Tiburon Municipal Code Art. I In General

The ordinance codified in this chapter shall be known as the "Town of Tiburon Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Ordinance" and may be so cited.

(Ord. No. 557 N.S., § 3, 5-20-2015)

(a) The purpose of this chapter is to establish the legal authority required by section E.6.a of the phase II stormwater permit and to ensure the future health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of the Town of Tiburon and to protect and enhance watercourses, fish and wildlife habitat by:

(1) Minimizing discharges other than storm runoff to storm drains or watercourses to the maximum extent practicable;

(2) Responding to the discharge of spills, preventing and controlling the discharge of spills to storm drains or watercourses and prohibiting dumping or disposal of materials other than stormwater;

(3) Reducing pollutants in stormwater discharges to the maximum extent practicable;

(4) Requiring operators of construction sites, new or redeveloped land, and industrial and commercial facilities to install, implement, or maintain appropriate best management practices ("BMPs");

(5) Requiring development projects to maintain or reduce the volume, velocity, peak flow rate and duration of runoff as compared to the pre-development stormwater runoff and preventing stormwater pollution whenever possible, through stormwater management controls and ensuring that these management controls are properly maintained.

(6) Authorizing the town to take the foregoing and all other actions specified by Section E.6.a of the Phase II Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit, Water Quality Order No. 2013-0001—DWQ, General Permit No. CAS000004 ("Phase II Stormwater Permit") and subsequent revisions and amendments thereto.

(b) The intent of this chapter is to protect and enhance the water quality of our watercourses, water bodies, and wetlands in a manner pursuant to and consistent with the Clean Water Act, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (California Water Code section 13000 et seq.), and the phase II stormwater permit and subsequent revisions and amendments thereto.

(Ord. No. 557 N.S., § 3, 5-20-2015)

Any terms defined in the phase II stormwater permit, the Federal Clean Water Act and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, and/or defined in the regulations for the stormwater discharge permitting program issued by the Environmental Protection Agency on November 16, 1990 (as may from time to time be amended) as used in this chapter shall have the same meaning as in that statute or regulations. Specifically, the definition of the following terms included in that statute or regulations are incorporated by reference, as now applicable or as may hereafter be amended: "discharge of a pollutant", "illicit discharge", "pollutant", and "stormwater". These terms presently defined as shown below; additional relevant definitions are also as set forth below:

"Authorized enforcement official" means the superintendent of public works, town engineer, building official, chief of police or their designees.

"BASMAA Post Construction Manual" means the most recent version of the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies (BASMAA) Post Construction Manual that MCSTOPPP has approved as equivalent to the BMP Handbook.

"Best management practices ("BMPs")" mean schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, general good housekeeping practices, pollution prevention practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants directly or indirectly to waters of the United States. BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage.

"BMP Handbook" means the applicable California Storm Water Quality Association Best Management Practices Handbook or equivalent approved by MCSTOPPP.

"Construction activity" means any activity that involves soil disturbing activities including, but not limited to, clearing, paving, grading, disturbances to ground such as stockpiling, and excavation.

"Discharge" or "discharge of a pollutant" means:

(1) The addition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to waters of the United States from any point source, or

(2) Any addition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to the waters of the contiguous zone or the ocean from any point source other than a vessel or other floating craft, which is being used as a means of transportation. The term includes additions of pollutants to waters of the United States from: surface runoff which is collected or channeled by man; discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances owned by a state, municipality, or other person which do not lead to a treatment works; and discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances, leading into privately owned treatment works.

"Erosion and sedimentation control plan (ESCP)" means a plan, which may be comprised of maps, designs, specifications, schedules and water quality control measures, that shall include all temporary and permanent devices necessary to avoid drainage and erosion related problems both during and after construction. An ESCP shall utilize the most recent version of the MCSTOPPP Construction Erosion and Sediment Control Application Package.

"Illicit connection" means any device or method that conveys non-stormwater to a municipal separate storm sewer (storm drain) system (MS4) or receiving water.

"Illicit discharge" means any discharge to a municipal separate storm sewer (storm drain) system (MS4) that is prohibited under local, state, or federal statutes, ordinances, codes, or regulations. The term illicit discharge includes all non-stormwater discharges not composed entirely of stormwater and discharges that are identified under the discharge of pollutants section of this chapter. The term illicit discharge does not include discharges that are regulated by an NPDES permit (other than the NPDES permit for discharges from the MS4).

"Incidental irrigation runoff" means unintended amounts (volume) of runoff, such as unintended, minimal overspray from sprinklers that escapes the landscaped area of intended use. Water leaving an intended use area is not considered incidental if it is part of the facility design, if it is due to excessive application, if it is due to intentional overflow or application, or if it is due to negligence.

"Low impact development (LID)" means a sustainable practice that benefits water supply and contributes to water quality protection. LID uses site design and stormwater management to maintain the site's pre-development runoff rates and volumes. The goal of LID is to mimic a site's predevelopment hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to the source of rainfall.

