New Castle City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VA
Source Water Protection Area
§ 230-40.1 Purpose.
A.
The purpose of the Source Water Protection Area Ordinance is to ensure the protection of the public drinking water supply from contamination. The City of New Castle hereby adopts the overlay maps delineating, as source water protection areas, the following zoning classifications:
B.
To ensure the protection of drinking water supplies, this article establishes a zoning overlay to be known as the Source Water Protection Overlay. The purpose of the Source Water Protection Overlay is to protect public health and safety by minimizing contamination of aquifers and preserving and protecting existing and potential sources of drinking water supplies. It is the intent to accomplish this through both public education and public cooperation, as well as by creating appropriate land use regulations that may be imposed in addition to those currently imposed by existing zoning district or other federal, state and county regulations.
C.
The regulations shall apply to all new construction, redevelopment or expansion of existing buildings and new or expanded uses. Activities and uses allowed in a portion of one of the underlying zoning districts that fall within the Source Water Protection Overlay must additionally comply with the requirements of those set forth for either the AWRP or CWRP, as applicable.
D.
Any well in existence prior to the adoption of this article (nonconforming use) may be replaced or modified, and the replacement or modified well(s) is exempt from the conditions of this article.
§ 230-40.2 Definitions.
This section defines words, terms, and phrases found in this article.
An AST is a single containment vessel greater than 500 gallons as defined in the Delaware Regulations Governing Aboveground Storage Tanks.
A person, firm, or government agency that executes the necessary forms to obtain approval or a permit for any zoning, subdivision, land development, building, land disturbance, or other activity regulated.
A geological formation, group of formations or part of a formation composed of rock, sand, or gravel capable of storing and yielding groundwater to wells.
Are defined in terms of either those substances specifically designated as hazardous under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), otherwise known as the Superfund Law, or those substances identified under other laws. In all, the Superfund Law includes references to four other laws to designate more than 800 substances as hazardous, and identify many more as potentially hazardous due to their characteristics and the circumstances of their release. See: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/er/hazsubs/ceresubs.htm
The surface area extending to a minimum three-hundred-foot radius around the wellhead.
The remaining surface area of the delineated wellhead protection area outside the AWRP.
Any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance that enters the hydrological cycle through human action and may cause a deleterious effect on groundwater resources; it shall include but is not limited to hazardous waste, limiting nutrients, and sanitary sewage.
The process of defining and/or mapping a boundary that approximates the areas that contribute water to a particular water source used as a public water supply.
A report required by this article that assesses the environmental characteristics of a source water protection area and determines what effects or impacts will result if the area is altered or disturbed by a proposed action that would increase impervious cover beyond the recommended twenty-percent threshold.
An individual who is registered in the State of Delaware to practice the profession of geology.
The water contained in interconnected pores located below the water table in an unconfined aquifer or located in a confined aquifer.
An underground storage tank system that contains a hazardous substance defined in Section 101(14) of the CERCLA[1] (but not including any substance regulated as a hazardous waste under RCRA Subtitle C) or any mixture of such substances and petroleum, and which is not a petroleum UST system.
A solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating irreversible, illness, or pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed. Without limitation, included within this definition are those hazardous wastes described in Sections 261.31, 261.32, and 261.33 of the Delaware Regulations Governing Hazardous Waste.
Surfaces providing negligible infiltration such as pavement, buildings, recreation facilities (e.g., tennis courts, swimming pools, etc.), and covered driveways.
An existing use of a lot or a building that was legal at the time of its creation that is not permitted by this chapter in the district in which it is located.
Open space that is essentially unimproved and set aside, dedicated, designated, or reserved for public or private use.
Refers to recreation that involves existing natural resources and has a minimal impact because they do not require the alteration of existing topography. Such passive recreation shall include but not be limited to nonmotorized vehicles, hiking, bicycling, picnicking, and bird-watching.
Any well from which the water is used to serve a community water system by Section 22.146 (Public Water Systems) in the Delaware State Regulations Governing Public Drinking Water Systems.
