[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Hamilton 2-13-1990 by L.L. No. 1-1990. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention and building construction — See Ch. 73.
Flood damage prevention — See Ch. 82.
Freshwater wetlands — See Ch. 86.
Subdivision of land — See Ch. 143.
Zoning — See Ch. 174.
A. 
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Hamilton hereby adopts this chapter to regulate and control modifications of the existing topography of the land by either excavating, grading or filling.
B. 
The Village adopts this chapter to protect public health, safety and welfare in order to minimize such adverse effects of excavating, grading or filling as water pollution by sedimentation of streams and ponds; unnecessary destruction of vegetation; unnecessary modification of natural topography or geological features; and failure to restore construction sites to attractive natural conditions.
C. 
In addition, this chapter provides protection to people and property from such adverse effects of land disturbance as increased slope instability and landslide and slumping hazards; and provides protection to the Village from having to undertake, at public expense, provisions for repairing roads and other public facilities, providing flood protection facilities and compensating private property owners from property destruction due to the adverse effects of land disturbance.
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:
ACCELERATED SOIL EROSION
The increased loss of land surface that occurs as a result of human activity.
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
The Code Enforcement Officer as designated pursuant to the Village of Hamilton Zoning Law.
[1]
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 174, Zoning.
A. 
No excavating, grading or filling shall be undertaken unless a permit is issued therefor. Upon receipt of the application and payment of an application fee as adopted by resolution of the Board of Trustees from time to time, the Code Enforcement Officer of the Village of Hamilton is empowered to issue such permit upon determination that said application is in compliance with the provisions of this chapter. The permit shall be issued or denied within 30 days after filing of the application, complete with all required attachments as listed in § 63-5 of this chapter.
[Amended 1-14-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
B. 
If the proposed land disturbance meets any Type I thresholds listed in Part 617.12 of the State Environmental Quality Review regulations or any of the unlisted-action criteria listed in Part 617.10 of the State Environmental Quality Review regulations, a lead agency for the State Environmental Quality Review process shall be determined according to State Environmental Quality Review regulations. A determination of no significant environmental impact (negative declaration) is required to be announced and filed with the Department of Environmental Conservation; or, alternatively, a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) is required to be accepted as satisfactory before the grading permit application can be considered as complete for submission purposes.
C. 
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Hamilton is hereby authorized to modify the fee schedules set forth in this chapter from time to time by resolution of the Board.
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.
G. 
Plans for dust 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,[1] 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.
[1]
Editor's Note: See § 23-2701 et seq. of the Environmental Conservation Law.
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.
A. 
The owner or applicant may appeal a denial of permit to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which shall hear and decide on whether or not the permit has been denied in accordance with the conditions set forth in this chapter. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall uphold the decision of the Enforcement Officer if it finds that the denial is rationally related to the standards set forth in this chapter.
B. 
Any appeal of a decision of the Enforcement Officer shall be taken within 30 days of said decision by filing with the Village Clerk a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof.
C. 
All appeals shall be made in writing on forms provided by the Board. The Enforcement Officer shall then transmit to the Board of Appeals all papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.
D. 
The Board shall, in all incidents, hold a hearing within 45 days of filing and shall give public notice, as well as due notice to the applicants and to the owners of contiguous properties, not less than 10 days in advance of the hearing.
E. 
The minutes of the Board meetings and hearings shall be a public record.
F. 
The concurring vote of a majority of the Board shall be necessary to reverse any order or decision or to decide in favor of any applicant.
G. 
All decisions of the Board shall be in writing, and a copy of each decision shall be sent to the applicant and the Enforcement Officer. The Board shall also retain in its files a copy of each decision, which file shall be available for inspection by the public.
H. 
Each decision shall set forth fully the reasons for the decision of the Board and the findings of fact on which the decision was based.
I. 
The board shall give its decision within 30 days of the date of the hearing.
J. 
Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Board of Appeals may have the decision reviewed by the State Supreme Court in the manner provided by law.
A. 
