Before an Improvement Location Permit or a Certificate of Occupancy shall be issued, the Zoning Administrator shall be satisfied that the proposed use meets the applicable criteria set forth herein for the lot or tract of land concerning types of soils involved, and the conditions which are requisite to assure proper drainage. The Zoning Administrator shall be guided by the information set forth in the findings in the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE SOIL SURVEY prepared by the USDA Soil Conservation Service in cooperation with the Purdue Experiment Station and the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District, and the specifications set forth in Subsection (E) herein. The Zoning Administrator shall also be guided by advice from the USDA Soil Conservation Service, Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District, New Palestine Town Board, Hancock County Drainage Board, Indian Department of Natural Resources - Division of Water, and other agencies or officials offering technical assistance on the subjects of soils, drainage, erosion and sediment control. The applicant shall provide the above information, report, or plan with his application, and additional expense necessary to ensure adequate information, report, or plan shall be met by the applicant.
A. Definitions.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words shall, for the purposes of this Section, have the meaning herein stated. Words in the singular number include the singular. Present tense includes the future. The work "building" shall be deemed to include the word "structure."
1. Cut: An excavation. The difference between a point on the original ground and a designated point of lower elevation on the final grade. Also, the material removed in excavation.
2. Erosion: The removal of surface materials by the action of natural elements.
3. Excavation: Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other similar material is dug into, cut quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced, relocated or bulldozed, and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom.
4. Fill: Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other material is placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported or moved to a new location above the natural surface of the ground or on top of the tripped surface and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom. The difference in elevation between a point on the original ground and a designated point of higher elevation on the final grade. The material used to make a fill.
5. Flood Plain: See Sec. 10 of the Zoning Ordinance for Definitions.
6. Qualifying Tract: Any tract where 20 or more cubic yards of earth is removed.
7. Runoff: The surface water discharge or rate of discharge of a given watershed after a fall of rain or snow that does not enter the soil but runs off the surface of the land.
8. Runoff from a fully developed area upstream: The surface water runoff that can be reasonably anticipated upon maximum development of that area of the watershed located upstream from the subject from the subject tract, as permitted by prevailing zoning or the comprehensive plan.
9. Sedimentation: The process by which mineral or organic matter is accumulated or deposited by moving, wind, water, or gravity. Once this matter is deposited (or remains suspended in water), it is usually referred to as "sediment."
10. Slope: The face of an embankment or cut section; any ground whose surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. Slopes are usually expressed in a percentage based upon vertical difference in feet per 100 feet or horizontal distance.
11. Soil Stabilization: Chemical or structural treatment of a mass of soil to increase or maintain its stability or otherwise improve its engineering properties.
12. Swale: A low-lying stretch of land which gathers or carries surface water runoff.
13. Top Soil: Surface soils and subsurface soils which presumably are fertile soils and soil material, ordinarily rich in organic matter of humus debris. Top soil is usually found in the uppermost soil layer called the "A Horizon."
14. Watercourse: A permanent stream; intermittent stream; river; brook; creek; channel or ditch for water whether natural or man-made.
B. Plan for Minimizing Erosion and Sedimentation.
1. No changes shall be made in the contour of the land; or grading, excavating, removal or destruction of the top soil, trees or other vegetative cover of the land shall be commenced until such time that a plan for minimizing erosion and sedimentation has been reviewed by the Zoning Administrator there has been a determination by the Zoning Administrator that such plans are not necessary.
2. No development plan shall be approved unless there has been a plan approved by the Zoning Administrator that provides for drainage and minimizing erosion and sedimentation consistent with this Section, and an improvement bond or other acceptable securities are deposited with the Town of New Palestine, in the form of an escrow guarantee satisfactory for the planning which will ensure installation and completion of the required improvements; or there has been a determination by the Zoning Administrator that a plan for drainage and minimizing erosion and sedimentation is not necessary.
3. Measures used to control erosion and reduce sedimentation and to provide drainage shall as a minimum meet the standards and specifications of the Town of New Palestine and the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District. The Zoning Administrator shall ensure compliance with the appropriate specifications, copies of which are available from the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District or the Plan Commission Office.
C. Measures to Minimize Erosion and Sedimentation.
The following measures are effective in minimizing erosion and sedimentations and shall be included where applicable in the control plan:
1. Stripping of vegetation, regrading, or other development shall be done in such a way that will minimize erosion.
2. Development plans shall preserve salient natural features, keep cut-fill operations to a minimum, and ensure conformity with topography so as to create the least erosion potential and adequately handle the volume and velocity of surface water runoff.
3. Whenever feasible, natural vegetation shall be retained, protected, and supplemented.
4. The disturbed area and the duration of exposure shall be kept to a practical minimum.
5. Disturbed soils shall be stabilized as quickly as practical.
6. Temporary vegetation and mulching shall be used to protect exposed critical areas during development.
7. The permanent final vegetation and structural erosion control and drainage measures shall be installed as soon as practical in the development.
8. Provisions shall be made to effectively accommodate the increased runoff caused by changed soil and surface conditions during and after development. Where necessary, the rate of surface water runoff will be structurally retarded.
