This chapter may be cited and referred to as
the "North Haledon Soil Moving Ordinance."
The Mayor and Council hereby find that the uncontrolled
and unregulated excavation, filling and removal of soil has resulted
and will result in conditions detrimental to the public safety, health
and general welfare, deterring substantially the efforts of the Borough
to promote and effectuate the general purpose of municipal planning.
Whenever used in this chapter, the following
terms shall be deemed and construed to have the following meanings:
APPROVING AUTHORITY
The board or official designated by this chapter to receive
and review soil permit applications and to issue soil permits (i.e.,
the Planning Board, Board of Adjustment, the Municipal Engineer or
the Construction Official) and, in the event of an appeal, the Mayor
and Council.
[Amended 6-19-1991 by Ord. No. 15-1991]
DEVELOPMENT
Improvement of a lot by the construction or erection of one
or more buildings for residential, commercial or industrial purposes
and improvement of lands through conservation and flood control.
EXCAVATOR
Any person who shall move or remove soil, as the terms are
hereinafter defined.
LANDSCAPING
The placing, planting, arranging, trimming, cutting, removing
of trees or maintenance of lawns, trees, bushes, shrubs, gardens,
sod and pavers and related appurtenances on land or property for the
purpose of improving or maintaining same.
[Added 8-16-2006 by Ord. No. 15-2006]
LOT
Any parcel of land or portion thereof, the boundary lines
of which can be ascertained by reference to the maps and records,
or either, in the office of the Tax Assessor of the Borough of North
Haledon or in the office of the Passaic County Clerk.
MOVE
To dig; to excavate; to remove; to deposit; to place; to
fill; to grade, regrade, level or otherwise alter or change the location
or contour; to transport; or to supply. This term shall not be construed
to include plowing, spading, cultivating, harrowing or disking of
soil or any other operation usually and ordinarily associated with
the tilling of soil for agricultural or horticultural purposes.
OWNER
Any person seized in fee simple of any lot or having such
other interest or estate therein as will permit exercise of effective
possession thereof or dominion thereover.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, association, partnership or corporation
or any group of two or more of them.
SOIL
Any earth, sand, clay, loam, gravel, humus, rock or dirt,
without regard to the presence or absence therein of organic matter.
TOPSOIL
Soil that, in its natural state, constitutes the top layer
of earth and is composed of 2% or more, by weight, of organic matter
and has the ability to support vegetation.
[Amended 6-19-1991 by Ord. No. 15-1991]
The Municipal Engineer shall from time to time
upon his/her own initiative, whenever directed by the Borough Administrator
or whenever directed by the approving authority, make an inspection
of any site within the Borough from which soil is to be moved and
shall make such engineering studies as may be required to determine
the effect of the removal of soil from the location as it relates
to soil erosion by water and wind, surface and subsurface water drainage,
soil fertility, lateral support of abutting streets and lands, public
health and safety and any other factors as may bear upon or relate
to the coordinated, adjusted and harmonious physical development of
the Borough. He/she shall also inspect the site to determine whether
stakes have been placed on each corner and whether grade stakes have
been placed at the existing elevation points designated on the topographical
map.
In considering and reviewing the application,
the approving authority shall be guided by the general purpose of
municipal planning and shall take into consideration the following
factors:
A. Soil erosion by water and wind.
D. Lateral support of abutting streets and lands.
E. Public health and safety.
G. The general welfare of the Borough of North Haledon
and its citizens.
H. The unsightliness of the premises after excavation.
J. Whether the proposed work will create a nuisance.
K. Whether the proposed work is necessary in connection
with the immediate development of the property.
L. Traffic congestion and the effect upon the roads within
the Borough.
M. The effect that the proposed work would have on individual
sanitary sewage disposal systems.
N. Preservation of existing watercourses.
O. The creation of sharp declivities, pits or depressions.
P. Whether the proposed work constitutes a commercial
activity.
Q. Such other factors as may bear upon or relate to the
development of the coordinated and harmonious physical development
of the Borough.
All excavation and removal of soil in the Borough
shall be performed subject to the following conditions, regardless
of whether or not a permit is required:
A. All boulders, tree stumps and other debris shall be
removed from the property.
