Source: http://www.ecode360.com/11863567
Timestamp: 2017-09-20 16:33:16
Document Index: 210398577

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 24', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 24', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 108', '§ 24', '§ 108', '§ 71', '§ 7801', '§ 24']

Town of Stillwater, NY Freshwater Wetlands
§ 108-2 Declaration of policy.
§ 108-3 Findings.
§ 108-5 Permits.
§ 108-6 Application for permit; processing.
§ 108-7 Public hearing on permit application.
§ 108-8 Decision on permit application.
§ 108-9 Standards for permit decisions.
§ 108-10 Permit issued with conditions.
§ 108-11 General powers of Agency.
§ 108-12 Construal with other laws and regulations.
§ 108-13 Bonding requirements.
§ 108-14 Suspension or revocation of permit.
§ 108-15 Penalties for offenses.
§ 108-16 Enforcement.
§ 108-17 Review and appeal.
§ 108-18 When effective.
Chapter 108: Freshwater Wetlands
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Stillwater 8-25-1976 by L.L. No. 1-1976. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Chapter 108 : Freshwater Wetlands
This chapter shall be known as the "Freshwater Wetlands Protection Law of the Town of Stillwater, New York."
It is declared to be the public policy of the Town of Stillwater to preserve, protect and conserve freshwater wetlands and the benefits derived therefrom, to prevent the despoliation and destruction of freshwater wetlands, and to regulate the development of such wetlands in order to secure the natural benefits of freshwater wetlands, consistent with the general welfare and beneficial economic, social and agricultural development of the Town of Stillwater. It is further declared to be the policy of the Town of Stillwater to exercise its authority pursuant to Article 24 of the State Environmental Conservation Law.
The freshwater wetlands located in the Town of Stillwater are invaluable resources for flood protection, wildlife habitat, open space and water resources.
Considerable acreage of freshwater wetlands in the Town of Stillwater has been lost, despoiled or impaired by unregulated draining, dredging, filling, excavating, building, pollution or other acts inconsistent with the natural uses of such areas. Other freshwater wetlands are in jeopardy of being lost, despoiled or impaired by such unregulated acts.
Freshwater wetlands conservation is a matter of the Town of Stillwater concern.
Any loss of freshwater wetlands deprives the people of the Town of Stillwater of some or all of the many and multiple benefits to be derived from wetlands, to wit:
Protection of subsurface water resources and provision for valuable watersheds and recharging ground water supplies;
Education and scientific research by providing readily accessible outdoor biophysical laboratories, living classrooms and training and education resources;
Regulation of freshwater wetlands, in accordance with the agricultural exemption established in § 108-5 hereof, is consistent with the legitimate interests of farmers and other landowners to graze and water livestock, make reasonable use of water resources, harvest natural products of the wetlands, selectively cut timber and otherwise engage in the use of land for agricultural production.
Any land in the Town of Stillwater immediately adjacent to a freshwater wetland lying within 100 feet, measured horizontally, of the boundary of a freshwater wetland.
The Town Board of the Town of Stillwater.
The outer limit of the vegetation specified in Subsections A and B of the definition of "freshwater wetlands" of this section and of the waters specified in Subsection C of such definition.
Lands and waters lying within the boundaries of the Town of Stillwater as shown on a freshwater wetlands map which contain any or all of the following:
Lands and submerged lands commonly called marshes, swamps, sloughs, bogs, and flats supporting aquatic or semiaquatic vegetation of the following vegetative types;
Wetland trees, which depend upon seasonal or permanent flooding or sufficiently water-logged soils to give them a competitive advantage over other trees; including, among others, red maple (Acer rubrum), willows (Salix spp.), black spruce (Picea marinna); swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), red ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), American elm (Ulmus americans), and larch (Larix laricina);
Wetland shrubs, which depend upon seasonal or permanent flooding or sufficiently water-logged soils to give them a competitive advantage over other shrubs; including, among others, alder (Alnus spp.), button-bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), bog rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla), and lencherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata);
Emergent vegetation, including, among others, cattails (Typha spp.), pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata), bulrushes (Scirpus app.), arrow-arum (Peltandra virginica), arrowheads (Sagittoria spp.), reed (Phragmites communis), wildrice (Zizonia aquatics), bur-reeds (Sparganium spp.), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), swamp loose-strife Decodon verticillatus), and water plantain (Alisma plantago-squatica);
Rooted, floating-leaved vegetation; including, among others, water-lily (Nymphaes odorata), watershield (Brasenia Schreberi), and spatterdock (Nuphar spp.);
Wet meadow vegetation, which depends upon seasonal or permanent flooding or sufficiently water-logged soils to give them a competitive advantage over other open land vegetation; including, among others, sedges (Carex spp.), rushes (Juncus spp.), cattails (Typha spp.), rice cut-grass (Lcersia oryzoides), reed canary grass (Phalario arundinacea), swamp loosestrife (Decodon verticillatus), and spikerush (Eleocharis spp.);
Bog mat vegetation; including among others, sphagnum mosses (Sphagnum spp.), bog rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylln), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpures), and cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon and V. oxycoccos);
Submergent vegetation; including, among others, pondweeds (Potamogeton spp.), naiads (Najas spp.), bladderworts (Utricularia spp.), wild celery (Vallisneria americans), coontail (Ceratophyllum demersum), water milfoils (Myriophyllum spp.), muskgrass (Chara spp.), stonewort (Nitella spp.), waterweeds (Elodea spp.), and water anartweed (Polygonum amphibium);
A map on which are indicated the boundaries of any freshwater wetland and which has been filed with the Clerk of the Town of Stillwater by the State Department of Environmental Conservation pursuant to § 24-0301 of the State Environmental Conservation Law.
