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An Ordinance amending and supplementing the Allegheny County Code of Ordinances, Division 2, entitled "County Government Operations," through the creation of a new Chapter 280, entitled "Land Use Plans," in order to provide a uniform mechanism for the review of potential effects of proposed developments on stormwater management within the County.
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WHEREAS, the challenges that arise in attempting to responsibly shape development and land use patterns have made it increasingly difficult for the County and the municipalities within it to successfully meet their responsibilities to all residents; and
WHEREAS, the main purpose of economic development is to bring measurable, permanent improvements to the lives of the County's residents, while simultaneously not doing damage to already existing business, communities, or infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, recent events, most notably increasingly frequent and severe flooding in areas of the County, necessitate an evaluation of whether development projects have been undertaken and completed in a fashion that has inadvertently placed the property and safety of our County's residents in danger; and
WHEREAS, particularly with regard to flooding, development projects which are pursued in one municipality may have profound and far reaching effects in neighboring municipalities that may not be considered during the zoning approval process;
WHEREAS, it is the desire of Allegheny County Council, in cooperation with the Chief Executive, to improve the means by which economic development projects are reviewed in the context of the County as a whole, rather than on a municipality-by-municipality basis;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Allegheny County Code of Ordinances is hereby amended by the addition of a new Chapter 280, entitled "Land Use Plans," comprised as follows:
Chapter 280
Land Use Plans
§280.01. Definitions.
For the purposes of this Chapter, the following words and phrases shall be given the delineated meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
A. "Floodplain" shall mean areas adjoining a watercourse, ponds or lakes subject to the 100-year-recurrence-interval flood. The areas considered to be floodplain within the municipality shall include those areas identified as being subject to the 100-year flood in the most recent Flood Insurance Study for the municipality prepared by the Federal Insurance Administration and the accompanying flood boundary and floodway map. Floodplain soils shall be used to delineate the floodplain of watercourses that have not been mapped.
B. "Floodway" shall mean that portion of the floodplain including the watercourse channel and adjacent land areas which must be reserved to carry the 100-year-recurrence-interval flood without cumulatively increasing that flood elevation more than 1 foot.
C. "Flood Fringe" shall mean that portion of the floodplain which is outside the floodway.
D. "Approximate 100-Year Floodplain" shall mean that portion of the floodplain for which no detailed flood profiles or 100-year flood elevations have been provided.
E. "Floodplain Soils" shall mean soil types in areas subject to periodic flooding and listed in the most recent Soil Survey of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Soil Conservation Service, as being "on the flood plain" or "subject to flooding."
F. "Hydric Soils" shall mean a soil that is saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions that favor the growth and regeneration of wetlands vegetation. Wetlands vegetation are those plant species that have adapted to the saturated soils and periodic inundations occurring in wetlands. All soils classified as hydric soils in the most recent Soil Survey of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, shall be considered hydric soils for the purposes of this Chapter.
G. Lake and Ponds shall mean natural or artificial bodies of water which retain water year-round. Artificial ponds may be created by dams, or result from excavation. Lakes are bodies of water two or more acres in extent. Ponds are bodies of water less than two acres in extent.
H. "Lake and Pond Shorelines" shall mean the landside edge of lakes and ponds from established shoreline to an upland boundary. Lake and pond shorelines shall be measured 100 feet from the spillway crest elevation.
I. "Steep Slopes" shall mean areas where the average slope is 15 percent or greater, which, because of this slope, are subject to high rates of stormwater runoff and, therefore, erosion and flooding.
J. "Watercourse" shall mean any natural or artificial stream, river, creek, ditch, channel, canal, waterways, gully, or ravine in which water flows in a definite direction or course, either continuously or intermittently, and has a defined bed and banks.
K. "Wetlands" shall mean those areas that are inundated and saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, including swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.
L. "Wetland Margin" shall mean a transitional area extending from the outer limit of the wetland.
§280.02. Review Procedure.
A. Any development project with an aggregate projected cost of greater than $10 million dollars that is located in whole or in part on a parcel of property meeting the characteristics delineated in §280.03, pertaining to protection standards, shall be subject to a period of review by the Allegheny County Department of Public Works and the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development.
B. In the event that a development project is subject to review under the terms of this Chapter, the individual, company or other entity that applied for municipal zoning approval of the project shall forward copies of the approved project plan to the County Department of Public Works and the County Department of Economic Development within ten (10) days of its municipal zoning approval.
C. Upon receipt of the approved project plan, the Departments of Public Works and Economic Development shall have thirty (30) days to conduct a review of the approved project plan. The individual, company, or other entity providing the plan copies shall permit access to the development site by representatives of the County at any reasonable time in order to conduct visual site reviews and any nondestructive testing, measurement or other studies deemed necessary.
D. The County Departments of Economic Development and Public Works shall issue findings pertaining to all submitted project plans.
E. County Council may, by resolution, exempt any project from all or a portion of this Chapter.
F. The County Department of Economic Development or Public Works may be granted an additional thirty (30) days to complete their review by resolution.
§280.03. Protection Standards.
All uses and activities established after the effective date of this Chapter shall comply with the following standards. Site alterations, regrading, filling, or clearing of any natural resources prior to the submission of approved project plans and the issuance of findings pertaining to those plans by the designated County agencies shall constitute a violation of this Chapter. In the event that two or more resources overlap, the resource with the greatest protection standard shall apply to the area of overlap.
