Steep slopes and adjacent watercourses and wetlands have been and are in jeopardy of being damaged and destroyed by unregulated filling, excavating, building, clearing and grading, and other such acts inconsistent with the natural conditions of steep slopes. Steep slopes in the Town of New Paltz are environmentally sensitive landforms and valuable natural resources, which are of benefit to the entire Town and surrounding region. The environmental sensitivity of steep slopes often results from such features as rock outcrops, shallow soils over bedrock, bedrock fractures, groundwater seeps, watercourses, and other wetlands found on or immediately adjacent to steep slopes.

Protection of steep slopes is a matter of concern to the entire Town of New Paltz. The establishment of regulatory and conservational practices in this critical area is needed to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare. Experience has demonstrated that effective protection of steep slopes requires preservation wherever possible. Experience has further demonstrated that where steep slopes have to be disturbed, careful review and regulation, including stringent mitigation measures, are required.

The Town of New Paltz's experience with past development has shown that improperly managed disturbances of steep slopes can aggravate erosion and sedimentation beyond rates experienced in the natural geomorphological processes. Erosion and sedimentation often include the loss of topsoil, a valuable natural resource, and can result in the disturbance of habitats, the degradation of the quality of surface water, the silting of wetlands, the alteration of drainage patterns, obstruction of drainage structures, and the intensification of flooding.

The Town of New Paltz's experience with past development has shown that inadequately controlled disturbance of certain steep slopes can lead to the failure of slopes and the mass movement of earth, rock slides and landslides, damage to the natural environment, threats to man-made structures and personal safety, and the degradation of aesthetics.

Steep slopes, including vegetation on rock cliffs, are an important environmental feature that contribute to the character of the Town. Overdevelopment or improperly managed disturbances are detrimental to the character of the Town and can result in public and private expenditures for corrective measures.

Regulation of development on steep slopes is consistent with the legitimate interest of landowners to make reasonable use of their land. Regulation can prohibit the degradation of steep slopes and allow reasonable use of private property by encouraging flexible design of development so as to avoid disturbance of steep slopes. Regulation can also permit environmentally sound disturbance of steep slopes conducted in accordance with acceptable management and engineering practices to permit reasonable use of private property.

Regulation of development on steep slopes will not preclude the Town from continuing to meet its social, economic and other essential responsibilities.

These regulations are enacted with the intent of providing reasonable balance between the rights of the individual property owner to the fair use of his property and the rights of present and future generations. Therefore, this chapter recognizes the rights of owners of property exhibiting steep slopes to use their property for reasonable purposes consistent with other regulations and controls, provided that such use, in the judgment of the appropriate agencies or officials of the Town, does not result in a significant loss or degradation of steep slopes or a loss of visual or open space benefits which steep slopes have been found to provide.

It is declared to be the intent of the Town of New Paltz to preserve steep slopes to the greatest extent practicable and to regulate their use within the Town to protect the public interest by ensuring the maximization of benefit found to be provided by the preservation of steep slopes and by ensuring the minimization of detrimental effects for the practice of properly managed disturbance of steep slopes as set forth in this article.

Exempt activities.

Regulated activities. It shall be unlawful to create any disturbance and/or to remove any more than two trees with a diameter greater than four inches, when measured from 1 1/2 feet from ground level, on any steep slope as defined by this section, with the exception of an exempt activity as defined herein, without a specific written permit as required by this section.

The Zoning Board of Appeals shall be the approval authority with respect to any application which requires the issuance of any other permit or approval by it pursuant to the local laws of the Town of New Paltz.

The Planning Board shall be the approval authority with respect to any application which requires the issuance of any other permit or approval by it pursuant to the local laws of the Town of New Paltz, including any application which also requires the issuance or approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The Town of New Paltz Town Board shall be the approval authority with respect to any application which requires the issuance of any permit or other approval by it pursuant to the laws, rules and regulations of the State of New York and/or the local laws of the Town of New Paltz.

The Town of New Paltz Town Engineer or other qualified representative that is duly authorized by the Town Board shall be the approval authority with respect to all other regulated activities.

Alterations of trees and forests and topographical alterations on steep slopes shall conform with any applicable regulations of the Town of New Paltz.

Activities within wetlands and their adjacent area, and within the regulated areas of protected streams shall be in conformance with the applicable federal and state regulatory requirements.

