Chapter 17-13 was inserted into the town code by Ordinance 2021.010
Sections:
17-13-1 Purpose and interpretation
17-13-2 Applicability and exemptions
17-13-3 Definitions
17-13-4 General grading and related site work performance standards
17-13-5 Submittal and procedures: general
17-13-6 Submittal and procedures: minor grading type 1
17-13-7 Submittals and procedures: major grading type 2
17-13-8 Submittals and procedures: major utility permits
17-13-9 Submittals and procedures: public infrastructure permits
17-13-10 Inspection and performance defaults
17-13-11 Enforcement
17-13-12 Waivers and interpretation review
A. Purpose.
1. The purpose of this chapter is to protect the public health, safety, general welfare, and aesthetics by regulating grading and related site work (including initial clearing, brushing or grubbing, subsequent excavating or filling, and related site work) on private and public land, including land owned by the town.
2. It establishes standards designed to:
a. Regulate the development of potentially hazardous terrain;
b. Conserve the general visual character of sites and settings;
c. Enhance the value of new development; and
d. Conserve the value of existing affected properties.
3. The guidelines and standards of this chapter have been prepared in the context of town specific desert environment. They are intended to complement the applicable provisions of development code and other town ordinances.
4. Granting of a permit for grading and related site work shall not relieve the applicant of responsibilities to other jurisdictions.
B. Interpretation.
1. This section shall be used as a guide whenever a conflict arises in the interpretation or enforcement of this chapter. The design, implementation, and mitigation of grading and related site work regulated by this chapter shall be reviewed by the town staff prior to the issuance of any permit to ensure compliance with the guidelines of this chapter and the specific standards and requirements of this chapter.
2. The design and implementation of all grading and related site work shall:
a. Minimize scars and other adverse visual impacts resulting from cut and fill;
b. Blend with the natural contours of the land;
c. Conserve the natural scenic beauty and vegetation of the site, and;
d. Restrict the area and volumes to the minimum necessary to implement the planned development.
3. In all projects, measures shall be taken to:
a. Ensure that graded hillside, slopes, or other areas subject to erosion are stabilized;
b. Reduce the erosion effects of stormwater discharge, preserve the floodway-carrying capacity of natural or constructed waterways by limiting soil loss, and protect drainageways from siltation;
c. Minimize dust pollution and surface water drainage from graded areas during grading and development; and
d. Ensure that development activity is designated and implemented to minimize adverse impacts and include appropriate restorative measures.
A. Scope.
1. All development projects shall require either a minor grading type 1 or a major grading type 2 permit, except as exempted in subsection D of this section.
2. All development projects that construct major utility infrastructure such as water lines, sewer lines, electrical lines, natural gas lines, and telecommunication facilities shall require a major utility permit.
3. All development projects that construct new infrastructure to be dedicated to and maintained by the Town shall require a public infrastructure permit.
4. Town development projects shall abide by the requirements of this chapter. The council may grant a special exception at a public hearing to a requirement of this chapter for a town development project.
B. Type 1 permit applicability. A type 1 permit is required for:
1. Residential development on a single parcel or lot within a custom lot subdivision.
2. Non-residential development on less than one acre, or which does not require a subdivision plat or development plan.
3. The clearing, brushing, or grubbing of a site.
4. Temporary off-site stockpiling of more than 100 cubic yards of fill.
5. Grading which requires a permanent cut or fill slope greater than five feet in height or steeper than a 3:1 slope.
6. New pavement of 5,000 to 14,000 square feet.
7. The paving of an access easement.
C. Type 2 permit applicability. A type 2 permit is required for:
1. Mass grading of a residential development which requires a subdivision plat or development plan.
2. Non-residential development on one or more acres, or which requires a subdivision plat or development plan.
3. New pavement of more than 14,000 square feet.
4. Blasting activities.
5. Dry well installations.
6. Super pad grading operations.
D. Exemptions. The following activities are exempted from this chapter.
1. Temporary off-site stockpiling of less than 100 cubic yards of fill.
2. Resurfacing or maintenance of an existing paved surface, or the application of a dust palliative on an unpaved road.
3. New pavement of less than 5,000 square feet.
4. Single-home sewage disposal system.
5. Excavation below finished grade for a basement, foundation, wall or swimming pool authorized by a building permit.
6. Cemetery graves.
7. Refuse disposal site controlled by other regulations.
8. Exploratory excavation under the direction of a soil engineer or engineering geologist, provided all excavation is properly backfilled in accordance with town standards.
9. Qualified archaeological exploration of a registered archaeological site.
10. Removal of no more than 25% of the individual plants for storage and replanting on the same property. This provision shall not exempt clearing, brushing, or grubbing.
