Glen Cove, NY Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Chapter 237, adopted by Local Law No. 4-2007, opens with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's findings that land development increases impervious cover, stormwater runoff, flooding, stream erosion and pollutant loading, and that regulating runoff through performance standards protects public health, safety and welfare. Section 237-2 ties the local law directly to two state permits, the SPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (GP-02-02) and the SPDES General Permit for Construction Activities (GP-02-01), requiring land development to conform to both.

Section 237-4 applies the chapter to all land development or redevelopment activity as defined in § 237-6, which generally means disturbing an acre or more, or a smaller parcel that is part of a larger common plan of development. Projects already going through Planning Board subdivision, site plan or special permit review get reviewed against Chapter 237's standards as part of that process; everything else has to submit a stand-alone Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) to the City's Stormwater Management Officer, the Director of Public Works or designee, who approves it if it meets the chapter's requirements.

Section 237-5 carves out specific exemptions: agricultural and silvicultural activity, routine maintenance disturbing under five acres, repairs to existing stormwater facilities, subdivisions or building permits already approved before the law took effect, cemetery graves, utility poles and fences, home gardening, and landscaping around an existing structure. Everything outside those exemptions needs a City-approved SWPPP before construction can begin.