair. It is the recommendation
of the Board of Health that all of the aforementioned systems be cleaned
at least once every two years.
B.
Should the owner or agent of any premises fail to
keep the disposal facility in proper working condition, the agent
of the Board of Health shall cause the disposal facility to be cleaned
or repaired with all expenses incurred to be paid by the owner or
agent of the premises so involved.
All plans submitted for review and approval
shall contain an additional area reserved for future expansion of
the disposal field, being at least equal to the area of the disposal
field. The expansion area must conform to all requirements of the
regulations herein and to Title V of the DEQE. The expansion area
is to be kept open and may not be built upon, with the exception of
movable structures such as toolhouses and aboveground swimming pools.
However, movable structures may not be constructed should they preclude
the expansion area from conforming to the minimum distances as established
in Regulation 3.7 of Title V.
A.
All percolation tests shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements of Title V of the DEQE and shall be performed on each lot where a septic system is to be constructed, except where the agent of the Board of Health deems it unnecessary, which information shall also be recorded on both the application and the submitted plan (§ 200-5).
B.
All percolation tests shall be performed in the presence
of the agent of the Board of Health with prior notice of 48 hours
provided to the agent of the Board of Health.
C.
Testing during high-water period.
(1)
Percolation tests shall be conducted during the high-water
time of year, November through June.
(2)
If tests are conducted during the months of July through
October, the following conditions shall be met to qualify for approval:
(3)
If the aforementioned specified conditions are not
met and other substantiating data is not available, the percolation
test must be rescheduled for the high water time of year period.
D.
Soil with an average percolation rate slower than
20 minutes per inch will be considered unsuitable for subsurface disposal
of sewage by the agent of the Board of Health.
E.
Percolation test results will be recorded in the Health
Department office and may be utilized for a period of two years from
the date of the actual test.
F.
New percolation tests and observation holes may be
required as needed to comply with any new code requirements.
G.
Before a percolation test can be scheduled, a fee
of $10 shall be paid at the Health Department office.
A.
The location of the disposal facilities shall be such
as to provide between them and the component a distance not less than
those listed in the following table. The setback distances required
below are changes from Title V; for additional detailed setback requirements,
refer to Title V of the DEQE.
|
Component
|
Septic Tank
(feet)
|
Leaching Field, Pit and Cesspool
(feet)
|
|---|---|---|
|
Potable:
| ||
|
Surface water supplies or tributaries
|
100
|
100
|
|
Well or suction line
|
100
|
150
|
|
Nonpotable:
| ||
|
Watercourses, including streams, ponds, open
and subsurface drains
|
50
|
100
|
B.
The grades of roads in subdivisions adjoining any
water shall not be less than six feet above the mean high water of
lakes, ponds, streams, tidal water, flats and all tributaries of such
tidal waters and flats. Foundations of dwellings shall not be less
than two feet above the highest point of the road affronting each
lot. No fill shall be deposited when the water table is within four
feet of the original grade. Where fill is deposited, it shall be in
compliance with the regulations set forth in Title V of the DEQE.
A.
Variances may be granted under the following provisions
only. The Board of Health may vary the application of provisions of
the regulations herein, except where expressly forbidden elsewhere
in Title V of the DEQE, with respect to any particular case when,
in its opinion, one or both of the following conditions exist:
(1)
The enforcement thereof would cause manifest injustice
and/or hardship.
(2)
The applicant can prove beyond a reasonable doubt
that the same degree of environmental protection as required under
the regulations herein can be achieved without the strict application
of the applicable provision in question.
B.
Every request for a variance shall be made in writing
on a form provided by the agent of the Board of Health and shall state
the specific reason(s) for the variance being sought.
C.
Any variance granted by the Board of Health shall
be made in writing and shall expire 90 days from the date of issue.
D.
Any denial of a variance shall also be made in writing
and shall contain a brief statement stating the reason(s) for the
denial.
If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause,
phrase or word of the regulations herein shall be judged invalid for
any reason whatsoever, that decision shall not affect any other portion
of the regulations herein which shall remain in full force and effect,
and to this end the provisions of the regulations herein are hereby
declared severable.
The Town of Yarmouth Board of Health reserves
the right to adopt additional regulations as deemed necessary or to
restrict or delete any of the herein mentioned regulations in the
best interest of the Town of Yarmouth. All regulations herein are
subject to the various provisions as set forth in Title V of the DEQE.