A city, county, town, or village.
The applicant, the Agency, the State Department of Environmental Conservation, each local government in which the regulated activity or any part thereof is located, and any person who appears and wishes to be a party in interest at the public hearing held pursuant to § 108-7 of this chapter.
Any action which any result in direct or indirect physical impact on a freshwater wetland, including but not limited to, any regulated activity.
Any form of draining, dredging, excavation, removal of soil, mud, sand, shells, gravel or other aggregate from any freshwater wetland, either directly or indirectly; any form of dumping, filling, or depositing of any soil, stones, sand, gravel, mud, rubbish or fill of any kind either directly or indirectly; erecting any structures or roads, the driving of pilings, or placing of any other obstructions whether or not changing the ebb and flow of the water; any form of pollution, including but not limited to, installing a septic tank, running a sewer outfall, discharging sewage treatment effluent or other liquid wastes directly into or so as to drain into a freshwater wetland; that portion of any subdivision of land that involves any land in any freshwater wetland or adjacent area; and any other activity which substantially impairs any of the several functions served by freshwater wetlands or the benefits derived therefrom which are set forth in § 108-3 of this chapter.
Any division of land into two or more lots, parcels or sites, whether adjoining or not, for the purpose of sale, lease, license or any form of separate ownership or occupancy (including any grading, road construction, installation of utilities or other improvements or any other land use and development preparatory or incidental to any such division) by any person or by any other person controlled by, under common control with or controlling such person or by any group of persons acting in concert as part of a common scheme or plan. Subdivision of land shall include any map, plat or other plan of division of land, whether or not previously filed. Subdivision of land shall not include the lease of land for hunting and fishing and other open space recreation uses and shall not include the division of land by bona fide gift, devise or inheritance.
Town of Stillwater.
The activities of farmers and other landowners in grazing and watering livestock, making reasonable use of water resources, harvesting natural products of wetlands or adjacent areas, selective cutting of timber, draining land or wetlands for growing agricultural products, and otherwise engaging in the use of wetlands or other land for growing agricultural products, except that structures not required for enhancement or maintenance of the agricultural productivity of the land and any filling activities shall not be excluded hereunder. Each farmer or other landowner who intends to conduct an otherwise regulated activity shall notify the Agency in writing, prior to conducting the activity, of his or her intention to engage in such activity, stating the approximate acreage of freshwater wetland or adjacent area affected, the location thereof, the methods to be employed, and the uses to be made of such land. A soil and water conservation plan prepared by a Soil and Water Conservation District and filed with the Agency shall be deemed sufficient notification for the purposes of this subsection.
Public health activities, orders and regulations of the State Department of Health, Consolidated Health District of Stillwater, or other, as applicable, undertaken in compliance with § 24-0701(5) of the State Environmental Conservation Law.
Any actual and ongoing emergency activity which is immediately necessary for the protection and preservation of life or property or the protection or preservation of natural resource values. Such emergency activities include, for example: search-and-rescue operations; preventive or remedial activities related to large-scale contamination of streams or other bodies of water; floods, hurricanes and other storms; and public health concerns. Within five days of the end of such an emergency involving the undertaking of any activity which otherwise would be treated as a regulated activity under this chapter, the person chiefly responsible for undertaking such emergency activity shall send a written statement to the Agency setting forth the pertinent facts regarding such emergency, including an explanation of the life, property or resource values such activity was designed to protect or preserve.
