All applications for Protected Hillside Area permits shall be submitted to the Building Division with accompanying construction documents for review and approval. The Building Commissioner shall review the application to ensure compliance with the requirements of this chapter. For good cause stated in writing, the City Engineer may recommend waiver of all or part of the requirements contained herein. The City Planning and Zoning Commission is authorized to waive the applicant's compliance with any provision(s) of this chapter if the Planning and Zoning Commission determines that compliance is unnecessary to the preservation of the integrity of the Hillside Area and/or the preservation of the objectives stated in Section 1397.01. In connection with such review, the Building Commissioner, the City Engineer and/or the City Planning and Zoning Commission are authorized to consult and obtain opinions from such other professionals as hydrological and geotechnical engineers, botanists, biologists and landscape architects as they may deem necessary. No Protected Hillside Area permit shall be issued until the application, together with the report of the Building Commissioner, has been reviewed and approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Upon filing of a request for a permit to grade, excavate, clear, remove vegetation or topsoil, build or subdivide in a Protected Hillside Area with the Building Commissioner, the applicant shall provide the following:
(a) Preconstruction Regulations.
(1) Preconstruction record.
A. Video tape record. A video tape record shall be filed with the Building Commissioner prior to any building, grading or clearing activity on the Protected Hillside Area. The video tape record shall show pre-development conditions of the Protected Hillside Area sufficient to insure compliance with these regulations.
B. Maps and data. Maps and data, either separately or combined, should be provided as follows:
1. Vicinity Map. A print, showing thereon the location of the proposed development and its relationship to adjacent streets and all community facilities which serve or influence it;
2. Property Line Map. A drawing, prepared by an Ohio registered surveyor, showing bearings and distances of the parcel to be developed, location, width and purpose of easements, the name, width and location of abutting streets, including the location of pavements and sidewalks, and structures on the parcel and within 100 feet on adjoining property. The minimum scale for the Property Line Map shall be one inch equals fifty feet.
3. Topographic Map. A drawing showing contours at two-foot intervals based on the County datum plane. It shall show the approximate direction and gradient of the ground slope on immediately adjacent land. It shall also show watercourses, marshes, wooded areas, isolated preservable trees and other significant features. In addition, it shall clearly indicate the limits of the Protected Hillside Area. The minimum scale for the Topographic Map shall be one inch equals fifty feet.
4. Subsurface Map. A drawing showing subsurface conditions of the tract, including soil types. The minimum scale for the Subsurface Map shall be one inch equals fifty feet.
(2) Grading plans. All proposed grading plans shall be of a minimum scale of one inch equals thirty feet and shall show the following:
A. A contour map with two-foot intervals and suitable cross-sections and profiles of areas, including, but not limited to, streets, driveways, buildings, utilities, pools, septic systems, or, where grading construction is proposed, quantities of cut and fill volumes.
B. Notes and details of existing terrain, including the natural topography of the Protected Hillside Area to be developed, the location and size of all structures, the finish grade of all improvement locations, and the dimensions, elevations and contours of any proposed earth-moving. Subdivision grading plans shall include road profiles and cross-sections showing all significant changes in cross-slopes and the proposed and natural grade at the centerline and right-of-way line of all streets and the proposed building setback lines.
C. A time schedule showing anticipated starting and completion date of each stage of the project.
(3) Geotechnical report. A geotechnical report by a qualified geotechnical engineer that addresses all factors pertinent to site stability, both present and future, will be required by the City, and shall include the following:
A. Present stability evaluation. An evaluation of the present stability of the site, based on field exploration that includes test borings, followed by lab testing and stability analysis.
B. Future stability evaluation. An evaluation of the effect of the planned development on stability based on the findings in paragraph (a)(3)A. hereof.
C. Recommended strategies. Detailed strategies to ensure that existing or potential instabilities will be mitigated.
(4) Construction plans. Plans, specifications or drawings, prepared by an Ohio registered architect or a structural engineer, shall be submitted for any structure which is proposed to be constructed or otherwise placed in the Protected Hillside Area.
(b) Performance Regulations.
(1) Earth-moving controls. The following minimum standards shall apply to earth-moving:
A. Minimum alterations. Earth-moving shall be limited to the minimum required for building foundations, driveways, drainage control structures and immediate yard areas.
B. Erosion control. Controls creating the lowest possible potential for airborne or waterborne transportation of soil shall be used. Where possible, these erosion controls shall be installed prior to disturbance of existing vegetation or earth-moving activity. Erosion controls shall be maintained and modified as necessary to ensure their proper operation. The owner(s) or any subsequent owner(s) of the premises shall be responsible for such maintenance, with such responsibility noted of record with the office of the Cuyahoga County Recorder.