9. Sediment in the runoff water shall be trapped until the disturbed area is stabilized by the use of debris basins, sediment basins, silt traps, or similar measures.
D. Making Sites More Suitable.
In order to provide more suitable sites for building and other uses, improve surface drainage, and control erosion, the following requirement shall be met:
1. The location, grading and placement of sub-grade (base) material of all driveway and parking areas shall be accomplished as the first work done on a development plan.
2. All lots, tracts, or parcels shall be graded to provide proper drainage away from buildings and dispose of it without ponding, and all land within a development shall be graded to drain and dispose of surface water without ponding, except where approved by the Zoning Administrator.
3. All drainage provisions shall be of such design to adequately handle the surface runoff and carry it to the nearest suitable outlet such as a curbed street, storm drain, or natural watercourse. Where drainage swales are used to divert surface waters away from buildings, they shall be of such slope, shape and size as to conform with the requirement of the Town Board of New Palestine.
4. Concentration of surface water runoff shall only be permitted in swales or watercourses.
E. Excavations and Fills.
1. Cut and fill slopes shall not be steeper than 2:1 unless stabilized by a retaining wall or cribbing except as approved by the Zoning Administrator when handled under special conditions.
2. Provisions shall be made to prevent surface water from damaging the cut face of excavations or the sloping surfaces of fills, by installations of temporary or permanent drainage across or above these areas.
3. Cut and fills shall not endanger adjoining property.
4. Fill shall be placed and compacted so as to minimize sliding or erosion of the soil.
5. Fills shall not encroach on natural watercourses or constructed channels.
6. Fills placed adjacent to natural watercourses or constructed channels shall have suitable protection against erosion during periods of flooding.
7. Grading will not be done in such a way so as to divert water on to the property of another land owner without the expressed consent of the Zoning Administrator.
8. During grading operations, necessary measures for dust control will be exercised.
9. Grading equipment will not be allowed to ford live streams.
10. Provision will be made for the installation of temporary or permanent culverts or bridges.
F. General Provisions.
1. Whenever sedimentation is caused by stripping vegetation, regrading, or other development, it shall be the responsibility of the applicant, person, corporation or other entity causing such sedimentation to remove it from all adjoining surfaces, drainage systems and watercourses and to repair any damage at his expense as quickly as possible.
2. Maintenance of all driveways, parking areas, drainage facilities and watercourses within any development plan area is the responsibility of the applicant or owner/developer.
3. It is the responsibility of the applicant and any person, corporation, or other entity doing any act on or across a communal stream, watercourse, or swale or upon the flood plain or right-of-way during the pendency of the activity and to return it to its original or equal condition after such activity is completed.
4. No applicant and person, corporation, or other entity shall block, impede the flow of, alter, construct any structure, or deposit any material or thing, or commit any act which will affect normal or flood flow in any communal stream or watercourse without having obtained prior approval from the Town Board of New Palestine and the Hancock County Drainage Board or Natural Resources, whichever is applicable.
5. Where a development plan area is traversed by a watercourse, the total development of the watercourse shall be considered. There shall be provided a drainage easement or right-of-way conforming substantially with the line of such watercourse and of such width as will be adequate to preserve natural drainage to the satisfactions of the Zoning Administrator. (See Sec. 1.04-1.08)
G. Responsibility of Applicant.
1. Each applicant, person, corporation, or other entity which makes any surface changes shall be required to:
a. Collect on-site surface runoff and dispose of it to the point of discharge into an adequate outlet approved by the Zoning Administrator.
b. Handle existing and potential off-site runoff through its development by designing to adequately handle storm runoff from a fully developed area upstream.
c. Pay its proportionate share of the total cost of off-site improvements to the common natural watercourse based on a fully developed drainage.
d. Provide and install at its expense, in accordance with the Zoning Administrator's requirements, all drainage and erosion control improvements (temporary and permanent) as required by the Erosion and Sediment Control Plan.
2. It is the responsibility of the applicant or owner to keep all major streams, not under the jurisdiction of other official agencies, open and free flowing.
3. The applicant or owner shall assume the responsibility for maintaining an open and free-flowing condition in all minor streams, watercourses and drainage systems, constructed or improved in accordance with Town Board of New Palestine or Hancock County design criteria on its property, which are necessary for proper drainage in the discretion of the Zoning Administrator is adequate right-of-way exists or can be acquired.
H. Design Standards. The design, installation, and maintenance of the required drainage facilities and erosion and sediment control measures shall be in accordance with the following standards and specifications on file in the office of the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Zoning Administrator.
"URBAN SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION GUIDELINES, SPECIFICATION NO. 1"
Adopted by the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District, New Palestine, Indiana.
I. Plan Approval.
1. The approval of plans and specifications for the control of erosion and sedimentation shall be concurrent with the approval of the development, and become a part thereof.
2. Permission for clearing and grading prior to the approval of the development plan may be obtained under temporary easements or other conditions satisfactory to the Zoning Administrator.
3. In the event the applicant or developer proceeds to clear and grade prior to the approval of the development plan, without satisfying conditions specified under paragraph (2) above, the Board may revoke the approval of all plans.