A community, noncommunity, or nontransient noncommunity water system, which provides piped water to the public for human consumption. The system must have at least 15 service connections or regularly serve at least 25 individuals daily for at least 60 days.
Conventional or alternative wastewater treatment and disposal systems installed or proposed to be installed on land of the owner or on other land to which the owner has the legal right to install the system.
Any proposed expansion, addition, or major facade change to an existing building, structure, or parking facility.
That portion of precipitation or snowmelt that has not evaporated or infiltrated into the soil, but flows on land or impervious surfaces.
A land site at which solid waste is deposited on or into the land as fill for the purpose of permanent disposal, except that it will not include any facility that has been approved for the disposal of hazardous waste under the Delaware Regulations Governing Hazardous Waste.
A process for the review and approval of a development plan prior to the issuance of a development.
Refers to any aquifer from which water is drawn either periodically or continuously by a public water system.
The area delineated by DNREC Source Water Assessment and Protection Program that contributes water to a public water supply system.
The October 1999 U.S. EPA approved plan for evaluating the sources of public drinking water in Delaware for their vulnerability and susceptibility to contamination.
The identification and evaluation of the sources of water within the state used by public water systems in an effort to determine the vulnerability and susceptibility to contamination.
Encompasses Class A and Class C Water Resource Protection areas.
The runoff of water from the surface of the land resulting from precipitation or snow or ice melts.
For water quantity control, a system of vegetative, structural, and other measures that may control the volume and rate of stormwater runoff which may be caused by land-disturbing activities or activities upon the land; and
For water quality control, a system of vegetative, structural, and other measures that control adverse effects on water quality that may be caused by land-disturbing activities or activities upon the land.
Lands or buildings that are not actively used for any purpose as designated in the underlying zoning district/overlay for one year.
An UST is one or a combination of tanks including underground pipes, the volume of which is 10% or more belowground, as defined in the Delaware Regulations Governing Underground Storage Tank Systems. The following USTs are not subject to the design, construction, operation, and maintenance requirements of the Delaware UST Regulations: residential heating fuel, agricultural, and residential motor fuel USTs less than 1,100 gallons and any UST less than 110 gallons.
Water-carried waste from septic tanks, water closets, residences, building, industrial establishments, or other places, together with such groundwater infiltration, subsurface water, and mixtures of industrial wastes or other wastes as may be present.
Those characteristics of stormwater runoff from an impervious surface or a land-disturbing activity that relate to the chemical, physical, biological, or radiological integrity of water.
Those characteristics of stormwater runoff that relate to the volume of stormwater runoff to downstream-gradient areas resulting from land-disturbing activities.
Those characteristics of stormwater that relate to the volume of stormwater that infiltrates the land surface and enters the underlying aquifer.
The upper terminal of a well, including adapters, ports, seals, valves, and other attachments.
Surface and subsurface areas surrounding public water supply wells or well fields where the quantity or quality of groundwater moving toward the wells or well fields may be adversely affected by land use activity.
The March 1990 U.S. EPA approved plan for protecting the quality of drinking water derived from public water supply wells in Delaware.
Surface and subsurface areas surrounding public water supply wells or wellfields where the quantity or quality of groundwater moving toward such wells or wellfields may be adversely affected by land use activity. Such activity may result in a reduction of recharge or may lead to introduction of contaminants to groundwater used for public supply.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 42 U.S.C. § 9601.
§ 230-40.3 Source water protection areas.
A.
Source water protection areas (CWRPAs) encompass Class A and Class C Water Resource Protection areas. All such areas are as depicted on the three-map series, specifically Sheet 1, "Water Resource Protection Areas for...New Castle County, Delaware," prepared by the Water Resources Agency for New Castle County, dated 1993, or as amended. These maps are available in GIS overlays from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Division of Water Resources, Source Water Assessment and Protection Program.
B.
These areas shall be managed as required by the following sections to protect public drinking water resources from activities and substances that may harm water quality and subtract from overall water quantity.
