Lewiston Town City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XVIII
Mining/Excavation Overlay Zone
§ 360-121 General regulations.
A.
The Mining/Excavation Overlay District provides a means of authorizing mining and/or excavation activities within the community, and minimizing potential adverse impacts from such activities.
B.
Definitions. The following terms shall have the meanings indicated for purposes of this article:
MINERAL
Any naturally formed, usually inorganic, consolidated or unconsolidated material located on or below the surface of the earth. For purposes of this section, peat and topsoil shall be considered minerals.
MINE SITE
The parcel of land where mining occurs.
MINING
The extraction, removal or relocation of topsoil, overburden and/or minerals from the earth including but not limited to the preparation and processing of minerals, including any activities or processes or parts thereof for the extraction or removal of minerals from their original location and the preparation, washing, cleaning, crushing, stockpiling or other suitable processing of minerals at the mine location so as to make them suitable for commercial, industrial, or construction use; the removal of such materials through sale or exchange, or for commercial, industrial or municipal use; and the disposition of topsoil, overburden, tailings and waste at the mine site. Mining shall not include (1) the excavation, removal and disposition of minerals from construction projects, except for activity which will result in the creation of water bodies or erosion/sedimentation control structures, (2) or excavations in aid of agricultural use.
OVERBURDEN
All of the earth, vegetation and other materials which lie above or alongside a mineral deposit.
RECREATIONAL POND
Any body of water, natural or man-made, located on a site for the principal purpose of aesthetic or recreational uses.
C.
General guidelines. No excavation and/or mining shall be conducted within the Town of Lewiston except:
(1)
In conformity with this section, in a Mining/Excavation Overlay District as approved by a zoning change by the Town Board pursuant to the amendment process of this chapter.
(2)
Upon issuance of a site plan approval and where required, of subdivision approval
(3)
Upon providing proof of issuance of all required federal and state permits.
D.
Applications for excavation and mining activities shall include all submittals required for zoning amendments, site plan approvals, and any other provision of the Town Code applicable to the proposed project. Nothing in this section shall be deemed a waiver of any other requirement under the Town Code.
E.
Process. The process to have lands rezoned to the Mining/Excavation Overlay District is hereby broken into two different processes for the two types of mining/excavation that can be proposed; projects requiring a permit under 6 NYCRR Part 420, and those project not requiring this permit (and do not meet the exemption requirements of this chapter).
(1)
Projects requiring a permit under 6 NYCRR Part 420.
(a)
A preapplication meeting shall be scheduled with the Code Enforcement Officer to discuss the project and to receive required applications and forms. The Code Enforcement Officer may determine that the application is proposed in an area that prohibits rezoning to mining/excavation and therefore, application cannot be made.
(b)
A rezoning application in accordance with the Town rezoning process requirements needs to be submitted to the Town along with required Site plan application and materials. If the project would require subdivision approval, then a subdivision application must also be submitted.
(c)
Since the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regulates mining through a permit process contained in 6 NYCRR Part 420 and the NYSDEC is SEQR Lead Agency for these types of projects, the applicant must concurrently apply for their New York State permit with their application process to the Town.
(d)
The application will be coordinated between the Town Board and Planning Board in accordance with Town Law, but time frames for actions shall not begin until the SEQR process is completed.
(e)
The NYSDEC, through the SEQR and mining permit process will coordinate their reviews of the project with the Town of Lewiston.
(f)
The Town of Lewiston, through their rezoning and site plan processes (Planning Board and Town Board meetings, public hearings, etc.) will provide input to the NYSDEC on such issues as:
[1]
The appropriate setbacks from roads and property boundaries.
[2]
The location and design of barriers to restrict access to the mine.
[3]
Dust control issues.
[4]
Hours of operation.
[5]
Other zoning, land use and Comprehensive Planning issues.
(g)
Once the NYSDEC completes the SEQR process (negative declaration or positive findings), the Town of Lewiston will make its decision on the rezoning based on the results of the SEQR process and the projects conformance with the Comprehensive Plan and the requirements/criteria of this law.
(h)
If the Town decides to rezone the lands, conditions of the rezoning can include such things as the following:
[1]
Ingress and egress conditions for access to Town of Lewiston roads.
[2]
Routing of trucks on Town of Lewiston Roads.
