An exemption shall not relieve the applicant from implementing the requirements of this chapter or from implementing such measures as are necessary to protect public health, safety, and property. An exemption shall not relieve the applicant from complying with the special requirements for watersheds draining to identified high quality (HQ) or exceptional value (EV) waters or any other current or future State or municipal water quality protection requirements. If a drainage problem is documented or known to exist downstream of, or is expected from the proposed activity, then the Borough may withdraw exemptions listed in Table 106 and require the applicant to comply with all requirements of this chapter. Even though exempt, the applicant is not relieved from complying with other Borough ordinances or regulations.
(a) General Exemptions.
(1) Table 106.1 summarizes the exemptions from certain provisions of this chapter. Exemptions are for the items noted in Table 106.1 only, and shall not relieve the applicant from other applicable sections of this chapter.
(2) Any regulated activity that is exempt from some provisions of the chapter is exempt only from those provisions. If development is to take place in phases, the developer is responsible for implementing the requirements of the chapter as the impervious cover/earth disturbance threshold is met. The date of the chapter adoption shall be the starting point from which to consider tracts as "parent tracts" in which future subdivisions and respective impervious area and earth disturbance computations shall be cumulatively considered. Exemption shall not relieve the applicant from implementing such measures as are necessary to protect health, safety, and property. For example:
If a property owner proposes a 150 square foot shed after adoption of the municipal stormwater management chapter that property owner would be exempted from water quality and quantity requirements of the chapter as noted in Table 106.1 of the chapter. If, at a later date, the property owner proposes to construct a 499 square foot room addition, the applicant would be required to comply with the requirements for the Simplified Method for the full 649 square feet of impervious cover created since adoption of the Borough ordinance. If an additional 700 square foot swimming pool/patio is proposed later, the property owner would be required to implement the full stormwater quantity and quality control submission requirements of this chapter for the total 1,349 square feet of additional impervious surface added to the original property since adoption of the Borough ordinance. |
TABLE 106.1
Chapter Exemptions
Chapter Exemptions
Chapter Article or Section | Type of Project | Proposed Impervious Surface | Earth Disturbance | ||||
0-499 sq. ft. | 500-999 sq. ft. | 1,000+ sq. ft. | 0-4,999 sq. ft. disturbance | 5,000 sq. ft. - <1 acre | ≥1 acre | ||
Chapter Article or Section | Type of Project | Proposed Impervious Surface | Earth Disturbance | ||||
0-499 sq. ft. | 500-999 sq. ft. | 1,000+ sq. ft. | 0-4,999 sq. ft. disturbance | 5,000 sq. ft. - <1 acre | ≥1 acre | ||
Article III SWM Site Plan Requirements | Development Redevelopment | Exempt | Not Exempt Simplified Approach | Not Exempt | Exempt | Modified1 |
Not Exempt |
Section 1459.018 Nonstructural Project Design | Development Redevelopment | Exempt | Not Exempt Simplified Approach | Not Exempt | Exempt | Not Exempt | Not Exempt |
Section 1459.019 Infiltration Volume Requirements | Development Redevelopment | Exempt | Not Exempt Simplified Approach | Not Exempt | Exempt | Exempt | Not Exempt |
Section 1459.020 Water Quality Requirements | Development Redevelopment | Exempt | Not Exempt | Modified2 | Modified2 |
Not Exempt | |
Section 1459.021 Stream Bank Erosion Requirements | Development Redevelopment | Exempt | Not Exempt Simplified Approach | Not Exempt | Exempt | Exempt | Not Exempt |
Section 1459.022 Stormwater Peak Rate Control and Management Districts | Development Redevelopment | Exempt | Exempt | Not Exempt | Exempt | Not Exempt | Not Exempt |
Erosion and Sediment Pollution Control Requirements | Must comply with Title 25, Chapter 102 of the PA Code and other applicable State and municipal codes, including the Clean Streams Law. | Not Exempt | |||||
Legend:
• "Proposed Impervious Surface" in Table 106.1 includes new, additional, or replacement impervious surface/cover as part of development or redevelopment.
• Exempt - Exempt from required section provision only – SWM site plan submission may still be required if other section provisions are applicable.
• Modified1 - Modified SWM site plan need only consist of items in Section 1459.036(a)(2) and (4); 1459.036(b)(7), (8), (11), and (22); and 1459.036(d)(1) and (3) and related supportive material needed to determine compliance with Sections 1459.018 and 1459.022. Modified SWM site plan is required that includes all elements of Section 1459.018, as applicable.
• Modified2 - Modified SWM site plan need only consist of items and related material needed to determine compliance with Section 1459.020(c).
• Simplified approach – May use simplified approach to stormwater management for small projects. (Methodology to be provided by the Borough in compliance with DEP regulations.)
• Redevelopment – See Section 1459.022(i) for alternate stormwater peak rate control criteria.
(b) Exemptions for Specific Activities.
(1) Use of land for gardening or home consumption.
(2) Agriculture when operated in accordance with a conservation plan, nutrient management plan, or erosion and sedimentation control plan approved by the County Conservation District, including activities such as growing crops, rotating crops, tilling soil, and grazing animals. For agriculture with an approved conservation plan, installation of new or expansion of existing farmsteads, animal housing, waste storage, and production areas having impervious surfaces that result in a net increase in impervious surface of between 500-999 square feet shall apply the simplified approach, and net increases in impervious surface of greater than or equal to 1,000 square feet shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter.
(3) Forest management operations which are following the Department of Environmental Protection's (PADEP) management practices contained in its publication "Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Guidelines for Forestry," are operating under an approved erosion and sedimentation plan, and must comply with the stream buffer requirements in Section 1459.020(c).
(4) Repaving without reconstruction.
(5) Emergency exemption. Emergency maintenance work performed for the protection of public health, safety, and welfare. A written description of the scope and extent of any emergency work performed shall be submitted to the Borough of Swarthmore within two calendar days of the commencement of the activity. If the Borough of Swarthmore finds that the work is not an emergency, then the work shall cease immediately, until a stormwater site-plan in accordance with this chapter is submitted and approved by the Borough.
(6) Maintenance exemption. Any maintenance to an existing stormwater management system made in accordance with plans and specifications approved by the Borough Engineer.
(Ord. 1051. Passed 8-13-12.)