§ 230-40.4 Prohibited and restricted uses.
A.
Land use restrictions and uses in source water protections areas. Activities shall be subject to the land use restrictions contained within this article that will protect the quality and quantity of groundwater supplies.
Well Head Protection Area | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Land Use | Class A | Class C | |
Aboveground storage tanks | No | 1 | |
Automobile body/repair shop | No | No | |
Chemical processing/storage facility | No | No | |
Dry cleaner | No | No | |
Dry wells/sumps2 | No | No | |
Electrical/electronic manufacturing facility | No | No | |
Equipment maintenance/fueling areas | No | No | |
Fleet/trucking/bus terminal | No | No | |
Gas station | No | No | |
Hazardous Waste | No | No | |
Injection wells3 | No | No | |
Irrigated nursery/greenhouse stock | No | Yes | |
Junk/scrap/salvage yard | No | No | |
Machine shop | No | No | |
Manure storage | No | No | |
Metal plating/finishing/fabricating facility | No | No | |
Mines/gravel pit | No | No | |
On-site wastewater treatment and disposal systems | No | No | |
Underground storage tanks | No | No | |
Vessel storage | No | No | |
Wood preserving/treating facility | No | No | |
NOTES: | |
Conditional: | |
1See narrative section. | |
2Dry wells/sumps, except for single-family residences directing gutter downspouts to a drywell. | |
3Injection wells other than those used in the remediation of groundwater contamination that inject oxygen-releasing compounds. |
§ 230-40.5 Wellhead protection areas.
A.
The DNREC Source Water Assessment and Protection Program delineates wellhead protection areas (WHPAs) to ensure the integrity of public drinking water. Deep wells drilled into confined aquifers and low-volume wells in unconfined aquifers have, at minimum, a three-hundred-foot radius wellhead protection area. The wellhead protection area surrounding public supply wells in unconfined aquifers that pump more than 50,000 gallons per day are delineated using a mathematical model. This type of well draws large quantities of water and can have much larger wellhead protection areas. Classifications have been created to manage land use within the wellhead protection area. They are defined as:
(1)
Class A water resource protection area is the surface area extending in a three-hundred-foot radius around the wellhead. The protection area around the well may be reduced to a one-hundred-fifty-foot radius, provided a hydrogeological report, prepared by a Delaware Registered Geologist and submitted to the satisfaction of the Delaware Geological Survey and the DNREC, is prepared. The report must certify that the minimum sixty-day time of travel from a point to the public water supply well is maintained; and the well draws from a confined aquifer.
(2)
Class C water resource protection area is the remaining surface area of the wellhead protection area outside the Class A Water Resource Protection area. Land use restrictions within the CWRP area are required to ensure adequate protection of the public drinking water supply.
B.
AWRP area requirements.
(1)
Parcels of land within the AWRP and wellhead protection area will be preserved in a natural condition with the exception of impervious surface limited to building and access associated with the well and distribution and treatment facilities and their maintenance.
(2)
Aboveground storage tanks for materials used in the treatment facility operation are permitted.
(3)
Underground storage tanks are prohibited.
(4)
Stormwater runoff will be diverted away from the wellhead.
(5)
Stormwater infiltration practices designed to handle runoff are prohibited.
C.
CWRP area requirements.
(1)
Impervious cover. Impervious cover shall not exceed 20% per parcel within the CWRP area.
(2)
Stormwater.
(a)
Stormwater shall be treated by an approved stormwater quality management practice in accordance with current requirements of the Delaware Sediment and Stormwater Regulations dated October 11, 2006 or as later revised.
(b)
For all new construction, all structures shall be required to discharge roof drains into recharge systems. Recharge systems shall be in accordance with Section 10.0 of the Delaware Sediment and Stormwater Regulations dated October 11, 2006 or as later revised.
(3)
Underground storage tanks.
(a)
Underground storage tanks with a capacity greater than 110 gallons containing petroleum, and residential and agricultural USTs with a capacity greater than 1,100 gallons containing heating fuel or motor fuel shall not be permitted within a one-thousand-five-hundred-foot radius of a delineated wellhead protection area.
