Red Hook officials to review local codes to comply with DEC standards

RED HOOK, N.Y. >> Town officials will review local codes to determine whether adjustments are needed to conform with state Department of Environmental Conservation standards which will be much more stringent over the coming four years.

Changes impacting the amount of land and types of wildlife protected were discussed last week during a Town Board meeting.

“This is going to require a fair amount of work on our part to get our arms around what it entails,” Councilman Bill Hamel said. “In the sense that we have lots of farmland and lots of open space and we have lots of wetlands and lots of vernal pools…we’re going to have to be thinking (about) our long-term development objectives for the town.”

Among significant changes in state law will be setting the size of protected wetlands at 12.4 acres on Jan. 1, 2025, and reducing that to 7.4 acres on Jan. 1, 2028.

Hamel said land use experts estimate the 12.4 acres will “essentially double” the amount of protected wetlands in the state.

There will also be clarification of laws involving whether buildings are exempt or “grandfathered” from new requirements based on prior approvals.

“The way they’ve updated the law is the only thing that will be subject to true grandfathering is if there is actually an approved valid building permit,” Hamel said. “If a developer came in and got site plan approval that’s not going to be sufficient to grandfather them over these new changes.”

Some changes in the state regulations will make information produced by the Department of Environmental Conservation less authoritative. Included are maps that have been used for identifying sensitive areas.

“Freshwater wetland maps depict the approximate location of wetlands and are necessarily determinative as to whether a permit is required,” state officials wrote.

The regulations will also add language that provides information about characteristics that make a wetland have “unusual” importance. Included are:

• Being in a watershed that is expected to have significant flooding from severe storm events related to climate change.

• A location that is within or adjacent to an urban area.

• Having plant species found in fewer than 35 sites statewide or has fewer than 5,000 individuals in the state.

• Being a habitat for an endangered or threatened species or a species of special concern in the state’s wildlife action plan.

• Use by amphibians for breeding.