Control of erosion and sediment is the responsibility of the landowner. Design criteria, detail, and specifications are located in the city's Stormwater Development Manual. General requirements for seeking a permit to engage in land-disturbing activities are as follows.
(A) Applicability. This section applies to the following sites with land-disturbing activities:
(1) Those requiring a subdivision plat approval or local improvement location permit for the construction of commercial, residential or institutional buildings on lots of approved subdivision plats;
(2) Those involving grading, removal of protective ground cover or vegetation, excavation, land filling, or other land-disturbing activity affecting a surface area of 10,000 square feet or more;
(3) Those involving excavation, filling, or a combination of excavation and filling affecting 400 cubic yards or more of soil, gravel, stone or other material;
(4) Those involving street, highway, road or bridge construction, enlargement, relocation or reconstruction; and
(5) Those involving the laying, repairing, replacing or enlarging of an underground pipe or utility for a distance of 300 feet or more.
(B) The following erosion and other sediment control requirements shall be met on all such sites, with the exception of individual lots within a permitted project.
(1) Site dewatering. Sediment-1aden water from dewatering activities flowing from the site shall be detained by temporary sediment basins. Also, water shall not be discharged in a manner that causes erosion in the receiving channel.
(2) Waste and material disposal. Wastes or unused building materials, including but not limited to, garbage, debris, cleaning wastes, wastewater, toxic materials and hazardous substances, shall not be carried by runoff from a site. Proper disposal of all wastes and used building materials, appropriate to the nature of the waste material, is required.
(3) Tracking. Sediment being tracked from a site onto public or private roadways shall be minimized. This can be accomplished initially by a wel1-planned layout of roads, construction entrances, access drives, and parking areas of sufficient width and length. However, protective covering also may be necessary. Therefore, for the duration of the construction period and until vegetation cover is in place, access to the lot will be limited to this single location.
(4) Sediment removal. Public or private roadways shall be kept cleared of accumulated sediment. If appreciable sedimentation occurs after a storm event, the sediment shall be redeposited on the parcels of land, if in the site, from where it likely originated so that the erosion and sedimentation does not recur.
(5) Drain inlet protection. All storm drain inlets shall be protected against sedimentation with straw bales, filter fabric or equivalent barriers meeting accepted design criteria, standards and specifications. During winter months, other methods may be incorporated as approved by the city.
(6) Site erosion control. The following items apply only to the time period when land-disturbing activities are taking place.
(a) Runoff passing through a site from adjacent areas shall be controlled by diverting it around disturbed areas. Alternatively, the existing channel may be improved to prevent erosion or sedimentation from occurring.
(b) Runoff from a disturbed area shall be timely controlled by one or more of the following measures.
1. To minimize erosion potential, unvegetated areas that are scheduled or likely to be left inactive for 15 days or more must be temporarily or permanently stabilized with measures appropriate for the season. Alternative measures to site stabilization are acceptable, if the project site owner(s) or their representative(s) can demonstrate they have implemented erosion and sediment control measures adequate to prevent sediment discharge. Vegetated areas with a density of less than 70 percent shall be restabilized using appropriate methods to minimize the erosion potential.
2. With disturbed areas within a site of ten acres or more, where drainage is in the same direction or where runoff will result in loss of soil, an abatement or recovery program is required. Where feasible, one or more sediment basins shall be constructed.
3. With disturbed areas within a site of less than ten acres, filter fences, straw bales or equivalent erosion control measures placed along all sideslope and downslope sides of the site shall be required.
(c) Erosion from all storage piles shall be controlled by placing straw bales, filter fence or other appropriate barriers around the piles. Adjacent storm drain inlets shall be protected using similar filter barriers.
(d) Time is of the essence in controlling erosion. Accordingly, all areas disturbed by excavation and for backfilling operations which expose soil shall be compacted, sodded or re-seeded promptly after the site is graded. Seed shall be a blend of fast-germinating seed, in addition to perennial grasses suitable for the soil and exposure of the area to sunlight. All seeded areas shall be mulched and disc-anchored as necessary for erosion protection and seed retention.
(Ord. 21-C-04, passed 11-9-04)