(a) General regulations on all lawn fertilizer applications on turf.
(1) Timing of application. Commercial applicators, institutional applicators and noncommercial applicators, including homeowners or renters, shall not apply lawn fertilizer when the ground is frozen and not between November 15 through April 1 of the succeeding year or when conditions exist which can be reasonably anticipated to promote or create runoff, for example when heavy rain is forecast.
(2) Fertilizer content and application rate for turf. No lawn fertilizer shall be applied to turf within the Village that contains any amount of phosphorus or other compounds containing phosphorous, such as phosphate. The total amount of nitrogen applied to 1,000 square feet of turf shall not exceed five pounds per year (four pounds for lake frontage property.) Lawn fertilizer shall be applied on turf at the rate of no more than one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per application. The use of lawn fertilizer containing at least 25% of the nitrogen in a slow-release form is recommended. The provisions of this paragraph regarding the content of lawn fertilizer applied to turf shall not apply to the exemptions stated in Section 870.04(b).
(3) Lawn fertilizers shall not be applied more than once every six weeks or more than five times during any one calendar year to any turf area.
(4) Impervious surfaces. Lawn fertilizer shall not be applied, spilled, or otherwise deposited on any impervious surfaces. Any lawn fertilizer applied, spilled, or deposited, either unintentionally or accidentally, on impervious surfaces shall be immediately and completely removed. Lawn fertilizer released on an impervious surface must be immediately contained and either legally applied to turf or any other legal site, or returned to the original or other appropriate container. For the purposes of this section, "impervious surface" means a highway, street, sidewalk, parking lot, driveway, or other material that prevents infiltration of water into the soil.
(5) Buffer zones. No lawn fertilizer shall be applied to any turf, garden, landscape amenity, or farm within fifteen feet of the edge of any wetland as defined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and/or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; pond; stream; watercourse; or lake.
(b) The following provisions apply to all commercial and institutional applicators.
(1) License required. No commercial or institutional applicator shall apply lawn fertilizer on turf without first obtaining a license from the Village as provided herein.
(2) License application. All applications for a license required under this section shall be made on a form furnished by the Village and submitted to the Village, together with the licensing fee established by the Village Fee Ordinance, which fee schedule shall be calculated to cover the license review, issuance and periodic field inspection. The form shall include:
A. Legal and business name(s), address, telephone number and contact person of applicant.
B. Name (if applicable), address, and description of institutional applicator property, including the use, area, and dimension of the property.
C. The product name or names of lawn fertilizers to be used, including the percentage weight and ratios of elemental nitrogen and elemental phosphorus.
D. A copy of the applicant's material safety data sheets (MSDS).
E. A description of the vehicles, including trailers, which will be used by the applicator during the license period to apply lawn fertilizer to turf areas in the Village, which shall include the make, model, year, and weight of the vehicle; the size of any fertilizer tanks; the vehicle identification number; the license plate/registration number assigned by the Michigan Secretary of State and any other registration or identification numbers assigned by other state or federal governmental agencies.
(3) The Clerk shall forward the completed application to the Building Department for determination whether the fertilizers to be used comply with the provisions of this chapter.
(4) The application shall be approved or denied within seven working days by the department and the approved license sent to the applicator and a card for use with each of the commercial applicator's vehicles as listed on the application.
(5) The Village Clerk shall maintain a current list of all licensed commercial and institutional applicators doing business in the Village.
(6) A licensee shall notify the Department in writing of any changes in the information disclosed in the license application.
(7) Conditions of license. The licensee shall comply with the terms of this chapter and the following requirements:
A. Random sampling. During the term of the license, the licensee shall permit the Village to obtain a sample of any lawn fertilizer to be applied on turf within the Village.
B. Cost of sample analysis. The cost of analyzing lawn fertilizer samples taken from commercial applicators shall be paid by the commercial applicators if the sample analysis shows that phosphorus content exceeds the levels authorized by this chapter.
C. Possession of license. The license, or a copy thereof, shall be in the possession of the licensee or its employees or agents when they are applying lawn fertilizer on turf in the Village. Vehicles used by commercial applicators shall carry the authorized Village License card.
D. Commercial applicators and institutional applicators shall apply lawn fertilizer to turf only at the lowest rate necessary without exceeding the maximum weight per application.
E. Record keeping. The licensee shall be responsible for maintaining a record of the pounds of nitrogen and phosphate, expressed as pounds per 1,000 square feet of land applied to each site by the licensee during the year, a record of the soil test confirming the need for phosphorus, and a copy of the approved application for a variance as provided in Section 870.07. Said records shall be kept on the licensee's vehicle and available for inspection by the Village Enforcement Officer.
(8) Responsibility of licensee. The conduct of agents or employees of a licensee, while engaged in the performance of their duties for the licensee under the license, shall be deemed the conduct of the licensee.
(9) Inspection and license revocation. The Village Administrator and Enforcement Officer and their designees shall monitor for conformance with this chapter and shall be permitted to conduct periodic spot checks on all commercial and institutional applicators for such purpose. Should a commercial or institutional applicator be found to be in violation of this chapter, the Village Council, following notice, and an opportunity of the licensee to be heard, shall have the right to revoke a license for a period of up to one year. If a commercial or institutional applicator is found to be in violation of this chapter on more than one occasion, in any one calendar year, the Village Council shall revoke the license of such applicator for a period of not less than one calendar year and not more than five calendar years.
(10) Duration and transferability of license. The license issued hereunder is effective for the period of January 1 to the following December 31 and must be renewed annually by the licensee. The Village shall not prorate any license fee. A license issued hereunder is not transferable and any change in ownership of the licensed business shall terminate the license.
(Ord. 149. Passed 9-13-06.)