2918-25 STORMWATER 4.8.25-Revised - Final.pdf

1 2918-25 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING CHAPTER 25, SECTION 29 OF THE REVISED GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE TOWNSHIP OF WEST ORANGE BASED ON RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE NEW JERSEY STORMWATER BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES MANUAL BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE TOWNSHIP OF WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY that Chapter 25, Section 29 et seq., requires amendments based on the recommendations from the New Jersey Stormwater Management Practices Manual as follows: § 25-29.1—Scope and Purpose: A. Policy Statement Flood control, groundwater recharge, and pollutant reduction shall be achieved using stormwater management measures, including green infrastructure Best Management Practices (GI BMPs) and nonstructural stormwater management strategies, and preservation of existing mature trees as per §25-27of the Township Code. GI BMPs and low impact development (LID) should be utilized to meet the goal of maintaining natural hydrology to reduce stormwater runoff volume, reduce erosion, encourage infiltration and groundwater recharge, and reduce pollution. GI BMPs and LID should be developed based upon physical site conditions and the origin, nature and the anticipated quantity, or amount, of potential pollutants. Multiple stormwater management BMPs may be necessary to achieve the established performance standards for water quality, quantity, and groundwater recharge. GI BMPs and LID practices not only address stormwater runoff but may also result in multiple benefits, including providing open space and beautifying neighborhoods, cooling and cleansing the air, reducing asthma and heat-related illnesses, and saving on heating and cooling energy costs. B. Purpose The purpose of this ordinance is to establish minimum stormwater management requirements and controls for “major development,” and “minor development” as defined below in § 25-29.2. C. Applicability: This Ordinance shall be applicable to all zones throughout the Township of West Orange. 1. This ordinance shall be applicable to the following major developments: a. Non-residential major developments; and b. All residential major developments that are not pre-empted by the Residential Site Improvement Standards at N.J.A.C. 5:21. Deleted: XXXX-

2 c. All redevelopment as defined in § 25-29.2 2. This ordinance shall be applicable to minor developments as defined in § 25-29.2. This ordinance shall also be applicable to all major and minor developments undertaken by Township of West Orange, the State of New Jersey or any political subdivision of the state unless specifically exempt by statute, regulations, rule or ordinance. 3. An application required by ordinance pursuant to C.1 above that has been submitted prior to the adoption of this Ordinance, shall be subject to the stormwater management requirements in effect on one (1) day prior to the adoption date of this ordinance. 4. An application required by ordinance for approval pursuant to C.1 above that has been submitted on or after March 2, 2021, but prior to the adoption of this Ordinance, shall be subject to the stormwater management requirements in effect on one (1) day prior to the adoption date of this ordinance. 5. Notwithstanding any rule to the contrary, a major development for any public roadway or railroad project conducted by a public transportation entity that has determined a preferred alternative or reached an equivalent milestone before July 17, 2023, shall be subject to the stormwater management requirements in effect prior to July 17, 2023. D. Compatibility with Other Permit and Ordinance Requirements Development approvals issued pursuant to this ordinance are to be considered an integral part of development approvals and do not relieve the applicant of the responsibility to secure required permits or approvals for activities regulated by any other applicable code, rule, act, or ordinance. In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this ordinance shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, and general welfare. This ordinance is not intended to interfere with, abrogate, or annul any other ordinances, rule or regulation, statute, or other provision of law except that, where any provision of this ordinance imposes restrictions different from those imposed by any other ordinance, rule or regulation, or other provision of law, the more restrictive provisions or higher standards shall control. § 25-29.2—Definitions: For this ordinance, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings stated herein unless their use in the text of this Chapter

s shall control. § 25-29.2—Definitions: For this ordinance, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings stated herein unless their use in the text of this Chapter clearly demonstrates a different meaning. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words used in the plural number include the singular number, and words used in the singular number include the plural number. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory. The definitions below are the same as or based on the corresponding definitions in the Stormwater Management Rules at N.J.A.C. 7:8-1.2.

