All proposed development that requires an Improvement Location Permit shall meet the applicable criteria set forth herein concerning types of soils involved and the conditions which are requisite to assure proper execution of erosion and sediment control and proper drainage.
(A) General Requirements.
(1) No changes shall be made in the contour of the land; nor shall grading, excavating, removal, or destruction of the topsoil, trees, or other vegetative cover of the land be commenced, until an Erosion Control Plan has been reviewed by the Technical Advisory Committee or there has been a determination by the Technical Advisory Committee that such plans are not necessary.
(2) Erosion Control Plans shall be reviewed concurrently with the development plan and become a part thereof, except that an Erosion Control Plan may be filed and reviewed prior to the rest of the development plan for the purpose of obtaining a Preliminary Grading Permit.
(3) The Erosion Control Plan shall provide all information, reports or plans necessary for the application, including pre- and post-elevations and any additional expense necessary to ensure adequate information, report or plan shall be met by the applicant.
(4) No improvement location permit shall be issued for grading, excavating, removal or destruction of topsoil, trees, or other vegetative cover of land until approval has been received from the Technical Advisory Committee.
(5) No building permit shall be issued until the Planning Department has received and reviewed a certified elevation certificate regarding the parcels of land for which an improvement location permit was issued and a building permit is sought.
(B) Review of Erosion Control Plans.
(1) The following measures are effective in minimizing erosion and sedimentation and shall be included, where applicable, in the control plan. In reviewing these measures, the Technical Advisory Committee 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 Hamilton County Soil & Water Conservation District, and the specifications set forth in both the Indiana Heartland Urban Development Planning Guide and division (B)(2) herein and in accordance with Chapter 600 of The City of Noblesville Stormwater Technical Standards Manual. The Director of Planning and Development shall also be guided by advice from the USDA Soil Conservation Service, Hamilton County Soil & Water District, Hamilton County Drainage Board, Indiana 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.
(a) Stripping of vegetation, re-grading, or other development shall be done in such a way that will minimize erosion.
(b) 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.
(c) Whenever feasible, natural vegetation shall be retained, protected, and supplemented.
(d) The disturbed area and the duration of exposure shall be kept to a practical minimum.
(e) Disturbed soils shall be stabilized as quickly as practical.
(f) Temporary vegetation and mulching shall be used to protect exposed critical areas during development.
(g) The permanent final vegetation and structural erosion control and drainage measures shall be installed as soon as practical in the development.
(h) 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.
(i) 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.
(j) Development plan design shall strive for cut and fill site balancing with a minimum volume of residual dirt stockpiled.
(k) Ordinance No. 24-4-05 “An Ordinance Regulating Storm Water Run Off Associated with Construction and Post Construction Activities in the City of Noblesville” and all amendments thereto. (See §§ 52.30 et seq.).
(2) Design Standards.
(a) Measures used to control erosion and reduce sedimentation and to provide drainage shall, as a minimum, meet the standards and specifications of the Hamilton County Soil & Water Conservation District. The Technical Advisory Committee shall ensure compliance with the appropriate specifications, copies of which are available from the Hamilton County Soil & Water Conservation District or the Department of Planning and Development. The applicable guides are: "URBAN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING GUIDE", and "URBAN SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION GUIDELINES, SPECIFICATION NO. I".
(b) In order to provide more suitable sites for building and other uses, improve surface drainage, and control erosion, the following requirements 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 in 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.
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 sodded or planted as required and shall be of such slope, shape, and size as to conform with the requirements of the City of Noblesville or Hamilton County, as the case may be.
4. Concentration of surface water runoff shall be permitted only in swales or watercourses.
5. Excavation and fills:
a. Temporary dirt stockpiles shall be maintained with a slope no greater than 3:1 and a height of no greater than 20 feet above grade of the adjacent roadway.
b. Permanent dirt stockpiles shall be maintained with a slope of no greater than 4:1 and a height of no greater than 15 feet above the grade of the adjacent roadway.
c. Provisions shall be made to prevent surface water from damaging the cut face of excavations or the sloping surfaces of fills by installation of temporary or permanent drainage across or above these areas.
d. Cuts and fills shall not endanger adjoining property.
e. Fill shall be placed and compacted so as to minimize sliding or erosion of the soil.
f. Fills shall not encroach on natural watercourses or constructed channels.
g. Fills placed adjacent to natural watercourses of constructed channels shall have suitable protection against erosion during periods of flooding.
h. Grading will not be done in such a way so as to divert water onto the property of another land owner.
i. During grading operations, necessary measures for dust control will be exercised.
j. Grading equipment will not be allowed to cross live streams. Provision will be made for the installation of temporary or permanent culverts or bridges.
k. Cut and fill operations in the floodplain; refer to Article 8 - Zoning Districts, Part G. Flood Hazard District (herein § 159.109(A)).
(C) Installation, Responsibility, and Maintenance.
(1) Whenever sedimentation is caused by stripping vegetation, re-grading, 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 thereof, to maintain as nearly as possible in its present state the stream, watercourse, swale, flood plain, or right-of-way during the duration 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 of flood flow in any communal street.
(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.
(6) 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 City Engineer.
(b) Handle existing and potential off-site runoff through his development by designing to adequately handle storm runoff from a fully developed drainage area.
(c) Pay his proportionate share of the total cost of off site improvements to the common natural watercourse, based on a fully developed drainage area.
(d) Provide and install at his expense, all drainage and erosion control improvements (temporary and permanent) as required by the Erosion and Sediment Control Plan.
(7) It is the responsibility of the applicant or owner to keep all major streams, not under the jurisdiction of another official agency, open and free flowing.
(8) The applicant or owner will 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 city and county design criteria on his property, which are necessary for proper drainage in the discretion of the Director of Planning and Development if adequate right-of-way exists or can be acquired.
(D) Enforcement. In the event the applicant or developer proceeds to clear and grade prior to the approval of the Development Plan, the Board of Zoning Appeals may revoke the approval of all plans.
(Ord. 62-12-95, passed 1-22-96; Am. Ord. 55-12-02, passed 1-14-03; Am. Ord. 76-9-05, passed 10-11-05; Am. Ord. 32-10-11, passed 11-15-11; Am. Ord. 25-04-15, passed 5-12-15; Am. Ord. 32-07-19, passed 7-23-19) Penalty, see § 159.999