(4)
Aboveground storage tanks. Aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) may not be permitted in delineated wellhead areas. Requests for siting of ASTs shall be subject to review by the Municipal Services Commission, who shall provide a recommendation for action by the City Council.
(5)
Wastewater treatment and disposal systems. On-site wastewater treatment and disposal systems shall not be permitted.
§ 230-40.6 Boundary determination for CWRPA.
A.
All subdivision and land development plans depicting development or land disturbance submitted for City review shall be evaluated for the existence of source water protection areas. Source water protection areas encompass Class A and Class C Water Resource Protection areas. All such areas are as depicted on the three-map series, specifically Sheet 1, "Water Resource Protection Areas for...New Castle County, Delaware," prepared by the Water Resources Agency for New Castle County, dated 1993, or as amended. These maps are available in GIS overlays from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Division of Water Resources, Source Water Assessment and Protection Program. If a CWRPA exists within a proposed development site, the boundaries of these areas shall be delineated on the plan by the applicant's State of Delaware professional engineer or professional geologist.
B.
DNREC SWAPP may, when based on sound science and information, revise and update the overlay maps of wellhead protection areas.
C.
When there appears to be a conflict between the mapped boundary and actual site conditions, the applicant may engage the services of professional geologist to prepare a report intended to determine more accurately the precise boundary of the source water protection area. The report shall include:
(1)
A detailed topographic layout of the subdivision and/or area to be developed and prepared by a state-registered professional land surveyor or professional geologist;
(2)
Evidence derived from a site-specific investigation that may include aquifer testing, test borings, test pits, observation wells, groundwater elevations, and topography surveys as appropriate for the type of source water protection area that clearly demonstrate that the area in question does not meet the definition of a source water protection area as defined;
(3)
Notwithstanding any other section of this chapter, if an owner initiates a precise boundary delineation pursuant to this section, any and all time review limitations shall be stayed pending the submission of the complete report contemplated by this section. Following submission of the report and all supporting documents, the Department shall have 90 days to finally approve or disapprove the exploratory sketch plan submission or such further time as deemed necessary by the Department, but not to exceed an additional 90 days.
§ 230-40.7 Redevelopment.
A.
Impervious cover restrictions.
(1)
Site modifications that require site plan approval must create a fifteen-percent reduction in the amount of impervious cover on the site when compared to pre-redevelopment conditions.
(2)
If the fifteen-percent reduction would require a site to go below the twenty-percent maximum impervious cover provisions of source water protection areas, then the maximum impervious surface cover for the site is 20%.
B.
Stormwater.
(1)
Sites that do not meet the twenty-percent impervious cover threshold must employ rooftop infiltration practices. Stormwater shall be treated by an approved stormwater quality management practice in accordance with current requirements of the Delaware Sediment and Stormwater Regulations dated October 11, 2006 or as later revised.
§ 230-40.8 Nonconforming uses
A.
Nonconforming uses may continue in wellhead protection areas, in the form in which they existed at the time of the adoption of this article, unless they pose a direct hazard to the City's water supply, as determined by the Municipal Services Commission Water Department upon advice from the Delaware Division of Public Health, or are causing some foreign substances (oil, salts, chemicals, or other substances) to be introduced into the City's water supply, as determined by the water department upon advice from DNREC's Division of Air and Waste Management and/or Division of Water Resources. In the latter case, the building department shall issue a mandatory cease and desist to stop the offending activity within the area. Nonconforming existing underground or aboveground storage of oil, petroleum, and petroleum products shall require secondary containment pursuant to the State of Delaware regulations governing underground storage tanks or for aboveground storage of petroleum products secondary containment facilities capable of capturing the material stored on the site, for existing facilities that are proposed either to be upgraded or replaced.
B.
Any well in existence prior to the adoption of this article (nonconforming use) may be replaced or modified, and the replacement or modified well(s) is exempt from the conditions of this article.