C. Compaction. All fill shall be stabilized in conformance with generally accepted engineering standards, with a minimum compaction of ninety percent of maximum density. The City may require compaction tests by a qualified geotechnical engineer. The expense for such tests shall be the responsibility of the owner, developer, builder and/or occupant.
D. Prompt completion. All earth-moving shall be accomplished in the shortest practical period of time. In no event shall the existing vegetation be destroyed, removed or disturbed more than fifteen days prior to the initiation of earth-moving;
E. Cut and fill. Cut and fill slopes shall be no steeper than three horizontal to one vertical. Fill slopes shall not be located on natural slopes steeper than 3:1, nor where fill slope toes out within twelve feet horizontal of the top of an existing or planned cut slope. No unnecessary cuts and/or fills shall be allowed.
F. Buffer areas. Buffer areas consisting of undisturbed land shall exist around the perimeter of the parcel according to the following:
For building sites not requiring plat approval:
Width of Parcel at Building Line (ft.) | Side Lot Line Buffer Area Required (ft.)* | Rear Lot Line Buffer Area Required (ft.) |
Less than 125 | 15 | |
At least 125 but less than 150 | 20 | Regardless of width parcel at building line, 25% of average lot depth or 50 feet, whichever is greater |
At least 150 but less than 200 | 40 | |
200 feet or greater | 50 |
* Side lot line buffer area excludes the area within 60 feet of the right-of-way if such area is necessary to be used for driveway and/or utility purposes.
1. For building sites requiring plat approval under Chapter 1311 of the City's Codified Ordinances:
a. Buffer areas. An undisturbed buffer area of 100 feet wide shall be preserved around the entire boundary of the proposed subdivision, with the exception of areas required to be disturbed for entrance roads, easements or utilities, which disturbance shall be no more than minimally necessary for such purpose(s).
b. Placement of roadway and utilities. For sublots within a subdivision, the area from the right-of-way to a distance fifty feet from the right-of-way may be disturbed to allow for the placement of the roadway and utilities and to provide grading for such.
(2) Hydrological controls. The following standards shall apply to hydrological controls:
A. Nature channels. Perennial streams shall be left preserved. Intermittent streams and other natural drainageways shall be preserved to the maximum extent possible. Natural drainageways shall be preserved to the maximum extent possible in accordance with generally accepted engineering principles, below drainage and culvert discharge points to prevent channel erosion and to dissipate the energy of the discharge.
B. Interceptor ditches. Where required, interceptor ditches shall be established above steep slopes in such a way as not to saturate or erode soil. The intercepted water shall be conveyed in a pipe or other approved manner to a storm sewer system or to the bottom of a ravine or steep slope. If intercepted water cannot be conveyed in the manner required herein, the applicant shall provide another manner of conveyance to the satisfaction of the City Engineer.
C. Early completion. A drainage system shall be completed and operational at the earliest possible time during construction.
D. Hydrological control plan. A hydrological control plan, prepared by a registered professional civil engineer or landscape architect, shall be submitted with the following information:
1. Inventory. A reasonably detailed description of:
a. The direction of flow within the local drainage basin;
b. All natural drainage channels directed toward and away from the hillside area within fifty feet of its perimeter;
c. Other natural drainageways which may affect or be affected by the proposal; and
d. Any proposed realignment of the natural channels.
2. Special notations. Special notations shall be included highlighting details of the terrain, existing natural surface drainage and areas subject to seepage or spring flow.
3. Proposed facilities. The location of all surface and sub-surface drainage devices and protective measures to be installed as part of the proposed development, together with a statement concerning existing active erosion occurring at the outlet of existing or proposed systems, shall be included.
(3) Vegetation and revegetation. The following standards shall apply to vegetation and revegetation:
A. Exposure. The smallest area of land possible shall be exposed at any given time during development and shall be exposed for as short a time as possible. Where required to prevent erosion or where exposed land will remain for time periods exceeding fifteen days, temporary cover shall be used during development. For land disturbances exceeding one acre, the project shall be designed and completed in phases so as to minimize the exposure of large areas of land.
B. Revegetation. Areas disturbed during development shall be landscaped, using native plantings with deep root systems whenever possible. Trees removed during development shall be replaced with native Ohio tree saplings that are typical to the site.
(4) Landscape plan. A landscape plan, prepared by an Ohio registered landscape architect, shall be submitted and shall include the following:
A. Existing inventory. A site plan inventory describing the location and types of vegetation on the hillside area. Such plan shall show the types and location of vegetation proposed to be removed.
B. Revegetation. A site plan describing the type and location of proposed revegetation of disturbed areas.
C. Method. A detailed description of any slope, stabilization and revegetation proposals.
(Ord. 145-1997. Passed 6-16-97; Eff. 7-16-97.)