B. In dry weather, the person conducting such operation
shall dampen the ground where operations are conducted to prevent
dust.
C. No trucks used shall be loaded above the level of
the sides of the truck, to prevent spillage, and all streets shall
be cleaned at the applicant's expense each day of any spillage or
soil on such streets resulting from truck operation.
D. All truck loads shall be covered with tarpaulin and,
if necessary, treated by water or chemical to prevent flying dust.
E. No trucks, machinery or any part of the operation
shall be conducted before 7:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. on weekdays,
before 8:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays, nor at any time
on Sunday or federal or state legal holidays.
F. All vehicles engaged in such operations shall use
as routes only those Borough streets which have been approved by the
Planning Board.
G. The entire area covered by the work shall be maintained
and left in such a manner as not to create or maintain a nuisance
or condition hazardous to life and limb or to the health or general
welfare of the inhabitants of the Borough of North Haledon.
H. All excavation, removal and other mandatory ground
cover work proposed in the application and map, including restoration
of property to final grades and subsequent seeding, must be completed
within one year from the date of the permit.
I. No more soil shall be removed than is reasonably necessary
for the development and use of the land.
J. No soil removal shall be allowed which shall cause
damage to adjacent properties or detrimentally affect the values of
adjacent properties.
K. The operation must be conducted in a phased fashion
so that one sector of the tract is mined and covered with planting
prior to the commencement of mining operations in another sector of
the tract.
L. The Borough Engineer or other authorized representative
of the Borough shall be permitted to inspect the seeding and planting
and general conduct of the mining operation to assure that the same
is being conducted in a manner that shall assure the satisfactory
control of erosion and that it is being conducted in full accordance
with the remainder of this chapter.
M. Excavation shall not be below the grade levels shown
in the topographical map.
No developer or excavator shall, at any time
in the course of the work, dig or excavate more than six inches below
the proposed final grades as shown on the topographical map, unless:
A. The soil permit specifies otherwise, and the performance
bond makes specific provision for replacement, on or before the completion
date, of soil of sufficient quantity and kind to restore the final
grades to those shown on the topographical map.
B. After issuance of the soil permit, the developer or
excavator, before digging or excavating below the minimum level, shall
apply to the approving authority and be granted an amendment of the
application and topographical map then in effect, which amendment
may be granted upon such terms as the approving authority may deem
necessary to assure adherence to the purpose and objectives of this
chapter.
No developer or excavator shall deposit soil
upon, fill in or raise the grade of any lot without first making provision
for:
A. The use in the work of soil or such other materials
as will not result in deviation from the proposed final grades or
the uniformity thereof by reason of abnormal shrinkage or settlement.
B. The collection and storage upon the lot of the original
topsoil, to the end that the topsoil shall not be buried beneath soil
or other material of inferior quality, and the uniform replacement
of the topsoil so stored over the entire area or surface of the fill
soil or other material so that the final grade or grades of the replaced
topsoil shall be in accordance with the proposed final grades shown
on the topographical map. In the event that such provision is not
practicable, provision shall be made for the uniform placement over
the entire area or surface of the fill soil or other material, excepting
only such portions thereof as shall be or shall have become permanently
covered by a building or structure, street, pavement, curb, sidewalk,
driveway or other paved area or by any body of water or waterway,
of a layer of topsoil not inferior in quality to that of the original
topsoil, to a depth of not less than six inches, measured from the
proposed final grades as shown on the topographical map.
For the purpose of administering and enforcing
this chapter, any duly authorized officer, agent or employee of the
Borough shall have the right to enter into or upon any lands in or
upon which soil-moving operations are being conducted to examine and
inspect such lands.
Notwithstanding the provisions of §
504-18 above, when, in the judgment of the Mayor or the Mayor and Council, the moving and removal of soil causes a serious emergent and continued impediment to the passage of public traffic or endangerment to the public health, safety or welfare, the Mayor or Mayor and Council may temporarily halt such operation until the emergent danger to the public's health, safety or welfare is abated, but in no event shall such emergency suspension of operations exceed 30 days.