A. Floodplain. The entire extent of an area identified as within the floodplain of the 100-year recurrence-interval flood shall not be altered, regraded, filled or built upon except in compliance with the terms of this Chapter. For areas designated as "Approximate 100-Year Floodplain" along streams and watercourses where the 100-Year floodplain (with a floodway and flood fringe) has not been delineated, the requirements of Floodplain Soils shall be met. Minor road crossings may be permitted in the floodplain without County review under the terms of this Chapter where design approval is obtained from the municipality and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and if no other reasonable access is available.
B. Floodplain Soils. The entire extent of such areas shall not be altered, regraded, filled or built upon except in conformance with the terms of this Chapter. Minor road crossings may be permitted in floodplain soils where design approval is obtained from the municipality and where no other reasonable access is available. Floodplain soils shall not be used where the 100-year floodplain (with a floodway and flood rings) has been delineated.
C. Steep Slopes. Apart from any findings issued by the designated County agencies, in areas of steep slopes, the following standards shall apply:
1. 15 percent to 25 percent. No more than 30 percent of such areas shall be altered, regraded, cleared or built upon.
2. 25 percent or steeper. No more than 15 percent of such areas shall be altered, regraded, cleared or built upon.
3. Areas of steep slope that are less than 3,000 square feet shall be exempted from these standards.
D. Watercourses. Apart from any findings issued by the designated County agencies, the entire extent of such areas shall not be altered, regraded, filled, piped, diverted or built upon except where design approval is obtained from the municipality and, if required, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
E. Wetlands. Apart from any findings issued by the designated County agencies, the entire extent of such areas shall not be altered, regraded, filled, piped, diverted, or built upon except where state and federal permits have been obtained.
1. Delineation of Wetlands. When the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) Maps indicate wetlands on a site or when a site contains hydric soils or an area with a predominance of wetlands vegetation, a on-site investigation shall be conducted by the County Department of Public Works to determine if wetlands are present on the site. A landowner or an applicant shall use one of the following methods to delineate wetlands:
a) Wetland boundaries shall be delineated through an on-site assessment which shall be conducted by a professional soil scientist or others of demonstrated qualifications. Such a person shall certify that the methods used correctly reflect currently accepted technical concepts, including the presence of wetlands vegetation, hydric soils and/or hydrologic indicators.
b) A wetlands delineation validated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In the event that a wetlands delineation validated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is shown to vary from a wetlands boundary derived from subsection a. above, the Corps delineation shall govern.
F. Wetlands Margin. Apart from any findings issued by the designated County agencies, no more than 20 percent of such areas shall be altered, regraded, filled, or built upon. In addition, any Department of Environmental Protections' regulations under Chapter 105 concerning activities in wetlands margins shall be met. For the purposes of this Chapter, the wetlands margin shall extend 100 feet from the wetland boundary or to the limit of the hydric soils, whichever is less. The limit of hydric soils shall be as mapped in the most recent Soil Survey of Allegheny Counties, Pennsylvania, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, unless reclassified by a Certified Soil Scientist.
G. Lakes and Ponds. Apart from any findings issued by the designated County agencies, the entire extent of such areas shall not be altered, regraded, filled, piped, diverted, or built upon.
H. Lake and Pond Shorelines. For the purposes of this Chapter, lake and pond shorelines shall be measured 100 feet from the spillway crest elevation. Apart from any findings issued by the designated County agencies, no more than 20 percent of such areas shall be altered, regraded, filled, or built upon.
I. Stormwater Management. Apart from any findings issued by the designated County agencies, not more than one-third of the total area of any parcel may be used for stormwater detention or retention basins.
§290.04. Noncompliance.
A. Any individual, company or other entity failing to comply with the terms of this Chapter during the process of constructing the development project shall be provided written notice of noncompliance by the County Department of Public Works. Individuals or other entities remaining out of compliance with the terms of this Chapter ten (10) days after the issuance of the required notice shall be guilty of a summary offense, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500). Each day upon which the individual or company does not comply with the requirements of this Chapter during the development construction process shall be punishable as a separate offense.
B. In the event that any individual, company or other entity refuses or fails to comply with the terms of this Chapter with regard to any proposed development, such development, whether public or privately initiated, shall be deemed ineligible for any County funding, whether accomplished through direct appropriation, debt issuance, tax exemption or subsidy, or grant funding of any description, including but not limited to funding of any portion of the project through the Community Development Block Grant program or other means, to the extent that such ineligibility is consistent with applicable state and/or federal law, for a period of five (5) years.
§290.05. Administration of Fines.
All fines collected pursuant to the terms of this Chapter shall be remitted to the County and deposited into a segregated fund. Revenues deposited into this segregated fund may only be appropriated for the purposes of providing relief to individuals or businesses within the County suffering from flood damage and flood mitigation activities, provided that no more than fifty percent (50%) of the revenue deposited into the segregated account in any calendar year may be appropriated for the purpose of flood mitigation activities by the County, including but not limited to the construction or improvement of stormwater management devices or other capital improvements designed to mitigate the occurrence or effects of flooding.
SECTION 2 . Severability.
If any provision of this Ordinance shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Ordinance which shall be in full force and effect.