3 “CAFRA Centers, Cores or Nodes” means those areas with boundaries incorporated by reference or revised by the Department in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:7-13.16. “CAFRA Planning Map” means the map used by the Department to identify the location of Coastal Planning Areas, CAFRA centers, CAFRA cores, and CAFRA nodes. The CAFRA Planning Map is available on the Department's Geographic Information System (GIS). “Category One Waters (C1)” means waters of the state designated in N.J.A.C. 7:9B- 1.15(c) through (h) for purposes of implementing the anti-degradation policies set forth at N.J.A.C. 7:9B-1.5(d) for protection from measurable changes in water quality characteristics because of their clarity, color, scenic setting, other characteristics of aesthetic value, exceptional ecological significance, exceptional recreational significance, exceptional water supply significance, or exceptional fisheries resources(s). “Community basin” means an infiltration system, sand filter designed to infiltrate, standard constructed wetland, or wet pond, established in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:8-4.2(c)14, that is designed and constructed in accordance with the New Jersey Stormwater Best Management Practices Manual, or an alternate design, approved in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:8-5.2(g), for an infiltration system, sand filter designed to infiltrate, standard constructed wetland, or wet pond and that complies with the requirements of this chapter. “Compaction” means the increase in soil bulk density that reduces the soil’s infiltration rate. “Contributory drainage area” means the area from which stormwater runoff drains to a stormwater management measure, not including the area of the stormwater management measure itself. “Core” means a pedestrian-oriented area of commercial and civic uses serving the surrounding municipality, generally including housing and access to public transportation. “Core forest” means any forest as defined below, that has some portion of at least 330 feet from the edges of the total forest area. “County review agency” means an agency designated by the County Commissioners to review municipal stormwater management plans and implementing ordinance(s). The county review agency may either be: 1. A county planning agency or 2. A county water resource association created under N.J.S.A 58:16A-55.5, if the ordinance or resolution delegates authority to approve,

nty review agency may either be: 1. A county planning agency or 2. A county water resource association created under N.J.S.A 58:16A-55.5, if the ordinance or resolution delegates authority to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove municipal stormwater management plans and implementing ordinances. “Department” means the Department of Environmental Protection.

4 “Designated Center” means a State Development and Redevelopment Plan Center as designated by the State Planning Commission such as urban, regional, town, village, or hamlet. “Design engineer” means a person professionally qualified and duly licensed in New Jersey to perform engineering services that may include, but not necessarily be limited to, development of project requirements, creation and development of project design and preparation of drawings and specifications. “Development” means the division of a parcel of land into two or more parcels, the construction, reconstruction, conversion, structural alteration, relocation or enlarge- enlargement of any building or structure, any mining excavation or landfill, and any use or change in the use of any building or other structure, or land or extension of use of land, for which permission is required under the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. For purposes of this ordinance, “development” shall include any redevelopment of a parcel. In the case of development of agricultural land, development means: any activity that requires a state permit, any activity reviewed by the County Agricultural Board (CAB) and the State Agricultural Development Committee (SADC), and municipal review of any activity not exempted by the Right to Farm Act, N.J.S.A 4:1C-1 et seq. “Disturbance” means the placement or reconstruction of impervious surface or motor vehicle surface, or exposure and/or movement of soil or bedrock or clearing, cutting, or removing of vegetation. Milling and repaving is not considered disturbance for the purposes of this definition. “Drainage area” means a geographic area within which stormwater, sediments, or dissolved materials drain to a particular receiving waterbody or to a particular point along a receiving waterbody. “Environmentally constrained area” means the following areas where the physical alteration of the land is in some way restricted, either through regulation, easement, deed restriction or ownership such as: wetlands, floodplains, threatened and endangered species sites or designated habitats, and parks and preserves. Habitats of endangered or threatened species are identified using the Department's Landscape Project as approved by the Department's Endangered and Nongame Species Program. “Environmentally critical area” means an area or feature which is of

ies are identified using the Department's Landscape Project as approved by the Department's Endangered and Nongame Species Program. “Environmentally critical area” means an area or feature which is of significant environmental value, including but not limited to: stream corridors, natural heritage priority sites, habitats of endangered or threatened species, large areas of contiguous open space or upland forest, steep slopes, and well head protection and groundwater recharge areas. Habitats of endangered or threatened species are identified using the Department’s Landscape Project as approved by the Department’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program.

