This chapter shall apply to all owners of real
property in the Village of Hamilton who propose to:
A. Stockpile or allow the stockpiling by others of fill
on any parcel of land in excess of eight cubic yards;
B. Permanently or temporarily modify the topography of
any parcel of land in excess of 1/4 of an acre; or
C. Permanently or temporarily modify the topography of
any parcel of land by a change of more than three feet from existing
elevation; or by causing a slope greater than one vertical unit to
three horizontal units (33 1/3%); or
D. Fill in or otherwise obstruct a drainageway for surface
water runoff.
For the purpose of this chapter, certain words
and terms used herein are defined as follows:
EXCAVATION
Any act by which soil or rock is cut, dug, quarried, uncovered,
removed, displaced or relocated.
FILL
A deposit of soil or rock, excluding debris, placed or replaced
by a person or machine which raises an existing elevation.
GRADE or GRADING
Any stripping, excavation, filling, stockpiling or any combination
thereof, and shall include the land in its excavated or filled condition.
GRADING PERMIT
A permit issued to authorize work to be performed under this
chapter.
ISOLATED, SELF-CONTAINED SITE
A site in which existing and proposed surface and subsurface
drainage is not directed onto adjacent public or private property.
NONEROSIVE VELOCITY
A rate of overland flow of runoff water which is not conducive
to the creation of accelerated soil erosion.
SITE
Any lot or parcel of and/or combination of contiguous lots
of parcels of land where excavating, grading or filling is performed.
SOIL EROSION CONTROL FACILITY
A facility or measure placed or constructed as necessary
for the successful control or abatement of accelerated soil erosion.
STABILIZATION
The proper placement, grading and/or covering of soil or
rock to ensure its resistance to soil erosion, sliding or other earth
movement.
Application for a grading permit shall be made
to the Code Enforcement Officer, on such forms as he or she may require,
and shall be accompanied by the following.
A. Name, address and telephone number of the owner, developer,
petitioner and local representative.
B. A vicinity sketch at the scale of not more than one
inch equals 200 feet, indicating the site location as well as adjacent
properties within 500 feet of the site boundaries, showing relationship
to any watercourse or drainageway.
C. Existing topography extending at least 50 feet beyond
site boundary, showing two-foot contours of the area to be modified.
D. Proposed topography showing either new spot elevations
or new contours.
E. Location and description of any proposed structures
or development on the site, including physical limits of each proposed
land disturbance and all proposed and permanent soil erosion control
measures.
F. Direction of drainage flow and plans for siltation
control.
H. Hours of operation and duration of proposed work,
including a specific completion date.
I. Plans for suitable replacement of ground cover, including
a specific completion date.
J. An agreement executed by all owners of record, in
recordable form, giving right of entry to agents or employees of the
Village or others acting on the Village's behalf to enter upon the
property upon failure of performance and permitting the Village to
complete the work as needed.
K. If the proposed land disturbance meets any State Environmental
Quality Review Act Type-1 Action thresholds or unlisted-action criteria,
a completed Part I of the long or short State Environmental Quality
Review Act environmental assessment form, as applicable.
L. If required by the Code Enforcement Officer, storm
drainage plans.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following
activities are exempt from the permit requirement herein. Permit exceptions
shall not be construed as exemptions from any other provisions of
this chapter and shall not be construed as exemptions from enforcement
procedures, if excepted activities cause or result in a violation
of this chapter.
A. Excavating, grading or filling that is incidental
to construction and repair carried out pursuant to the issuance of
a building permit issued by the Code Enforcement Office of the Village
of Hamilton.
B. Excavating, grading or filling which comes under the
regulations of the New York State Mined Lands Reclamation Act, where a reclamation plan has been approved by the New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation or other regulatory
agency. The requirements of other Village laws will still apply.
C. Customary agricultural activities such as plowing,
earth removal for trench silos and land improvement activities carried
out in conformance with a farm plan approved by the Madison County
Soil and Water Conservation District. This exemption shall not extend
to surface or subsurface materials removed from agricultural lands
for sale in a commercial operation.
D. Excavating, grading or filling of an isolated self-contained
area.
Grading permits shall not be issued where, in
the opinion of the Code Enforcement Officer:
A. The proposed land disturbance would cause hazards
to the public safety or welfare; or
B. The work as proposed by the applicant will damage
any public or other private property or interfere with any existing
drainage course in such a manner as to cause damage to any adjacent
property or result in the deposition of debris or sediment on any
public way or into any watercourse or create unreasonable hazard to
persons or property; or
C. The land area for which the land disturbance is proposed
is subject to geological hazard to the extent that no reasonable amount
of corrective work can eliminate or sufficiently reduce settlement,
slope instability or any other hazard to persons or property.
D. The proposed land disturbance is not in compliance with the regulations set forth at §
63-9 herein.
The Code Enforcement Officer may make periodic
inspections of the work. If the Code Enforcement Officer finds any
existing conditions of the natural ground surface not as stated in
the application for grading permit as approved, the Code Enforcement
Officer may refuse to approve further work until a revised permit
application has been made and approved. The Code Enforcement Officer
may issue a stop-work order on the remaining portion of construction.
If the permittee is unable to complete the work
within the time specified on the permit, the permittee may, prior
to the expiration of the permit, present in writing to the Code Enforcement
Officer a request for an extension of time setting forth the reasons
for the requested extension. If, in the opinion of the Code Enforcement
Officer, such an extension is reasonably warranted, the Code Enforcement
Officer may grant additional time for the completion of the work.