Town of Nottingham, NH - VIII. Aquifer Conservation Districts

A. PURPOSE: The intent of this Ordinance is to provide for the protection of the water resources from contamination by polluting, hazardous or toxic materials. The objectives, be establishing an Aquifer Protection District are:

1. To protect the public health and general welfare of the citizens of Nottingham and adjacent affected towns.

2. To prevent development and land use practices that would contaminate or reduce the recharge of the identified aquifers; including primary and secondary recharge areas.

3. To provide for future growth and development of the Town, in accordance with the Master Plan, by insuring the future availability of adequate public and private water supplies.

4. To encourage uses that can appropriately and safely be located in the aquifer recharge areas.

Private wells are the sole source of drinking water in Nottingham. Local aquifers supply this water. Sustainability of this natural resource is paramount to maintaining the quality of life that currently exists. Our most precious natural resource, water, is threatened by ever increasing demands on water usage from continued development of our Town population increases by both residences and businesses. Without adequate recharge, this water supply would be in danger of being depleted. Therefore, to maintain sustainability of the aquifers and to maintain environmentally sound practices that will ensure the current and future needs of our citizens, extraction of groundwater where the methods used in the extraction do not allow for adequate recharge will not be permitted.

B. DISTRICT BOUNDARIES

The Nottingham Aquifer Protection District is defined as the area shown on the map entitled, "Aquifer Protection District."

The Aquifer Protection District is a zoning overlay district which imposes additional requirements and restrictions to those of the underlying district. In all cases, the more restrictive requirement(s) shall apply.

For purposes of this ordinance, each primary recharge area for each identified aquifer is considered to be co-terminus (abutting) with that aquifer.

The minimum lot size within the Aquifer Protection District for each dwelling unit if a residential use, shall be three (3) acres, or if a non-residential use, shall be five (5) acres.

2. Maximum Lot Coverage

Within the Aquifer Protection District, no more than ten percent (10%) of a single lot, including the portion of any new street abutting the lot, may be rendered impervious to ground water infiltration for residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional uses.

The following uses are prohibited in the Aquifer Protection Zone except where permitted to continue as non-conforming uses. Prohibited uses shall include, but not be limited to:

a. Disposal of solid waste (as determined by NH RSA 149-M) other than brush or stumps generated on the property on which they are to be disposed.

b. On-site disposal, storage, processing or recycling of toxic or hazardous materials or wastes.

c. Disposal of liquid or leachable wastes except domestic sewage effluent from residential subsurface disposal systems.

d. Buried storage of petroleum fuel and other refined petroleum products except as regulated by the NH Water Supply and Pollution Control Commission (Ws411 Control of Nonresidential Underground Storage and Handling of Oil and Petroleum Liquids).

e. Outdoor unenclosed or uncovered storage of road salt and other de-icing chemicals.

f. Dumping of snow containing road salt or other de-icing chemicals.

h. Automotive service and repair shops, junk and salvage yards. Laundry and car wash establishments not served by a central municipal sewer system.

i. Dry cleaning establishments.

j. Industrial uses which discharge contact type wastes on site. Discharge of non-contact cooling water determined to contain no toxic or hazardous substances is permitted.

k. Waste injection wells.

l. Non-municipal wells that may result in an aquifer volume reduction that exceeds the recharge rate.

4. Permitted Uses - The following activities may be permitted provided they are conducted in accordance with the purposes and intent of this Ordinance:

a. Any use permitted in the under lying district of the Zoning Ordinance, except as prohibited in Section 4c (Prohibited Uses) or regulated by Conditional Use in section 4d (Conditional use) of this Article.

b. Maintenance, repair or any existing structure, provided there is no increase in impervious surface above the limit established in Section 4b of this Article.

c. Farming, gardening, nursery, forestry, harvesting and grazing of no more than five (5) animals, turf management, provided that fertilizers, pesticides, manure, and other leachables are used according to the best management practices as prescribed by the Rockingham County Conservation District, if applicable, and at levels that will not cause groundwater contamination. All said leachables must be stored under shelter.

