Amherst, NY Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Chapter 172, Article II, "Stormwater Management; Erosion and Sediment Control," adopted 9-17-2007 by Local Law No. 11-2007, states its purpose at § 172-21 is to meet minimum measures 4 and 5 of the SPDES general permit for MS4 discharges and to require land development to conform to the state's SPDES construction general permit, in order to minimize increases in runoff, flooding, siltation and streambank erosion. Section 172-23 requires the Town to designate a Stormwater Management Officer who accepts and reviews all stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWPPPs), and it splits review paths: activities already subject to Planning Board site-plan review are evaluated under this article's standards, while other land development activities must submit a SWPPP directly to the Stormwater Management Officer.

Section 172-25(A) bars approval of any land development activity until the appropriate board has an acceptable SWPPP, which under § 172-25(B) must include background project information, a site map showing disturbed and undisturbed areas, soil descriptions, a construction phasing plan, pollution-prevention measures, and both temporary and permanent erosion and sediment control measures. Section 172-24 exempts agricultural and (mostly) silvicultural activity, routine maintenance disturbing under five acres, emergency work, home gardening, and pre-existing approved subdivisions or building permits. Larger projects, those disturbing five or more acres, one to five acres outside single-family construction, or those discharging to an impaired waterway, must also include post-construction water quantity and quality controls under § 172-25(B)(2)-(3).