A. General Exemptions: The following land use activities are exempt from stormwater management requirements of Article III of this Ordinance.
1. Use of land for gardening for occupant’s home consumption.
2. Agriculture when operated in accordance with a conservation plan, nutrient management plan, or erosion and sedimentation control plan approved by the Bucks County Conservation District, including activities such as growing crops, rotating crops, tilling of soil, and grazing animals. Installation of new, or expansion of existing, farmsteads, animal housing, waste storage, and production areas having impervious surfaces shall be subject to the provisions of this Ordinance unless exempt pursuant to Section 105 B.
3. Forest Management operations following the Department of Environmental Protection’s management practices contained in its publication Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Guidelines for Forestry and operating under an E&S Plan approved by the Bucks County Conservation District which have a Zoning Permit approval by Springfield Township.
4. Public road replacement, replacement paving, repaving and/or maintenance.
B. All Regulated Activities as described in Section 104 of this Ordinance shall comply with the Stormwater Management requirements hereof except those activities listed in “Stormwater Management Exemption Criteria” table. Those activities listed in “302. However, an exemption shall not relieve the applicant from meeting runoff volume requirements of Section 303 of this ordinance for watersheds draining to High Quality (HQ) or Exceptional Value (EV) waters.
Any Regulated Activity that meets the exemption criteria established in this section is exempt from Stormwater Management Site Plan submission requirements of Article IV of this Ordinance. Exemption criteria shall apply to the total development even if development is to take place in phases. The starting point from which to consider tracts as “parent tracts” is the effective date of adoption of Stormwater Management Ordinance #121 on September 10, 2002. All impervious surface area constructed on or after the effective date of this Ordinance shall be considered cumulatively. Impervious surface existing on the “parent tract” prior to the effective date of Ordinance #121, shall not be considered in cumulative impervious area calculations for exemption purposes. An exemption shall not relieve the applicant from implementing such stormwater control measures and erosion control measures as are necessary to protect health, safety, and property.
Table 105.1 & Table 105.2 Stormwater Management Exemption Criteria
1. Regulated activities included within Sections 104.E are exempt (except in carbonate geology areas) where the amount of impervious surface and proposed location on a parcel conforms to the following tables:
Table 105.1
Total Parcel Area (acres) | Maximum Impervious Surface Area (square feet) | |
<0.5 | 1,200 | |
0.5 to 1.0 | 2,500 | |
>1.0 to 2.0 | 4,000 | |
>2.0 to 5.0 | 5,000 | |
>5.0 | 7,500 |
Table 105.2
Maximum amount of the impervious surface area permitted pursuant to Table 1 within a setback (excluding driveway access) measured from the downslope property boundary shall conform to the following table:
Setback* (feet) | Maximum Impervious Surface Area (square feet) permitted within the setback. | |
10 | None permitted | |
20 | 1,000 | |
50 | 2,500 | |
100 | 4,000 | |
200 | 5,000 | |
500 | 7,500 |
* The minimum setback distance is measured between the proposed impervious area (excluding driveway access) and/or stormwater control/structure discharge point to the downslope property boundary. The maximum allowable impervious surface area is the amount of impervious surface area permitted within the setback distance. For example: a total of 4,000 square feet of impervious surface is permitted within the 100 feet setback, of which none is permitted within the 10 feet setback, not more than 1,000 square feet is permitted within the 20 feet setback, and not more than 2,500 square feet is permitted within the 50 feet setback.
In lieu of meeting the minimum distance criteria, the applicant may provide documentation from a Registered Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that the increased flows from the site leaves the site in the same manner as the pre-development condition, and that there will be no adverse effects to properties along the path of flow(s). The Township may require the above referenced documentation on any site including a site meeting the minimum distance or parcel size criteria when deemed necessary at the sole discretion of the Township.
2. Regulated activities included within Sections 104.E proposed on a lot deed restricted from further subdivision, or containing a conservation easement restricting future development to not more than two (2) dwellings which conform to requirements of Stormwater Management Exemption Criteria 1, or the following table are exempt:
Total Parcel Area (acres) | Maximum Impervious Surface Area* (square feet) |
>5.0 to 10.0 | 7,500 |
>10.0 to 20.0 | 10,000 |
>20.0 | 15,000 |
*Location of impervious surface must conform to Table 105.2
3. Construction or reconstruction of buildings or additions to existing buildings or other impervious surface (activities regulated pursuant to Sections 104.E and F) are exempt where the following conditions are met:
A. An area of impervious surface is removed from the site equal to, or in excess of, the proposed impervious surface area.
B. The area where existing impervious surface is removed pursuant to Item 3.A above must be restored with a minimum of twelve (12) inches of topsoil and stabilized groundcover.
4. Lot line adjustment subdivisions are exempt when no increase in impervious surface is proposed.
C. Simplified Procedure for Single Family Dwellings
Individual home construction projects on existing single-family lots which result in less than two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet of new impervious area (including the building footprint, driveway, sidewalks, and parking areas) or less than five thousand (5,000) square feet of earth disturbance but do not meet exemption criteria of Section 105.B or are subject to the additional criteria of Section 105.D may utilize the simplified procedure within Appendix C to meet requirements of the Ordinance and are not required to submit formal drainage plans to the Township. This procedure may not be utilized for proposed subdivision or land development, or for projects on existing lots in carbonate geology areas.
(Ord. 186, passed 9-12-2017)