No person shall commence or perform any grading or relocation of earth, and no person shall import or export any earth materials to or from any grading site without first having obtained a grading permit. No person shall commence or perform any grading or relocation of earth on land having a natural slope greater than twenty-five (25%) percent without first obtaining approval from the Planning Commission or City Council. A separate grading permit shall be required for each site. Off-site grading may be permitted, if such grading is approved in conjunction with a development permit or other entitlement.
Exceptions:
(a) An excavation which does not exceed fifty (50) cubic yards or is less than two (2’) feet in depth, or which does not create a cut slope greater than five (5’) feet in height and steeper than two (2) horizontal to one vertical, unless the cut slope is made in an area of adverse geological conditions;
(b) A fill less than one (1’) foot in depth and placed on natural terrain with a slope flatter than five (5) horizontal to one vertical, or less than three (3’) feet in depth, not intended to support structures, which fill does not exceed fifty (50) cubic yards on any one lot and does not obstruct a drainage course;
(c) Excavations below the finished grade for basements and footings of buildings, retaining walls, swimming pools, or other structures authorized by a valid building permit. This shall not exempt any fill made with materials from such excavations or exempt any excavation having an unsupported height greater than five (5’) feet after the completion of such structures;
(d) Mining, quarrying, excavating, processing, and the stockpiling of rock, sand, or gravel aggregate or clay which operations are operated under a valid special use permit issued by the City pursuant to applicable zoning regulations;
(e) The depositing of rubbish or other materials at any dump or sanitary fill approved by and operating pursuant to the requirements, rules, applicable zoning regulations, and other laws adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the County or by the City. Such exemption shall not extend, however, to surrounding berms, permanent access roads to the site, permanent building sites, or protective drainage works;
(f) The construction of dams or reservoirs regulated or owned by the State and the Federal governments;
(g) The temporary stockpiling of quarried or mined products or earth for future processing, disposal, or sale, but only insofar as such operations are conducted at a distance of more than one hundred (100’) feet inside the outer property line of any parcel of land held in a single ownership and such stockpiling is approved by the Planning Commission. The City Engineer shall decide, subject to an appeal, if a statement of the location of any fill, and the legal description of the parcel of land over which the fill is to be placed, shall be filed by the owner of the property for recording in the office of the County Recorder. If such statement indicates that the fill has been compacted in compliance with the provisions of this chapter, such statement shall be certified to by a soils engineer. The City Engineer may waive the requirements for recording such statement when he believes the purpose of this chapter does not require such recording;
(h) Farming and agricultural grading operations on parcels in a single ownership which are larger than ten (10) acres and zoned and used primarily for agricultural and/or soil and water conservation work under the direct control of the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service. Farming and agricultural grading operations shall not be interpreted to include:
(1) The construction of water impounding structures of earth (which are not under the direct control of the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service) where the maximum depth to which water is or may be impounded is five (5') feet or greater; or
(2) The excavation and/or filling of earth on which a structure requiring a building permit is to be supported;
(i) Grading operations conducted by the City for capital improvement projects approved by the Council; and
(j) Exploratory borings and trenches made for soil engineering and engineering geological investigations.
(§ 2, Ord. 156-NS, eff. August 27, 1970, as amended by § I, Ord. 534-NS, eff. June 19, 1975, § I, Ord. 692-NS, eff. November 2, 1978, § V, Ord. 757-NS, eff. September 4, 1980, § 3, Ord. 1098-NS, eff. April 11, 1991, and § IV, Ord. 1475-NS, eff. February 22, 2007)