"MCSTOPPP" means the Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program.

"MCSTOPPP Erosion and Sediment Control Plan Package" means the most recent version of the MCSTOPPP Construction Erosion and Sediment Control Plan Applicant Package.

"Non-stormwater discharge" means any discharge that is not entirely composed of stormwater.

"NPDES permit" means a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the state water resources control board, or a California Regional Water Quality Control Board pursuant to the Clean Water Act that authorizes discharges to waters of the United States.

"Phase II stormwater permit" means the NPDES general stormwater permit applicable to the County of Marin, Water Quality Order No. 2013-0001—DWQ, General Permit No. CAS000004, and any subsequent amendment, reissuance or successor to this NPDES permit.

"Pollutant" means dredged soil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, pet wastes, manure, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or destroyed equipment, sediment, cellar dirt, dumped yard wastes, and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste; or sand and gravel placed in such a way as to be carried away by stormwater into the storm drains and watercourses of the town.

"Post construction measures requirements" means the provisions in section E.12 of the phase II stormwater permit that contain design standards or performance criteria to address the post-construction phase impacts of new projects and redeveloped projects on stormwater quality and quantity. The BASMAA Post Construction Manual describes projects subject to the post construction measures.

"Premises" means any building, lot, parcel, real estate, land or portion of land whether improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.

"Storm drains" means and includes, but is not limited to, those facilities within the town by which stormwater may be conveyed to waters of the United States, including any roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, manmade channels or storm drains, which are not part of the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) as defined at 40 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) section 122.2.

"Stormwater" or "storm runoff" means stormwater runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface runoff and drainage.

"Stormwater control plan" means a plan that meets those criteria contained in the most recent version of the BASMAA Post Construction Manual.

"Stormwater facilities operation and maintenance plan" means a plan identifying the locations and characteristics of stormwater management facilities on a newly developed or redeveloped site and describing maintenance activities, schedules, and responsibilities to ensure the ongoing proper operation of those facilities.

"Stormwater management facility" means any device designated to detain, retain, filter, or infiltrate stormwater, including, but not limited to, bioretention facilities.

"Town" means the Town of Tiburon.

"Urban runoff" means stormwater runoff occurring within the corporate limits of the Town of Tiburon, including streets and adjacent domestic and commercial properties, that carries pollutants of various types into the storm drain system and receiving waters.

"Watercourse" means any natural or once natural flowing river, creek, stream, swale or drainageway, whether perennial, intermittent or ephemeral. Includes natural waterways that have been channelized but does not include channels, ditches, culverts or other above or below ground constructed conduits, i.e., storm drains.

(Ord. No. 557 N.S., § 3, 5-20-2015)

(a) This chapter shall be administered for the town by the authorized enforcement official. The town engineer shall work with the director of community development and building official to ensure that all planning, zoning, building and encroachment permits are designed to comply with this chapter. In administering this chapter, the authorized enforcement official has the authority to request and require the submittal of information deemed necessary to assess compliance with this chapter and the phase II stormwater permit.

(b) Where storm drain facilities and/or watercourses have been accepted for maintenance by the Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District or other public agency legally responsible for certain watercourses, then the responsibility for enforcing the provisions of this chapter may be assigned to such agency (through contract or agreement between the town and such agency) with respect to those watercourses for which they have accepted maintenance.

(Ord. No. 557 N.S., § 3, 5-20-2015)

This chapter shall be construed to assure consistency with the requirements of the Federal Clean Water Act and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, applicable implementing regulations, including the current and future versions of the water quality control plan for the San Francisco Bay basin and the phase II stormwater permit.

(Ord. No. 557 N.S., § 3, 5-20-2015)

(a) It is the intent of this chapter to protect and enhance water quality while respecting the rights of private property owners to economically viable use of land. It is not the intent of this chapter to prohibit all economically viable use of any private lands, nor to result in a confiscatory impact. Accordingly, the purpose of this section is to provide for an administrative procedure for a waiver or modification of a particular provision of this chapter in the event the strict application of this chapter would result in the denial of all economically viable use of real property.

(b) An applicant for a waiver of a provision of this chapter shall file a waiver application with the authorized enforcement official on a form provided by the official identifying the provision sought to be waived or modified. The applicant shall file a complete form and shall provide all documentation and information required by the official to determine whether application of the provision in question will prohibit any economically viable use of the land in question or otherwise creates an impermissible confiscatory result.

(c) The authorized enforcement official shall forward the waiver application to the town council which may approve, deny or conditionally approve the application upon making all of the following written findings:

(1) That the strict application of the provision for which a waiver or modification is sought would result in the denial of all economically viable use of the real property in question;

(2) To the maximum extent feasible, conditions have been placed upon such a waiver or modification in order to achieve the goals of this chapter as closely as possible while still allowing economically viable use of the real property in question;

(3) Approval of such a waiver will not result in a public nuisance which would constitute a significant and direct threat to public health or safety.

(Ord. No. 557 N.S., § 3, 5-20-2015)