Overview
The New York State Coastal Atlas provides a visual representation of the State’s Coastal Area Boundary and many of the important state and federal planning tools including: Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitats (SCFWH); Scenic Areas of Statewide Significance (SASS); Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) Communities; Long Island Sound Coastal Management Plan (LIS CMP) Boundary; federally-owned lands; and Native American-owned lands. Users can use this interactive mapping tool to select important data and filter out what is not and apply those data to an individual community, waterway, property address or the entire state. This tool provides important information for applying for permits, providing a Consistency Certification for a project or learning about a community.
Getting Started
Click the Coastal Atlas image to open the map. The map will open with three main features: Address Box, Basemaps, and a Legend.
- Address Box is self-explanatory, yet it comes with some flexibility. Type in the name of a town or village and explore the features of that locale. Typing in a specific address will display graphically which parts of that property fall within the Coastal boundary—you may need to scroll wider to the surrounding area—or whether it falls within a SASS or an LWRP or contains a SCFWH. The legend describes which colors/patterns relate to which area. More information on these state and federally designated areas will be discussed a little later.
- Basemaps is the first layer of mapping; think of it as a canvas or a screen with themes that more information and art can be placed upon it to create a full picture or report. User One may want to look up areas of wetland in a few counties, where User Two could be looking for vacant land or underutilized waterfront land on which to place a new shipping center.
Using the Topo basemap could prove useful to User One to identify elevations and larger drainage patterns while the Oceans and Nav Charts basemaps with ocean floor topography and active shipping lanes would serve User Two. Try the various basemaps to determine which works best for your purposes.
The Legend is like the legend on a paper map, showing different parameters of the various planning tools mentioned earlier. The Legend is preloaded with various parameters helpful in planning projects within New York State’s Coastal Area. In fact, if you scroll to the bottom you will find a parameter for the Coastal Boundary Polygon. The Legend can be dragged around the map in order to view the entire list or uncover mapping features.
Using the Legend
Layers can be selected or unselected by checking or unchecking the boxes in the Legend. Below are details about the layers that may or may not affect the need for a permit or the information included within a Consistency Certification for a project.
DOS Identified Artificial Canals
This data layer depicts the DOS identified artificial canals where the DOS has concurred with issuance of Nationwide Permit 3 (Maintenance), 13 (Bank Stabilization) and 45 (Repair of Uplands Damaged by Discrete Events) which would affect New York's Coastal area. It is intended to aid the United States Army Corps of Engineers in administering the Nationwide Permit Program and permit applicants in determining if a consistency certification is required for a proposed activity pursuant to 15 CFR Part 930.
Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitats (SCFWH)
The dataset consists of boundaries of Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitats (SCFWH) as identified by NYS Departments of State and Environmental Conservation. The areas involved are all limited to the perimeter waters of NY State. These include Lake Erie, Niagara River, Lake Ontario, St. Lawrence River, Hudson River (to the Troy Dam), and marine waters around NYC and Long Island.
Landward Coastal Area
Generally, the inland boundary is approximately 1,000 feet from the shoreline following well-defined features such as roads, railroads or shorelines as described in the Coastal Management Program Final Environmental Impact Statement, unless otherwise indicated. Where necessary this boundary extends inland to include major state owned lands and facilities and electric power generation facilities which abut on the shoreline, major coastal recreational areas, significant agricultural lands, significant coastal habitats, scenic viewsheds of State or national significance, major historic or coastal dependent industrial areas, and the 100 year flood plain. In urbanized and other developed locations along the coast, the landward boundary is approximately 500 feet from the shoreline or less than 500 feet at locations where a major roadway or railway line runs parallel to the shoreline. The seaward boundary of New York State's coastal area includes all coastal waters within its territorial jurisdiction.
Scenic Areas of Statewide Significance (SASS)
The dataset consists of boundaries of Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitats (SCFWH) as identified by NYS Department of State. The areas involved are all limited to the perimeter waters of NY State. These include Lake Erie, Niagara River, Lake Ontario, St. Lawrence River, Hudson River (to the Troy Dam), and marine waters around NYC and Long Island. Each identified habitat has describing the living resources values leading to designation as a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife.
Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP)
Any village, town, or city located along the State’s coast or designated inland waterways can prepare a new, or amend an existing, LWRP to address local revitalization issues in the context of broader strategies and initiatives such as regional economic development strategies and resource protection and management.
Long Island Sound Coastal Management Plan (LIS CMP)
This layer depicts the boundary of the Long Island Sound Coastal Management Program.
Native American Lands
This layer includes Native American reservation boundaries in New York State.
Federal Lands New York
This layer depicts federally administered non-recreation areas (e.g., cemeteries, Veterans Affairs medical centers, correctional facilities, etc.) and recreational areas in New York State.
Find and Add Data
Additional layers can be added to fine tune the map using the sidebar at the left side of the screen. Choose from a main category (e.g., biological, boundaries, etc.) and several sub-categories. Information ranging from bird habitat and to where transportation hubs are located within a community can be chosen and added to your map. Recreational hotspots, underwater habitat and climate change information can all be helpful to locating a project, whether it is a development or a restoration effort.
