(a) A person wanting to engage in and operate in gas production activities shall apply for and obtain a gas well permit under this article and shall indicate what type of gas well permit is requested. It shall be unlawful for any person acting either for himself or herself or acting as agent, employee, independent contractor or servant for any person to drill any well, assist in any way in the site preparation, re-working, fracturing or operation of any such well or to conduct any activity related to the production of gas without first obtaining a gas well permit issued by the city in accordance with this article. Such activities include, but are not limited to, re-working, initial site preparation, drilling, operation, construction of rigs or tank batteries, fracturing and pressurizing. A permit shall not be required for seismic surveys unless the survey is conducted on city owned property or city rights-of-way unless such requirement is waived by the city.
(b) Operator must apply for and obtain a gas well permit for the drilling, re-drilling, deepening, re-entering, activating or converting of each well.
(c) A gas well permit shall not constitute authority for the re-entering and drilling of an abandoned well. An operator shall obtain a new gas well permit in accordance with the provisions of this article if the operator is re-entering and drilling an abandoned well.
(d) When a gas well permit has been issued to the operator for the drilling, re-drilling, deepening, re-entering, activating or converting of a well, such gas well permit shall constitute sufficient authority for drilling, operation, production gathering or production maintenance, repair, re-working, testing, plugging and abandonment of the well and/or any other activity associated with mineral exploration at the site of such well, provided, however, that a new or supplemental permit shall be obtained before such well may be reworked for purposes of re-drilling, deepening or converting such well to a depth or use other than that set forth in the then current permit for such well.
(e) Any person who intends to re-work a permitted well using a drilling rig, to fracture stimulate a permitted well after initial completion or to conduct seismic surveys or other exploration activities shall give written notice to the gas inspector and post a sign as described below no less than ten days before the activities begin. The notice must identify where the activities will be conducted and must describe the activities in detail, including whether explosive charges will be used, the duration of the activities and the time the activities will be conducted. The notice must also provide the address and 24-hour phone number of the person conducting the activities. The person conducting the activities will post a sign on the property giving the public notice of the activities, including the name, address and 24-hour phone number of the person conducting the activities. If the gas inspector determines that an inspection by the gas inspector is necessary, the operator will pay the city for the inspection.
(f) (1) A gas well permit shall automatically terminate if drilling of the well bore has not commenced within 365 days from the date of the issuance of the gas well permit.
(2) A gas well permit may be extended one time by the gas inspector for an additional 365 days upon request by the operator if:
a. Operator provides proof that there are no additional protected uses within 600 feet from the time of the filing of the original permit applications; and
b. The request is submitted prior to the expiration of the original permit.
(3) No permit shall be extended beyond the expiration date of the current railroad commission permit.
(g) The gas well permits required by this article are in addition to and are not in lieu of any permit which may be required by any other provision of this code or by any other governmental agency.
(h) (1) No additional gas well permit or filing fees shall be required for:
a. Any wells that are existing, previously permitted or approved by the city, within the corporate limits of the city on the effective date of the 2001 Gas Drilling Article (Ord. 14880);
b. Any wells where drilling has commenced on the effective date of the 2001 ordinance;
c. Any wells in existence or on any wells on which drilling has commenced on land annexed into the city after the effective date of the 2001 ordinance; or
d. Any well that was planned for the land before the ninetieth day before the effective date of its annexation and one or more licenses, certificates, permits, approvals or other forms of authorization by a governmental entity were required by law for such well and the completed application for the initial authorization was filed before the date the annexation proceedings were instituted.
(2) A person shall have 45 days after annexation into the city to designate a gas operation as a pre-existing operation by filing a site plan drawn to scale that shows the proposed location of the well or pad site with respect to survey lines and the proposed associated production facilities, if any, or designate an existing pad site as a multiple well site with the gas inspector.
