(A) Intent and purpose. The intent and purpose of this section is to provide for the extraction of earth products using surface mining methods, for stockpiling mined materials and for the placement of overburden and leftover earth materials in mining waste dumps, while protecting the environment, the rights of neighboring property owners and roads and other public facilities from unusual wear or damage.
(B) Applicability; exception.
(1) The provisions of this section shall apply to all sites where sand, clay, topsoil, rocks or minerals will be extracted by an open pit method; to all sites where such extracted earth products are stockpiled; and to sites where overburden and leftover earth materials are placed in waste dumps.
(2) Sites having a valid, current permit at the time of passage hereof shall be completed according to the terms of such permit, and any bonding agreements appurtenant thereto. After April 1, 2007, the exception applies only to the portion of the site under permit at that date. Any expansion of pits, dumps, storage pits or operation areas beyond the existing permit is subject to all provisions of this section.
(C) Conditions. The Community Development Director shall issue a permit for an open pit, a stockpile or a waste dump only when all of the following are met, and all operations and rehabilitation shall comply with all of the following requirements:
(1) The site lies in a zone where such use is a permitted use or where it may be approved as a conditional use permit by the Planning Commission and has received such approval;
(2) The applicant has submitted an accurate site plan that shows the current topography, utilities, roads and structures on the site and an accurate site plan that shows the proposed utilities, roads and structures during operations;
(3) The applicant has presented an accurate final post reclamation site plan that shows the topography, utilities, roads and structures on the site after completing the excavation and rehabilitation of the pit;
(4) Only the portion of the parcel covered by the required rehabilitation bond may be disturbed or involved in the extraction process;
(5) The standards for rehabilitating the site shall be:
(a) The side walls of a pit or mound shall be smoothed and evenly contoured, and the floor of a pit or top of a mound shall be flattened and leveled;
(b) Mounds of fill shall not remain after rehabilitation of an extraction operation, even if utility poles must be relocated at the operator’s expense; mounds may only be permitted in conjunction with a mine waste dump;
(c) Impoundments, pits and ponds, which are not approved as part of a postmining land use and reclamation plan, shall be reclaimed, free draining and the natural drainage patterns restored;
(d) No slope shall be steeper than the critical angle of repose (e.g., 33 degrees for gravel deposits); and
(e) All disturbed areas shall be covered with not less than a one-inch-thick layer of topsoil, reseeded with a hardy plant species, and the hardy plant species shall be established with sufficient concentration of vegetation to screen at least 25% of the exposed surface from view. Exception: Disturbed areas located in the desert areas which naturally lack soil or vegetation shall be restored to a vegetation and soil surface that corresponds with the adjacent native conditions.
(6) The operator shall place clearly identifiable survey markers on the outer boundaries of the bonded area and shall maintain such until the bond is released by the county. The County Commission may request an annual on-site investigation and report of the County Engineer to determine whether the terms of the grading plan, rehabilitation plan and bond agreement are being met;
(7) Surface mining shall proceed in an orderly manner from the outer boundaries and lower slopes of the property inward and upward so the property can be rehabilitated in the older areas of the pit while new areas are being opened up;
(8) (a) Dust generated in the extraction and processing of the earth products shall be kept under control by the operator by paving main roads in the pit, wetting extraction area and loaded trucks, placing berms or landscape screening for protection from the prevailing winds and other suitable measures.
(b) Exception: The paving of the main roads of the pit may be waived by the Community Development Director if all portions of the pit extraction area are at least 6,000 feet from any dwelling or cultivated crops, and any unpaved access road to the pit from the paved road system is at least 500 feet from any dwelling or cultivated crops. To qualify for this exception, the road shall have dust control accomplished with a coating of 32% magnesium chloride treatment at a rate of one ton per 3,300 square feet, which coating shall be applied twice yearly. Further, water shall be added as needed so that the fugitive dust shall not exceed 20% opacity. If any of these qualifications are not met, as determined by tests performed by the Community Development Director, the County Business License Administrator, or the state’s Division of Air Quality, or their designees, the pit operator shall cease operations, the Community Development Director shall revoke the zoning compliance permit and the business license shall not be renewed until the road is paved.
(9) All cuts and fills shall be set back from the property boundary and from the boundary of the approved extraction site a distance of at least five feet; and
(10) The pit and/or extraction operation shall not constitute a nuisance according to §§ 155.020 through 155.032 of this code. Conditions specified in divisions (C)(2) through (C)(8) above, shall be deemed satisfied by submission of an approved operation and reclamation plan for mining operations as specified in the state code.
(D) Bond.
(1) A cash escrow in the amount as set by resolution, but not less than $2,500 per acre, in 2007, with an increase of $50 per annum for each year after 2007, shall be deposited with the county by the applicant to guarantee compliance with the provisions of this section. A violation of this section, or of the rehabilitation agreement, shall be sufficient grounds for forfeiture of the deposit to the county. If the deposited funds are over the minimum amount per acre and the owner disputes the cost of reclamation set by the County Engineer, the County Commission may determine the cost and set the escrow amount, upon written dispute by the owner.
(2) The maximum term of the bond shall be seven years, after which time the bond amount shall be reevaluated based on inflation, the current costs of rehabilitation and the amount of rehabilitation or excavation that has occurred during the elapsed time.
(3) Any bond shall be accompanied by an agreement between the county and the applicant (plus the property owner if the latter is not also the applicant) wherein the county agrees to return the bond at the completion of work if the standards of this section have been met, and the applicant and property owner agree that the bond shall be forfeited in the event of noncompliance and to permit the county to enter upon the land to close operations and rehabilitate the excavated or filled areas. Any ambiguity or deficiency in the wording of the bond agreement shall be interpreted to include the terms of this section.
(4) Rehabilitation of the site shall be completed on or before the earliest to occur of the following dates:
(a) Six months prior to the date of termination or expiration of the rehabilitation bond;
(b) One year after the date of cessation of operations;
(c) One year after the last date that any earth product materials are extracted from the site;
(d) December 31 of any year in which a business license has not been issued by the county for such operations; and
(e) December 31 of any year in which a valid county zoning compliance permit is not in effect for the operation.
(5) Notwithstanding the forfeiture of the bond, the applicant and the property owner shall retain individual responsibility to fully comply with this section, the terms of the permits issued thereunder and the balance of any expense not covered by the bond to rehabilitate the property.
(6) The bond requirement under this division (D) may be satisfied by submission of a properly executed reclamation contract for surety under the mining operations requirements as found in the state code; provided, however, that if the proposed operation requires the issuance of a conditional use permit by the Planning Commission and the Planning Commission imposes a bond amount which is larger, or contains additional terms than that which is required by the state, then the applicant and property owner shall enter into a separate bonding agreement acceptable to the county for the additional bond amount (or full bond amount if the state bond is not used or does not contain the required terms), which bonding agreement shall contain all the terms required by the Planning Commission.
(E) Permits.
(1) In addition to the business licenses and building (or grading) permits required elsewhere in county ordinances, any open pit operation shall be required to have a current zoning compliance permit.
(2) No zoning compliance permit for an open pit operation shall have a period of validity past December 31 of each calendar year, but the permit shall be automatically renewed if the pit is found to be in compliance with the standards of this section.
(3) The Community Development Director, with the advice of the County Engineer, shall determine if such compliance exists.
(Prior Code, § 8-6-32) (Ord. 11-03, passed 3-1-2011) Penalty, see § 155.999