5. Special Exception for Lots of Record

Upon application to the Zoning Board of Adjustment, a special exception shall be granted to permit the erection of a structure within the Aquifer Protection District on a non-conforming lot provided that all of the following conditions are found to exist:

a. The lot upon which an exception is sought was an official lot of record as recorded in the Rockingham County Registry of Deeds, prior to the date of which this amendment was posted and published in the Town.

b. The use for which the exception is sought cannot feasibly be carried out on a portion or portions of the lot which are outside the Aquifer Protection District.

c. Due to the provisions of the Aquifer Protection District, no reasonable and economically viable use of the lot can be made without exception.

d. The design and construction of the proposed use will, to the extent practical, be consistent with the purpose and intent of this Section.

6. Non-conforming Use

No nonconforming use may be expanded, changed to another nonconforming use, or renewed after it has been discontinued for a period of 12 months or more.

D. HYDROGEOLOGIC STUDY

1. Within the Aquifer Protection District, a hydrogeologic study shall be required, at the applicant's expense, for the following:

a. developments involving the subdivision of three (3) lots or greater.

Hydrogeologic studies shall be performed by a qualified hydrogeologist. These studies shall be sufficiently detailed to evaluate the development's impacts to groundwater within the parcel to be developed and the surrounding land.

E. DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

No development shall cause the nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) concentration to exceed 5 mg/l in the groundwater beyond the site.

Provisions shall be made to protect against toxic or hazardous materials discharge or loss resulting from corrosion, accidental damage, spillage, or vandalism through measures such as: spill control provisions in the vicinity of chemical or fuel delivery points; secured storage areas for toxic or hazardous materials; and indoor storage provisions for corrodible or dissolvable materials.

For operation which allow the evaporation of toxic or hazardous materials into the interiors of any structures, a closed vapor recovery system shall be provided for each such structure to prevent discharge of contaminated condensate into the groundwater.

Where the premises are partially outside of the Aquifer Protection Overlay Zone, potential pollution sources such as on-site waste disposal systems should be located outside and down gradient of the Zone to the extent feasible.

All runoff from impervious surfaces shall be recharged on the site, and diverted toward areas covered with vegetation for surface infiltration to the extent possible. Dry wells shall be used only where other methods are not feasible and shall be preceded by oil, grease, and sediment traps to facilitate removal of contaminants.

5. Septic System Design and Installation

Septic systems shall be constructed in accordance with the "Subdivision and Individual Sewage Disposal System Design Rules" (N.H. Code of Administrative Rules, Chapter Ws 1000). However, any Town Ordinance or regulation that is more restrictive shall apply. All new or reconstructed on-lot waste water disposal systems constructed in the Aquifer Protection District shall be designed by a Sanitary Engineer licensed in New Hampshire. These systems shall be installed under the supervision of said engineer.

The designated Town engineer or septic system inspector of the Town shall inspect the installation of each new system prior to covering, and shall certify that the system has been installed as designed.

The following site requirements shall apply to all septic system construction in the Aquifer Protection District:

a. at least 24 inches of natural permeable soil shall exist above the seasonal high water table.

b. at least four feet of natural soil shall exist above bedrock.

c. at least three feet of natural permeable soil shall exist above any impermeable subsoil.

d. no filling of wetlands shall be allowed to provide the minimum distance of septic systems to wetlands.

e. fill material used for septic system construction shall be generally homogeneous and shall not contain:

- more than 15% organic soil by volume

- more than 25% cobbles (6 in. in diameter) by volume

- more than 15% of clay (0.002 mm particles or smaller) by weight

- tree stumps, mulch, bark, or other large organic matter

All development proposals, other than single or two-family residential constructions shall be subject to subdivision or site plan review and approval in accordance with Planning Board Rules and Regulations. Such review and approval shall precede the issuance of any building permit by the Town.

The Board of Selectmen shall be responsible for the enforcement of the provisions and conditions of the Aquifer Protection District. If the Board of Selectmen find that a nonconforming use poses a direct hazard to ground water or recharged areas or are actually causing some potentially hazardous foreign substances (oils, salts, chemicals, pesticides, etc.) to be introduced into the aquifer, then they may seek to enjoin same such use in an appropriate legal forum.