Disturbance of areas with steep slopes should conform with the following provisions:

Application for permit. An application for permit to alter a steep slope shall be filed with the approval authority and shall contain the following information and such other information as required by it, except when waived by it as not pertinent or necessary for the proposed disturbance:

Referral. The approval authority shall refer any application submitted to it pursuant to this chapter to the Environmental Conservation Commission for review and report. The Environmental Conservation Commission shall report back to the approval authority within forty five days of the date of the referral or within such greater period as may be specified by the approval of authority (at the time of the referral). Failure to comply with the specified time period shall be interpreted by the approval authority as indicating no objection to the application.

Notice. Upon receipt of a completed application under this chapter, the approval authority shall cause notice of receipt of the same to be mailed by first-class mail to the adjoining property owners, including those across the street adjoining the involved property. Such property owners shall have ten days from said day of notice to submit written comment to the approval authority with regard to said application. The approval authority may waive this notice procedure if it has received responses from all the adjoining property owners prior to action by it. In cases where the approval authority is the Town Engineer or other qualified representative that is duly authorized by the Town Board, he/she shall cause such notice to be posted at one or more locations along the street or streets abutting the property.

Public hearing. A public hearing shall be held by the approval authority on the application made hereunder at such times, under such circumstances, and upon such notice as may be required for the granting of the permit or approval required of such approval authority pursuant to the local laws and ordinances of the Town of New Paltz. A public hearing may be held when the approval authority is the Town Engineer or other qualified representative that is duly authorized by the Town Board.

Action by the approval authority. In approving any application, the approval authority may impose such conditions or limitations as it determines necessary to insure compliance with the intent, purposes, and standards of this chapter.

Appeal. Any party aggrieved by a decision of the Town Engineer or other qualified representative that is duly authorized by the Town Board to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove an application may appeal the decision to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Activities specified by the permit shall be undertaken pursuant to any conditions of the permit and shall be completed according to any schedule set forth in the permit.

A permit shall expire on completion of the activities specified and shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of approval or for the period of any other permit issued by the approval authority.

A permit may be renewed by the approval authority for a period of up to one year.

The approval authority may revoke or suspend a permit if it finds that the applicant has not complied with any of the conditions or limitations set forth in the permit.

The approval authority may inspect activities undertaken pursuant to a permit (or have such activities inspected by its representative) so as to ensure satisfactory completion.

The approval authority may require that the applicant submit for approval a detailed monitoring program, including but not necessarily limited to written status reports at specified intervals documenting activities undertaken pursuant to a permit.

The approval authority may require that the activities undertaken pursuant to a permit be supervised by an appropriate licensed professional.

The Town Board of the Town of New Paltz shall establish by resolution the fee to be charged, collected and received for the granting of each permit required by this chapter.

The fees required pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be paid in advance upon submission of an application, and the failure to submit the full payment required shall render the application incomplete.

Every person who shall fail to comply with a violation order issued by the enforcement officer within the time limit stated thereon shall be deemed to have committed an offense against this chapter and also shall be liable for any such violation for the penalty therefor.

A violation of this chapter is hereby declared to be an offense, punishable by a fine not exceeding $350 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or both, for conviction of a first offense; for conviction of a second offense, both of which were committed within a period of five years, punishable by a fine not less than $350 nor more than $700 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or both; and upon conviction for a third or subsequent offense, all of which were committed within a period of five years, punishable by a fine not less than $700 nor more than $1,000 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or both. However, for the purpose of conferring jurisdiction upon courts and judicial officers generally, violations of this chapter shall be deemed misdemeanors, and, for such purposes only, all provisions of law relating to misdemeanors shall apply to such violations. Each week's continued violations shall constitute a separate additional violation.

Any person violating this chapter shall be subject to a civil penalty enforceable and collectible by the Town. Such penalty shall be collectible by and in the name of the Town for each week that such violation shall continue.

In addition to the above-provided penalties and punishment, the Town Board may also maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the Town in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or to restrain by injunction the violation of this chapter.

The enforcement responsibility, procedures and fines shall be coordinated with zoning enforcement and flood damage control law provisions so that any instance where multiple violations occur because of the same set of facts can be effectively and efficiently prosecuted.