[3]
Conditions relating to conditions in the NYSDEC mining permit relating to setbacks, dust control, and hours of operations.
[4]
Enforcement conditions relating to NYSDEC's reclamation requirements.
(i)
If rezoning is received, the applicant will complete any other required approvals in the Town including site plan, subdivision, variances, etc.
(2)
Projects not requiring a permit under 6 NYCRR Part 420, and not being an exempt action under this chapter.
(a)
A preapplication meeting shall be scheduled with the Code Enforcement Officer to discuss the project and to receive required applications and forms. The Code Enforcement Officer may determine that the application is proposed in an area that prohibits rezoning to mining/excavation and therefore, application cannot be made.
(b)
A rezoning application in accordance with the Town rezoning process requirements needs to be submitted to the Town along with required site plan application and materials. If the project would require subdivision approval, then a subdivision application must also be submitted.
(c)
The Town shall follow the rezoning process in this chapter, and will complete the SEQR process with the Town Board acting as SEQR Lead Agency.
(d)
Once the SEQR process is complete, the Town can move forward with the rezoning decision.
(e)
A rezoning decision may include conditions relating to, but not limited to, the following issues:
[1]
Ingress and egress conditions for access to the Town of Lewiston roads.
[2]
Routing of trucks on the Town of Lewiston Roads.
[3]
Setbacks, dust control, hours of operations, etc.
[4]
Duration of the operation and inspection procedures.
[5]
Noise, types of equipment, drainage etc.
F.
Criteria for rezoning decision. The following are the major criteria that will be used in evaluating whether a mining/excavating overlay rezoning application will be approved:
(1)
A mining/excavation overlay shall not be placed over any lands zoned as follows:
(a)
R-1 District: One-Family Residence District.
(b)
R-2 District: Two-Family District.
(c)
CH: Cluster Housing District.
(d)
B District: Business District.
(e)
OSPR District: Open Space Preservation and Recreation District.
(2)
The rezoning to this overlay shall be in accordance with the Town of Lewiston's Comprehensive Plan and all of its updates.
(3)
Impacts to public infrastructure: roads, water, sewer, drainage, etc. The use of Town highways for hauling materials off the site is prohibited unless authorized by the Town Board.
(4)
A Mining and excavation overlay shall not be located within 500 feet of a residential dwelling (not associated with the subject property), a school, church or similar place of assembly.
(5)
Mining/excavation shall not be allowed on steep slopes (> 10%), wetlands and other environmentally sensitive areas.
(6)
A mining and excavation overlay shall not be allowed in the Niagara River Overlay area or within any stream corridor overlays.
G.
Exemptions. The following activities are exempt from the provisions of this section:
(1)
The construction of a building or part thereof pursuant to a valid building permit, or construction/replacement/repair of a septic system;
(2)
The regrading (including excavating) or filling of land where such activity will involve less than two cubic yards per thousand square feet of gross lot area, or 60 cubic yards of material, whichever is less, at a site over a period of 12 successive calendar months, provided such work does not cause a danger of surface waters flooding adjacent property and no stream, watercourse or floodway is filled or diverted from its course;
(3)
Detention basins or other drainage improvements intended to temporarily hold water after storm events;
(4)
A recreational pond not greater than one-third of an acre or 10% of total lot in total surface area, whichever is lesser, on a lot of not less than two acres, with setbacks of at least 50 feet from street lot lines and side lot lines, and slopes no greater than one foot vertical to three foot horizontal for any bank continuous to the toe of the slope. Recreational ponds qualifying for this exemption shall obtain a building permit;
(5)
Filling in of an abandoned swimming pools, basements, and foundations to existing grade;
(6)
Movement and/or storage of materials where such materials were not excavated on-site, nor will remain on-site, but rather are materials stored on-site for sale, or for use at other sites.
H.
Expansion. If any mine, excavation or pond is proposed for expansion, the requirements of this section shall apply to the application for such expansion, unless the mine, excavation or pond, after expansion, shall qualify for one of the exemptions to this article.
I.
Fees. Reasonable fees shall be set by the Town of Lewiston to process the mining/excavation overlay rezoning application (in addition to the standard rezoning fee, subdivision fee and site plan fee). This rezoning (mining/excavation overlay) shall also carry with it a yearly fee (for as long as the mining or excavation takes place) to inspect the site and operations to ensure conformance to standards and mitigation placed on the project.