(a) No person, being the owner of any property or in possession or control of any property, shall cause, permit or allow any excavating or filling to be done on such property unless a permit has been issued by the Commissioner for such excavating or filling except that no permit shall be required for:
(1) Normal cemetery operations of opening or closing graves;
(2) Public work performed by or under control of the Director of Public Service, except for excavating or filling performed outside the project work limits;
(3) Exploratory excavations under the direction of a registered professional engineer, geotechnical engineer, engineering geologist, soil scientist, or architect where incident to the practice of architecture, and exploratory excavations by a contractor or builder provided they are not made in a slope steeper than five (5) horizontal to one (1) vertical. All such excavations shall be promptly and properly filled, and the terrain shall be properly restored;
(4) Temporary trenches for sewers, water lines, gas lines, electric lines, and other underground utilities;
(5) Subject to the provisions of Section 1323.11, any excavation that does not exceed five feet (5 ft.) in vertical depth at its deepest point or one hundred cubic yards (100 cu. yds.) per each five thousand square feet (5,000 sq. ft.) of site area, whichever is the more restrictive, and is made on natural terrain with a slope flatter than five (5) horizontal to one (1) vertical and does not result in a finished slope steeper than three (3) horizontal to one (1) vertical;
(6) Subject to the provisions of Section 1323.11, any fill that does not exceed five feet (5 ft.) in vertical depth at its deepest point or one hundred cubic yards (100 cu. yds.) per each five thousand square feet (5,000 sq. ft.) of site area, whichever is the more restrictive, and is made on natural terrain with a slope flatter than five (5) horizontal to one (1) vertical and does not result in a finished slope steeper than three (3) horizontal to one (1) vertical;
(7) Subject to the provisions of Section 1323.11, and excavation for a basement and footings of a building authorized by a valid building permit, provided the excavation does not exceed eight feet (8 ft.) in vertical depth at its deepest point or three hundred cubic yards (300 cu. yds.) per each five thousand square feet (5,000 sq. ft.) of site area, whichever is the more restrictive, and is made in existing terrain with a slope flatter than ten (10) horizontal to one (1) vertical, and the subsequent filling with this excavated material on the same site, provided the fill does not exceed five feet (5 ft.) in vertical depth at its deepest point or three hundred fifty cubic yards (350 cu. yds.) per each five thousand square feet (5,000 sq. ft.) of site area, whichever is the more restrictive, and is placed on existing terrain with a slope flatter than ten (10) horizontal to one (1) vertical and does not result in a finished slope steeper than three (3) horizontal to one (1) vertical.
(b) Where a succession of small excavations of fills individually not requiring a permit, constitutes a continuing operation on a property and the accumulation of such excavations or fills on that property will exceed five feet (5 ft.) in depth or one hundred cubic yards (100 cu. yds.) per each five thousand square feet (5,000 sq. ft.) of site area, a permit shall be required.
(c) No excavating or filling pursuant to paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(7) hereof shall cause any slope to become unstable, impose loads which may affect the safety of structures or slopes, interfere with adequate drainage for the site area and the area of land tributary to the site obstruct, damage, or adversely affect lawfully existing sewerage or drainage, public or private, cause a stagnant pond of water to form, or cause erosion or sedimentation.
(d) The exemptions contained in paragraph (a) hereof do not apply to any operations pursuant to Section 1323.04.
(Ord. 5641-86. Passed 5-19-86)