(3) An operator or property owner shall have 45 days after the effective date of this article to notify the city of well sites existing prior to January 1, 2009, that have a protected use (permitted or built), as defined in the 2006 Gas Drilling Article (Ord. 16986), or a residential lot that is located between 300 feet and 200 feet from an existing well site. Sites that meet the above notice and distance requirements will be grandfathered to the setback requirements existing prior to January 1, 2009. For residential lots only, if the above required notice is not received by the city within 45 days, the minimum setback distance may be reduced by the city council to 200 feet.
(i) No gas well permit shall be issued for any well to be drilled within any public park without the prior consent of the city council. The city council shall review the insurance and security requirements on an individual basis prior to issuing the permit.
(j) No gas well permit shall be issued for any well to be drilled within any floodplain or floodway identified by FEMA on the most current FIRM without obtaining a floodplain development permit from the transportation and public works department.
(k) No gas well permit shall be issued without an approved erosion control and grading plan as required by the city to prevent any off site migration of silt and sediment.
(l) No gas well permit shall be issued for any well to be drilled on city owned property without the prior consent of the city council. The city council shall review the insurance and security requirements on an individual basis prior to issuing the permit.
(m) No gas well permit shall be issued for any well to be drilled within a designated urban village without the prior consent of the city council unless the site has, prior to November 10, 2009:
(1) An existing approved gas well permit;
(2) An existing approved gas well pad site permit; or
(3) A gas drilling and development site plan on property owned/leased or controlled by the gas operator and approved by the development services director.
(n) Multiple gas well pad site permit. At the time the operator submits an application for the issuance for a single well permit, the operator, at his or her option, may also request the issuance of a multiple well site permit for drilling future wells. Applications for gas wells drilled on a multiple well site shall comply with the following:
(1) For all purposes, the measurement shall be from the boundary line of the pad site.
(2) If the pad site is located within 600 feet of a protected use at the time of the filing of a multiple well site permit application, the applicant must obtain a variance granted by the city council or waivers from all protected uses within a 600 foot radius before the multiple well site permit may be issued.
(3) Notice that a multiple well site permit application has been filed with the city must be included in any notice to property owners and in the published newspaper notice as required by § 15-36 for the initial gas well permit.
(4) All multiple well site permits must be filed of record by the operator, at his or her expense in the applicable county deed records and indicated on all applicable plats filed in the deed records. Each filed multiple well site permit shall contain the address, lot and block, subdivision name and plat volume and page of each lot, tract or parcel located within 1,000 feet of the multiple well site permit.
(5) Prior to the issuance of a multiple well site permit by the city, the operator must place at least one sign on the property located in a conspicuous place or places upon the property at a point or points visible from the nearest right-of-way, street, roadway, public thoroughfare or protected use adjacent to such property. The gas inspector may require additional signage if the pad site fronts on more than one right-of-way, street, roadway or public thoroughfare. The sign shall indicate that a multiple well site permit to drill multiple wells for gas on this site has been applied for, and shall further set forth that additional information can be acquired by telephoning the applicant/operator at the number indicated on the sign. A permanent sign approved by the gas inspector indicating that a multiple well site permit has been issued shall remain posted at the pad site location for the duration of the multiple well site permit.
(6) Prior to the commencement of drilling of each additional gas well on a permitted multiple well site permit pad site, the operator must submit an application for the issuance of a gas well permit, for each such future well, in accordance with this article.
(7) All subsequent gas wells drilled on a permitted gas well pad site permit shall comply with all regulations, including the notice and landscape provisions, and all other provisions of this article, except for the distance setback requirements related to drilling a well from a protected use. No variance or waiver for a distance setback from a protected use shall be required for subsequent wells; however, no well shall be drilled closer than 300 feet from any protected use or public building.
(8) No multiple well site permit shall be issued for a gas well pad site greater than five acres in surface area or the amount of surface area acreage included in the surface use agreement, whichever is larger.
(9) All wells will be set back a minimum of 75 feet from the outer pad site boundary.
(10) The multiple well site permit shall automatically terminate if drilling of the initial well bore has not commenced within 365 days from the date of the issuance of the gas well permit unless the initial gas well permit is extended by the gas inspector.