11. Underground utility crossings under a paved roadway surface or a continuously-maintained unpaved roadway surface and which provide no disturbance of the surface. A right-of-way use permit is required for all work performed within a town right-of-way.
12. Grading for the maintenance of an existing private access, road or driveway, provided that it either existed prior to adoption of, or was established in conformance with, this chapter. Proof of such may be required by the town.
13. Grading for a utility easement or appurtenant utility access.
14. Grading for normal agricultural practices on or within existing areas of agricultural use.
A. General usage: The definition and usage of terms in this chapter are as contained within this code, except that the definition and usage of terms describing drainage are as contained within the Marana floodplain management ordinance.
B. Definitions: For purposes of this chapter only, the following words and terms shall mean:
1. Access road: A road within one mile of the grading site, designed on the approved grading plan, and used, during grading, for the transport of grading equipment, hauling of fill and other equivalent vehicular traffic to and from the grading site.
2. Approval: Written notice by town staff approving the design, progress or completion of work.
3. Approved plan: The most current grading plan which bears the authorized signature of approval of town staff.
4. Approved testing agency: A facility which is equipped to perform and certify the tests required by this chapter and whose testing operations are controlled and monitored by a registered civil engineer.
5. Borrow: Earth material acquired from an off-site location for use in grading a site.
6. Brushing: The selective removal of vegetation.
7. Clearing: The substantial removal of vegetation.
8. Custom lot subdivision: A subdivision that only builds the streets and other major utility infrastructure and does not design or grade the homesites.
9. Development project: Any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, and excavating.
10. Envelope, building:
a. A dwelling unit and all attached roofed structures, including carports or patio ramadas;
b. For non-residential development, the building envelope shall be the main building and all attached roofed structures.
11. Envelope, development: The total area encompassed by a continuous line drawn a minimum distance of five feet outside any and all work shown on the approved plan and any other surfaces which will be disturbed (as access roads). There shall be no more than one envelope per permit unless such envelopes are separated by an undisturbed distance of at least 100 feet.
12. Erosion: The wearing away of the ground surface as a result of the movement of wind, water or ice.
13. Excavation: The artificial (e.g. mechanical, manual, blasting, etc.) removal of earth materials.
14. Final inspection: Field inspection conducted by the town prior to project acceptance or release of assurances (if required).
15. Grade: The vertical location of the ground surface.
16. Grade, existing: The actual, current ground surface as of the date of adoption of the ordinance adopting this chapter.
17. Grade, finished: The final grade conforming to the approved grading plan.
18. Grade, rough: The stage at which grading substantially conforms to the approved grading plan.
19. Grading: The initial clearing, brushing, or grubbing, and subsequent excavating or filling, of a site.
20. Grading permit: An official document issued by town staff authorizing the grading and related site work activity specified by the permit conditions.
21. Grubbing: The removal of trees and other large plants by their roots.
22. Inspector: A person authorized by the town to perform inspection on grading or related site work.
23. Mass grading: Subdivision development characterized by grading all roads and lot pads at the same time based on a set of cohesive plans.
24. Permit conditions: The specifications and requirements of the approved grading plan, grading statement, soils report, or other documents necessary for permit approval.
25. Related site-work: Work other than general, or mass grading which involves:
a. Below-the-surface operations (such as trenching for utilities or landscaping);
b. Placing of pavement and its substructure;
c. Curbs, gutters, and sidewalk;
d. Grading of drainage channels; and
e. Constructing minor slope protection facilities and retaining walls.
26. Retaining wall: A wall designed to withstand lateral and hydrostatic pressures and built to keep earth from sliding, and which is two feet or greater in height from the lowest point of earth at the foundation to the top of the wall.
27. Re-vegetation: Placement of living plant material on sites or cut and fill slopes where the natural vegetation has been removed.
28. Site: Any lot or parcel of land, or contiguous combination of lots and parcels under the same ownership, or unified control, where grading or related site work is to be performed.
29. Slope: An inclined ground surface, the inclination of which is expressed as a ratio of horizontal distance to vertical distance.
30. Soil: Naturally occurring deposits overlying bedrock.
31. Stabilized slope: A slope treated with re-vegetation or other mitigation measures approved by the town that contribute to resistance to erosion of siltation or to structural strength of the slope.
32. Super pad: A mass grading operation which brings the site nominally within the range of the final design grades. This activity requires its own detailed grading plan. The super pad grading design must be able to exist as a final product with no adverse impact to surrounding properties should the ultimate grading not take place.
33. Temporary off-site stock-piling: The storing of a quantity of material for not more than 180 days. A revised period may be accepted by the town engineer, at his discretion when the permit is issued, and shall determine the expiration date.
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