The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum standards to safeguard
persons, to protect property and to promote the public welfare by regulating
and controlling the design, construction, quality of materials, use, location
and maintenance of grading, excavation and fill.
As used in this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise
requires, the following words shall have the meanings indicated:
EXCAVATION
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other similar material
is cut into, dug, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced, relocated or bulldozed
and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom.
FILL
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other material
is deposited, placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported or moved to a new
location and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom.
GRADE
The elevation of the existing ground surface at the location of any
proposed excavation or fill.
GRADING
Excavation or fill or any combination thereof and shall include the
conditions resulting from any excavation or fill.
SITE
A lot, tract or parcel of land, or a series of lots, tracts or parcels
of land, joined together, where grading work is continuous and performed at
the same time.
New grading, excavations and fills, or changes, additions, repairs or
alterations made to existing excavations and fills shall conform to the provisions
of this chapter, except that this chapter shall not apply to:
A. Work in a public street or alley or in a city park, playground
or recreation area or on other public property.
B. The depositing of rubbish or other material at any dump,
collection station or incinerator operated by the city.
No person shall commence or perform any grading, excavation or fill
without first having obtained a grading permit from the Building Department
Administrator. A separate grading permit shall be required for each site.
One permit may cover both an excavation and any fill made on the same site.
A grading permit will not be required, however, in the following situations,
but in all other respects the provisions of this chapter shall apply:
A. An excavation which does not exceed three feet in vertical
depth at its deepest point measured from the natural ground surface nor cover
an area of more than 1,000 square feet. This exception shall not affect the
applicability of this chapter to or the requirement of a grading permit for
any fill made with the material from such excavation.
B. A fill which does not exceed 10 cubic yards of material
on any one site, or a fill which does not exceed three feet in vertical depth
at its deepest point measured from the natural ground surface, nor cover an
area of more than 1,000 square feet, provided that the surfaces of such fills
do not have a slope at any point steeper than five horizontal to one vertical.
C. An excavation below finished grade for basements and
footings of a building, swimming pool or underground structure authorized
by a building permit and excavation for a driveway between a building site
and the street. This exception shall not affect the applicability of this
chapter to or the requirement of a grading permit for any fill made with the
material from such excavation. A grading permit shall not be required for
the temporary stockpiling on the same site of the material from such excavation.
D. A single family house site where the maximum gradient between property lines of the maximum excavation or fill, exclusive of the situations referred to in Subsection
C hereof, do not exceed the grades or quantities set forth in the following table:
|
Single-family house site
(square feet)
|
Maximum gradient without permit
|
Maximum excavation or fill without permit
(cubic yards)
|
---|
|
Less than 6,000
|
12 in 100 feet
|
75
|
|
From 6,000 to 10,000
|
15 in 100 feet
|
100
|
|
From 10,000 to 18,000
|
15 in 100 feet
|
200
|
|
From 18,000 to 30,000
|
15 in 100 feet
|
250
|
|
Over 30,000
|
20 in 100 feet
|
250
|
Every applicant for a grading permit shall file a written application
therefor with the Building Department Administrator. Such application shall:
A. Land description. Describe the land on which the proposed
work is to be done, by lot, block, tract or street address, or similar description
which will readily identify and definitely locate the proposed work.
B. Accompanying documents. Be accompanied by topographic
map or maps certified by an engineer licensed by the State of New York, showing
the present contours of the land and the proposed contours of the land after
completion of the proposed grading; a plot plan showing the location of the
grading, boundaries, lot lines, neighboring streets and alleys, buildings,
trees over 10 inches in diameter two feet above the ground and sufficient
dimensions and other data to show the location of all work; description of
the type and classification of the soil, details and location of any proposed
drainage structures and pipes, walls and cribbing; nature of fill material
and such other information as the Building Department Administrator and City
Engineer may require to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
(1) All plans shall be dated and bear the name of:
(a) The person who prepared the same.
(c) The owner of the land. Plans shall be submitted in triplicate
and shall show the elevations of the property at intervals of two feet of
height as such elevations exist at the time of the application and as proposed
to be altered.
(2) Such map shall be drawn to a scale of not greater than
one inch to 100 feet nor less than one inch to 20 feet, shall show the elevations
of all property within 50 feet of the perimeter of the property which is the
subject of the application, and of all streets adjoining the said property,
or, if there are no adjoining street or streets, the means by which access
is to be gained to the property and the location and name of the nearest street
or streets.
C. Dates. State the estimated dates for the starting and
completion of the grading work.
D. Purpose. State the purpose for which the grading application
is filed.
E. Rehabilitation. Contain a detailed plan and specifications
showing rehabilitation. The Building Department Administrator may waive the
requirement for any or all plans and specifications listed above if he or
she finds that the information on the application is sufficient to show that
the work will conform to the provisions of this chapter.
Every grading permit shall expire by limitation and become null and
void if the work authorized by such permit has not been commenced within six
months or is not completed one year from the date of issue.
Where in the opinion of the Building Department Administrator the work
as proposed by the applicant is likely to endanger any property or any street
or alley, he or she shall deny the grading permit. In determining whether
the proposed work is likely to endanger property, or streets or alleys, or
create hazardous conditions, the Building Department Administrator shall give
due consideration to possible saturation by rain, earth movements, runoff
of surface waters and subsurface conditions, such as the stratification and
faulting of rocks, and the nature and type of the soil or rock.
The City Council shall consider promptly appeals from the provisions
of this chapter or from the determinations of the Building Department Administrator,
and the Council shall make determinations of alternate methods, standards
or materials when in its opinion strict compliance with the provisions of
this chapter is unnecessary. Any applicant or permit holder shall have the
right to appeal to any court of competent jurisdiction from any decision or
determination of the City Council.
All fills shall be compacted to provide stability of material and to
prevent undesirable settlement. The fill shall be spread in a series of layers,
each not exceeding 12 inches in thickness, and shall be compacted by a sheepsfoot
roller or other approved method after each layer is spread. The Building Department
Administrator and City Engineer may require tests or other information if
in his or her opinion the conditions or materials are such that additional
information is necessary.
Adequate provision shall be made to prevent any surface waters from
damaging the cut face of an excavation or the sloping surface of a fill. Slopes
of more than 10 feet in vertical height shall be separated by level berms
of at least four feet in width. Berm ditches shall be constructed where necessary
to prevent erosion. All drainage provisions shall be of such design as to
carry surface waters to the nearest practical street, storm, drain or natural
watercourse approved by the Building Department Administrator and City Engineer
as a safe place to deposit and receive such waters. The Building Department
Administrator and City Engineer may require such drainage structures or pipes
to be constructed or installed which are necessary to prevent erosion damage
and to satisfactorily carry off surface waters.
The owner of any property on which an excavation or fill has been made
shall maintain in good condition and repair all retaining walls, cribbing,
drainage structures, fences and other protective devices.
Appropriate actions and proceedings may be taken at law or in equity
to prevent unlawful construction or to restrain, correct or abate a violation
or to prevent illegal occupancy of a building, structure or premises or to
prevent illegal acts or conduct of business in or about any premises; and
these remedies shall be in addition to the penalties prescribed in the preceding
section.