All excavating, filling and grading shall not adversely affect drainage or structural safety of adjacent lots and buildings. No person shall grade or fill so close to the property line as to endanger any adjoining public street, sidewalk, alley, utility or any public or private property without supporting and protecting such property from settling, cracking, runoff (including its residue) or other damage which might result.
B. 
All excavating, filling and grading shall be carried out in compliance with all the requirements of the grading permit and the requirements of this chapter.
C. 
Open excavations deeper than five feet or having a slope greater than 50% (one vertical to two horizontal) shall be surrounded by a fence at least six feet high and no closer than 50 feet, or as determined by the Code Enforcement Officer, to the edge of the excavation or other hazardous condition.
D. 
The final slope of any excavated or stockpiled material shall not exceed its normal angle of repose.
E. 
Any soil, miscellaneous debris or other material applied, dumped or otherwise deposited on public streets, highways, sidewalks or other public thoroughfares during transit to and from the site of excavating, filling or grading shall be promptly removed.
F. 
Any temporary or permanent facility designed and constructed for the conveyance of water around, through or from the site of excavating, filling or grading shall be designed to limit the water flow to nonerosive velocities (less than two feet per second).
G. 
All temporary soil erosion control facilities shall be removed upon completion of the work and all disturbed areas shall be graded and stabilized with permanent soil erosion control measures. All temporary soil erosion control measures shall be maintained until permanent soil erosion controls are implemented.
H. 
The approved permit shall be available for inspection at all times at the site of the excavating, filling or grading, and approved plans shall be available at the Village Clerk's office.
A. 
A grading permit shall not be issued unless the permittee shall first post with the Village Treasurer an amount equal to at least $1,000 per acre or such additional amounts as are reasonably determined by the Code Enforcement Officer to provide reasonable security for proper completion of the proposed work, unless such amount is modified by the Village Board for a particular project or except in a subdivision or lot development which disturbs less than one acre of land. For sites less than one acre the Code Enforcement Officer, upon determination that the land disturbance will accelerate soil erosion, can require the permittee to post security of $1,000.
B. 
Upon failure of the permittee to perform the work in compliance with all the requirements, conditions and terms of the permit, the Code Enforcement Officer may cause such work to be completed as is necessary to eliminate any dangerous conditions and to leave the site in a safe condition, and the expense of work performed shall be charged to the funds on deposit with the Village Treasurer. Any charges in excess of funds on deposit with the Village shall be paid and are otherwise due to the Village from the landowner.
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.
A. 
Any person or corporation, whether as owner, lessee, architect or builder or the agent or employee of any of them, who violates or is accessory to the violation of any provision of this chapter or who shall engage in any excavation, filling, grading or alteration of an existing soil topography without a grading permit, when required, or in violation of any statement or plan submitted and approved under the provisions of this chapter shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding the following:
(1) 
For conviction of a first offense, a fine not exceeding $350 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or both;
(2) 
For conviction of a second offense, both of which were committed within a period of five years, a fine not exceeding $700 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or both; and
(3) 
For a third or subsequent offense, all of which were committed within a period of five years, a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or both.
B. 
Each week's continued violation shall constitute a separate additional violation.
C. 
An action or proceeding in the name of the Village of Hamilton, New York, may be commenced in any court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or restrain by injunction the violation of any provision of this chapter or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter or any order issued pursuant to this chapter. Such remedy shall be in addition to penalties otherwise prescribed by law.
A. 
Whenever the Code Enforcement Officer has reasonable grounds to believe that work on any property is proceeding without a required permit or is otherwise in violation of the provisions of this chapter or is not in conformity with any of the provisions of the grading application, plans or specifications on the basis of which a grading permit was issued, he shall notify either the owner of the property or the owner's agent or the person, firm or corporation performing the work to immediately suspend all work. In such instance, any and all persons shall immediately suspend all related activities until the stop-work order has been duly rescinded.
B. 
Such stop-work order shall be in writing on a form prescribed by the Code Enforcement Officer and shall state the reasons for the stop-work order, together with a date of issuance. The stop-work order shall bear the signature of the Code Enforcement Officer or that of a duly authorized designee and shall be prominently posted at the work site.
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.