As used in this chapter:
(a) “Civil engineer” means a professional engineer who is licensed by the State to practice civil engineering in the State.
(b) “Grading” means the excavating and filling of land for altering the contours of the ground to prescribed grades, for the purpose of erecting buildings or structures thereon or any other use thereof.
(c) “Ordinary grading areas” means grading sections of a nominal character submitted for approval without substantiation by a registered civil engineer or soils engineer and which comply with the following minimum requirements:
(1) No cut or fill section may be greater than five feet in vertical height.
(2) No cut slope may be steeper than one and one-half to one in rock, or two horizontally to one vertically in soil, but in no case less than the natural repose angles of the type of soil under consideration.
(3) No fill slope may be steeper than two horizontally to one vertically.
(4) The tops of all cut banks and fills shall be located at a horizontal distance of least equal to the bank height from any structure or major improvement, except that where it is shown by substantiating data that soil conditions are such that the top of the cut bank or fill may be located closer to structures or major improvements than the distance equal to the height of the cut bank or fill, the Superintendent of Building and Zoning Inspection may waive the requirements of this paragraph.
(5) The area does not overlie or contain marsh deposits, dumps or refuse- containing fills, or any old fill whose satisfactory quality has not been established to the satisfaction of the Superintendent.
(6) Where the upper material is soil and the lower portion is rock, the soil zone shall be sloped at two horizontally to one vertically, and the rock may be sloped one and one-half to one. Where soil-type materials underlie a rock cap, a slope of two horizontally to one vertically shall be used throughout.
(7) The fill materials may consist of any rock, sand or soil, or a mixture thereof, and after compaction shall have a minimum relative density of not less than ninety percent of maximum density as determined by the modified American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) Soil Compaction Test, or other approved testing method giving equivalent test results, in all portions of the fill requiring compaction.
(8) No organic materials may be used in any fill, or any soil containing more than five percent organic material by over-dry weight.
(d) “Rock” means a material resting in place as it was formed (bedrock) and which has not undergone alteration sufficient to cause appreciable softening of the constituent materials or mechanical slackening thereof. No material which is plastic under saturation may be classified as rock.
(e) “Soil” means material other than rock and, in particular, any material which is alluvial or residual in character or which has been appreciably broken down by weathering, hydrothermal alteration or other geological processes. It specifically pertains to materials which break down or slacken upon wetting, are plastic or which can be worked by hand methods.
(f) “Soils engineer” means a civil engineer who specializes in soil and foundations investigations.
(g) “Special grading areas” means those areas in which the proposed cut or fill sections exceed the maximum heights or slopes given for ordinary grading areas, and those areas which contain or are underlaid by marsh deposits, old fills or refuse disposal areas.
(Ord. 42-1981. Passed 2-23-81.)