(11) The issuance of a multiple well site permit is for the sole purpose of allowing future wells to be drilled on an existing pad site and within 600 feet of protected uses without obtaining waivers and/or variances as set forth in § 15-36 of this article. All gas wells drilled upon a permitted gas well pad site must otherwise comply with any drilling distance regulations from a protected use or other structure as required by state law and applicable fire code regulations and all other provisions of this article.
(o) By acceptance of any gas well permit issued pursuant to this article, the operator expressly stipulates and agrees to be bound by and comply with the provisions of this article. The terms of this article shall be deemed to be incorporated in any gas well permit issued pursuant to this article with the same force and effect as if this article was set forth verbatim in such gas well permit.
(p) Gas drilling review committee (GDRC).
(1) All applications where a city council waiver is required, all applications that involve noncommercial truck routes, all applications for gas pipelines or gas pipeline facilities located in a private residential area and all applications for line compressor sites requiring rezoning to a “PD” planned development district shall be reviewed by the gas drilling review committee (GDRC) prior to that application being presented to the zoning commission, the city council or administratively issued by the city staff, where applicable.
(2) The GDRC shall be composed of city staff representatives from the transportation and public works, gas inspectors, water, planning and development, law, community relations and park and recreation departments. A representative from the city’s parks advisory board shall sit as a committee member when the application involves drilling within 600 feet of a public park, drilling on a public park or a pipeline through a public park. The committee shall be chaired by the assistant director of planning and development - gas well division.
(3) a. Notice of GDRC meeting shall be mailed ten days after receipt of the application to:
1. All neighborhood associations within:
a. One-half mile of drill site; or
b. One-half mile of line compressor site.
2. All property owners within 1,000 feet of the proposed well or a line compressor site;
3. All property owners fronting or along the noncommercial truck route; and
4. All property owners along the proposed private residential area pipeline route.
b. Notices shall follow the same format used for adoption of zoning regulations and district boundary changes and shall include a description of the application, the proposed truck route, distance setbacks, a location map and the GDRC meeting date and time. Notices shall include the email and phone contact information for the operator and the street address for the well location.
c. All notices and applications shall be placed on the city’s webpage in an electronic format.
(4) The GDRC meeting shall be conducted in the following manner.
a. The operator (or pipeline operator, where applicable) shall present overview of the application.
b. Staff shall present the staff report including applicable article regulations.
c. Following the presentations, a total of 15 minutes shall be allotted for citizen comments from the notified persons listed in subsection (o)(3) above.
(5) If the application involves a public park issue, the parks advisory board representative shall report the recommendation of the GDRC to the park advisory board at their next meeting.
(6) No continuance shall be allowed unless requested by the operator/applicant. If a continuance is requested, the operator must submit new revisions within two weeks of the initial GDRC hearing date. Notices to neighborhood associations and property owners as outlined in subsection (o)(3) above will be resent with revised information.
(7) The GDRC shall submit a written report with the mayor and council communication permit request on all applications involving gas wells or multiple well site permit without waivers and pipelines within the city’s rights-of-way. The GDRC shall also submit a written report to the zoning commission for a line compressor site requiring rezoning to a “PD” planned development district. The report shall include the staff and citizen concerns and any unresolved issues. The GDRC shall submit a recommendation to the gas well division on all applications that involve noncommercial truck routes and all applications for pipelines or pipeline facilities located in a private residential area.
(8) The results and recommendations of the GDRC shall be sent to the operator or pipeline operator and shall be posted on the city’s webpage within two weeks following the GDRC meeting.
(Ord. 18449-02-2009, § 1, passed 2-3-2009, eff. 2-10-2009; Ord. 18910-2009, § 3, passed 11-10-2009; Ord. 20927-09-2013, §§ 2, 3, 4, passed 9-10-2013; eff. 9-20-2013; Ord. 24030-02-2020, § 22, passed 2-4-2020)