Any person proposing to conduct or cause to be conducted a regulated activity requiring a permit under this chapter upon any freshwater wetland or adjacent area, shall file an application for a permit with the Clerk of the Town of Stillwater. The Clerk shall immediately forward such application to the Agency.
The Clerk of the Town of Stillwater shall cause a copy of such completed application to be mailed to all local governments where the proposed activity or any part thereof is located.
Within five days of its receipt of a completed application for a permit regarding a proposed regulated activity, the Agency shall provide the applicant with a notice of application which the applicant shall publish at his or her own expense at least once in each of at least two newspapers having a general circulation in the Town of Stillwater.
Specify that the application, including all documents and maps therewith, is available for public inspection at the office of the Clerk of the Town of Stillwater.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the Agency may in its discretion dispense with the requirement for a notice of application and require a notice of hearing pursuant to Subsection F of this section.
No sooner than 30 days and not later than 60 days after its receipt of a completed application for a permit regarding a proposed regulated activity, and after the publication of a notice of application pursuant to Subsection D of this section, the Agency shall hold a public hearing on such application at a suitable location in the Town of Stillwater, which hearing shall be held pursuant to the provisions of § 108-7 of this chapter.
The Agency shall within 21 days of receipt of a completed application provide the applicant with a notice of hearing which the applicant shall publish at his or her own expense at least 15 days prior to the date set for the hearing, at least once in each of at least two newspapers of general circulation in the Town of Stillwater.
At least 15 days prior to the date set for the hearing the Agency shall by certified mail provide notice of hearing to all owners of record of land adjacent to the affected freshwater wetland or adjacent area and to all known claimants of water rights, of whom the applicant has notice, which relate to any land within, or within 100 feet of the boundary of, the property on which the proposed regulated activity will be located.
Specify the date, time and place, of the public hearing on the application;
Specify that if no notices of appearance are timely filed by any party in interest and if the applicant waives any public hearing, then the public hearing may be cancelled by the Agency; and
The Agency shall make the application, including all documents and maps associated with it, available for public inspection at the office of the Clerk of the Town of Stillwater.
Any public hearing held on a permit application received under this chapter shall be conducted by a hearing officer designated by the Agency. The hearing officer shall have full authority to control the conduct and procedure of the hearing, and shall be responsible that a complete record of the hearing be kept. The public hearing shall be held within the Town of Stillwater.
Where no public hearing regarding a permit application has been held, either because a hearing was determined not to be necessary pursuant to § 108-6E(2) of this chapter or because no notice of appearance was filed with regard to the public hearing and a hearing was canceled pursuant to § 108-6H of this chapter, the Agency shall compile an official file consisting of documents submitted by the applicant and any additional documents relied on by the Agency with respect to the application. The Agency may also take notice of general, technical or scientific facts within the specialized knowledge of the Agency. Any document made part of such official file shall be available for inspection by the applicant and any interested member of the public. On the basis of such file, the Agency shall either issue the permit requested, with or without conditions, deny the application or order a public hearing to be held pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. The decision by the Agency to issue or deny a permit or to order that a hearing be held shall be based on the official file and shall be made in writing within 30 days of its completion of the official file and in any event within 60 days of its receipt of a completed application. Provided, that in the case where there have been no objections filed regarding a proposed project, the issuance of a permit shall be deemed to be a written decision by the Agency.
In granting, denying or conditioning any permit, the Agency shall consider the effect of the proposed activity with reference to the public health and welfare, fishing, flood, hurricane and storm dangers, and protection or enhancement of the several functions of the freshwater wetlands and the benefits derived therefrom which are set forth in § 108-3 of this chapter.
The proposed regulated activity is consistent with the policy of this chapter to preserve, protect and conserve freshwater wetlands and the benefits derived therefrom, to prevent the despoliation and destruction of freshwater wetlands, and to regulate the development of such wetlands in order to secure the natural benefits of freshwater wetlands, consistent with the general welfare and beneficial economic, social and agricultural development of the Town of Stillwater;
The proposed regulated activity is consistent with the land use regulations applicable in the Town of Stillwater pursuant to § 24-0903 of Article 24 of the State Environmental Conservation Law;
The Agency shall set forth in writing in the file it keeps regarding a permit application, its findings, and reasons for all conditions attached to any permit.