5 “Empowerment Neighborhoods” means neighborhoods designated by the Urban Coordinating Council “in consultation and conjunction with” the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority pursuant to N.J.S.A 55:19-69. “Erosion” means the detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by water, wind, ice, or gravity. “Forest” means a wooded area having an ecosystem typically consisting of a thick growth of trees and plants that has occurred through natural succession or reforestation, that exhibits or normally exhibits a contiguous tree canopy of greater than either 200 feet in width in any direction or one acre in area. The term “forest” shall include but not be limited to “core forest” as defined above. “Green infrastructure” A. Those processes of the land to manage and retain Stormwater. Stormwater management measures that manage stormwater close to its source by: 1. Treating stormwater runoff through infiltration into subsoil; 2. Treating stormwater runoff through filtration by vegetation or soil; or 3. Storing stormwater runoff for reuse. B. Examples of Green Infrastructure include but are not limited to rain gardens, green roofs, permeable pavement; bio infiltration basins, cisterns, or vegetated swales. “Groundwater” means a body of water below the surface of the land in a zone of saturation where the spaces between the soil or geological materials are fully saturated with water. "“HUC 14" or "hydrologic unit code 14" means an area within which water drains to a particular receiving surface water body, also known as a sub watershed, which is identified by a 14-digit hydrologic unit boundary designation, delineated within New Jersey by the United States Geological Survey. “Impaired water” means a surface water listed in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Integrated Water Quality Assessment Report as failing to meet one or more designated uses or not meeting the standards set out in the Surface Water Quality Standards at N.J.A.C. 7:9B et seq. “Impervious surface” means a surface that has been covered with a layer of material so that it is highly resistant to infiltration by water. Impervious surfaces include and are not limited to roofs, asphalt, concrete, some stone roads, parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, porous asphalt, porous concrete systems, synthetic turf fields, pools, and patios. “Infiltration” is the process by which water seeps into

ncrete, some stone roads, parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, porous asphalt, porous concrete systems, synthetic turf fields, pools, and patios. “Infiltration” is the process by which water seeps into the soil from precipitation. “Lead planning agency” means one or more public entities having stormwater management planning authority designated by the regional stormwater management Deleted: means a stormwater management measure that manages stormwater close to its source by:… Deleted: porous asphalt or

6 planning committee pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:8-3.2, that serves as the primary representative of the committee. “Low impact development techniques” means Using strategies and measures that manage stormwater runoff quantity and quality in the absence of structural stormwater measures, such as minimizing site disturbance, preserving natural vegetation and other important site features such as forests and especially core forests, reducing and disconnecting impervious cover, minimizing proposed ground slopes, using native vegetation, minimizing turf grass lawns, revegetating areas, increasing time of concentration, and maintaining and enhancing natural drainage features and characteristics. “Maintenance plan” means a document required for the maintenance of stormwater management measures at all major and minor development projects. A Maintenance Plan shall contain a specific preventive maintenance tasks and schedules; cost estimates, including estimated cost of sediment, debris, or trash removal; and the name, address, and telephone number of the person or persons responsible for preventive and corrective maintenance including replacement. “Major development” means an individual “development,” including redevelopment, as well as multiple developments that individually or collectively result in: 1. The disturbance 0.5 acre of land since February 2, 2004; 2. The creation of 5,000 square feet or more of “regulated impervious surface” since February 2, 2004. 3. The creation of 5,000 square feet or more of “regulated motor vehicle surface” since March 2, 2021, or 4. A combination of 2 and 3 above that totals an area of 5,000 square feet or more. The same surface shall not be counted twice when determining if the combination area equals one-quarter acre or more. Major development includes all developments that are part of a common plan of development or sale (for example, phased residential development) that collectively or individually meet any one or more of paragraphs 1, 2, 3, or 4 above. Projects undertaken by any government agency that otherwise meet the definition of “major development,” but which do not require approval under the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., are also considered “major development.” “Minor development” means any development that results in a new dwelling and/or the construction of any site improvements that result in an