To appoint officers, agents, employees, and prescribe their duties and qualifications and fix their compensation;
To adopt, amend, and repeal, after public hearing (except in the case of rules and regulations that relate to the organization or internal management of the Agency), such rules and regulations, consistent with this chapter, as it deems necessary to administer this chapter, and to do any and all things necessary or convenient to carry out the purpose and policies of this chapter;
To the greatest extent practicable, any public hearing held pursuant to § 108-7 of this chapter shall be incorporated with any public hearing required by or pursuant to the New York State Town Law, Village Law, General City Law, General Municipal Law or Environmental Conservation Law relating to approvals or permits otherwise required for the undertaking of regulated activities on the freshwater wetland or adjacent area in question.
The Agency may require that, prior to commencement of work under any permit issued pursuant to this chapter, the permittee shall post a bond with the Agency, in an amount determined by the Agency, conditioned upon the faithful compliance with the terms of such permit and for the indemnification of the Town of Stillwater for restoration costs resulting from failure to so comply. Such bond shall be issued by a corporate surety authorized to do business in the State and shall be in favor of the Town of Stillwater. It shall remain in effect until the Agency certifies that the work has been completed in compliance with the terms of the permit or the bond is released by the Agency, or a substitute bond is provided.
Administrative sanctions. Any person who violates, disobeys or disregards any provision of this chapter, including any provision of any permit issued pursuant to this chapter or any rule or regulation adopted by the Agency pursuant to this chapter, shall be liable to the people of the state for a civil penalty of not to exceed $3,000 for every such violation, to be assessed, after a hearing or opportunity to be heard upon due notice and with the rights to specification of the charges and representation by counsel at such hearing, by the Agency. Such penalty may be recovered in an action brought by the Attorney General at the request and in the name of the Agency in any court of competent jurisdiction. Such civil penalty may be released or compromised by the Agency before the matter has been referred to the Attorney General, and such penalty may be released or compromised and any action commenced to recover the same may be settled and discontinued by the Attorney General with the consent of the Agency. In addition, the Agency shall have power, following a hearing held in conformance with the procedures set forth in § 71-1709 of the State Environmental Conservation Law, to direct the violator to cease his or her violation of this chapter and to restore the affected freshwater wetland to its condition prior to the violation, insofar as that is possible within a reasonable time and under the supervision of the Agency. Any such order of the Agency shall be enforceable in an action brought by the Attorney General at the request and in the name of the Agency in any court of competent Jurisdiction. Any civil penalty or order issued by the Agency pursuant to this subdivision shall be reviewable in a proceeding pursuant to Article 78 of the State Civil Practice Law and Rules.
Any decision or order of the Agency, or any officer or employee thereof, made pursuant to or within the scope of this chapter may be reviewed at the instance of any person affected thereby, including but not limited to any owner of the affected wetland or adjacent area and any resident or citizen of the Town of Stillwater, by the Board in accordance with Title 11 of Article 24 of the State Environmental Conservation Law, provided such review is commenced by the filing with the Board of a notice of review within 30 days after service of such order or notice of such decision given, as the case may be.
Any party to any proceeding before the Agency may make an appeal to the Board in accordance with Title 11 of Article 24 of the State Environmental Conservation Law from any order or decision of the Agency, or any officer or employee thereof, issued or made pursuant to or within the scope of this chapter, provided such appeal is commenced by the filing with the Board of a notice of appeal within 30 days after service of such order or after notice of such decision given, as the case may be.
Any decision or order of the Agency, or any officer or employee thereof, made pursuant to or within the scope of this chapter may be reviewed at the instance of any person, including but not limited to any owner of the affected wetland or adjacent area and any resident or citizen of the Town of Stillwater, in accordance with Article 78 of the State Civil Practice Law and Rules, provided such review is commenced within 30 days of the filing of such decision or order; and the limitation upon the availability of such remedy as prescribed in § 7801 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules shall not be applicable to the applications for review of determinations and orders made pursuant to this chapter.
The institution of a judicial proceeding to review a determination or order of the Agency shall preclude the institution of a proceeding before the Board to review such a determination or order. The availability of such review by the Board shall not affect the right of any person to seek review of a determination of the Agency as provided in Article 70 of the State Civil Practice Law and Rules.
This chapter shall take effect upon the filing with the Clerk of the Town of Stillwater of the final freshwater wetlands may by the State Department of Environmental Conservation pursuant to § 24-0301 of the New York State Environmental Conservation Law applicable to any or all lands within the Town of Stillwater, New York, and upon filing of this chapter in accordance with the Municipal Home Rule Law.