The Planning Board shall not grant final approval to a development plan involving a development in any of these mining zones or carbonate soil areas until the hazards of the voids on the property which is the subject of the application, and on the adjoining properties, have been eliminated by either filling or capping or plugging in accordance with the procedures described above in §
310-203B(1)(c) or performance guarantees equal to 120% of the cost of eliminating such hazards (by the method approved by the Planning Board as a part of a minor subdivision plan or a preliminary major site plan or subdivision plan approvals of the development plan in question), as estimated by the Township Engineer, MGC, or by such other expert as the Township may designate for such purpose, has been posted with the Township in accordance with the procedures and requirements of §
310-203 of this chapter of the Code of the Township of Mine Hill.
A. Completion of filling or capping. In any event, notwithstanding the
grant of final approval to a development plan for development in any
of these mining zones and the posting of performance guarantees to
ensure completion of the filling, capping or plugging of the voids,
no building permits for the construction of any building to be constructed
upon the property which is the subject of the application shall be
issued until the filling and/or capping work required as part of the
Planning Board approval has been completed and inspected and approved
by the Township Engineer, MGC, or by such other expert(s) as the Township
may designate for such purpose.
B. As-built plans. In accordance with the requirements of this chapter
of the Code of the Township of Mine Hill, as-built plans of all work
required and performed in connection with filling and/or capping or
plugging the voids caused by prior mining activities shall be furnished
to the Township upon completion, inspection and approval of such work
by the designated Township representative. Such as-built plans shall
be furnished immediately upon completion of rendering the mine safe
and prior to release of any of the performance guarantees furnished
to assure elimination of the hazards created by these mining voids.
Maintenance guarantees with respect to all work relating to the elimination of the voids caused by mining or carbonate soils by capping and/or filling in accordance with the requirements and procedures set forth in §
310-203B(1)(a),
(b) and
(c) above, consistent with the maintenance guarantee provisions of Subsection A of this section, shall be furnished to the Township at the time of final approval of the development plan for the use in question. In any event, no building permit for the construction of any building upon the property which is the subject of a development plan in any of these mining zones shall be issued until satisfactory maintenance guarantees regarding such work have been posted with the Township, and in particular, to insure the required annual survey and report on subsidence as is required by §
310-202F.
A. Amount of maintenance guarantee. Maintenance guarantees covering
the work related to elimination of the hazardous mining voids shall
be 15% of the actual cost of such work, or of the estimate of such
cost as determined by the Township Engineer or such other expert designated
by the Township for such purpose, unless the Planning Board determines
that a sum less than 15% is adequate, taking into consideration the
total cost of the work in question, as well as the extent of such
work and the degree of danger presented by such voids.
In accordance with Article
XXXI, Fees and Deposits, of this chapter, the Planning Board, at both the time of minor subdivision plan review and review of applications for preliminary and final major site plan and subdivision plan approvals for a use in any of these mining zones, shall review the adequacy of fees paid to date by the applicant in terms of expenses incurred and to be incurred by the Township in processing and reviewing such development plan and in supervising the work related to the elimination of the hazards of the mining voids by filling and/or capping. In accordance with §
310-255 of this chapter, prior to granting preliminary and final approval (as the case may be) and in view of the extensive fees and expenses which the Township anticipates it will incur to secure the advice and supervision of professional experts (geologists, mining engineers, etc.), which will be required to adequately protect the interests of the Township in its objective to ensure the area in question is rendered safe for human entry prior to commencement of construction, the Township shall require the applicant to pay whatever additional amounts are reasonably required pursuant to §
310-205A to assure the Township that all expenses incurred and to be incurred by it in connection with the remedial work associated with the development plan in question are reimbursed to the Township by the applicant. In any event, no building permit shall be issued for any building to be erected upon the property which is the subject of any such development plan until all fees assessed to the applicant in accordance with said sections of this chapter and provisions of this section are paid in full by applicant.
No subdivision or site plan approval shall be granted for any portion or section of any tract of land in the Township, whether or not such portion or section is intended to be developed currently and notwithstanding the fact that available and known information regarding prior mining operations indicates no mining took place upon such portion or section, unless and until a development plan encompassing the entire tract is presented to the Planning Board for approval, which plan must include provisions for elimination (by capping or filling) of the hazards resulting from the existing voids caused by prior mining or carbonate soils upon the tract in question, and/or upon adjoining properties. It is the purpose of this provision to prohibit any development upon any portion of a tract of land unless and until the entire tract is rendered safe for human entry and elimination of the hazards of the mining voids by either capping or filling in accordance with the procedures and requirements of §
310-203B(1) through
(10). The plan need only be conceptual regarding development of those portions of the entire tract which applicant does not intend to develop at the present time.
No principal building or building intended for human occupancy shall be built over the voids filled, capped, plugged or covered in accordance with the above requirements of §
310-203 above, nor shall such buildings be located within the immediate area of such filled or capped voids determined as follows:
A. If filling has taken place. No end (outside) wall of any principal
building or building intended for human occupancy shall be located
closer to the filled mine void than 10 feet from the edge of the filled
void on the footwall side or closer to the filled mine void than 20
feet from the edge of the filled void on the hanging wall side.
B. If capping or plugging has taken place. No end (outside) wall of
any principal building or building intended for human occupancy shall
be located closer to the mine void than the point of intersection
with the final surface grade by a line drawn at an angle of 350°
from each end of the concrete beam or slab forming the cap to such
final surface grade, said angle of 350° being the angle between
such intersecting line(s) and the bedrock upon which the cap has been
placed.
The investigations, reports and maps described above in the
Mined Areas Overlay Map, Appendix II, reveal that iron mining operations
took place in various sections of Mine Hill Township which are not
in any of the mining districts established by this chapter of the
Code of the Township of Mine Hill, as amended. Notwithstanding the
fact that a particular tract, parcel or lot may not be located in
any of the various mining districts shown upon the current Zoning
Map of the Township of Mine Hill, no building permit shall be issued
or a development plan shall be approved (involving a site plan, subdivision
or variance application) unless or until the property in question
is rendered safe from the hazards resulting from such prior mining
operations in accordance with the standards and procedures hereby
established with respect to and governing conditional uses in these
said mining districts.
A. Application of standards. In addition to complying with the general requirements of Article
XXVII, Requirements and Standards for Development on Critical Geologic and Previously Mined Lands, any property owner or developer seeking either a building permit for any residential, commercial or industrial use (including even a permit for one single-family dwelling) or approval of a development plan for any type of use shall apply to the Planning Board for review and approval of the plans for the proposed construction and development. The Planning Board in reviewing such application shall apply all the standards, requirements, terms and conditions applicable to establishment of a use in the Overlay Mining District, hereinabove set forth, and shall not approve the proposed construction or proposed development (and consequently no building permit shall issue) unless the plans and other data submitted by the property owner or developer indicate that the subject property and property immediately adjacent thereto will be rendered safe for both construction and human entry by the elimination of all mining hazards in accordance with such standards, requirements, terms and conditions.
In certain situations, a specific mining or geologic hazard
may not be identified while the geologic investigation program is
underway and may be discovered during or after construction. In such
cases, the applicant shall:
A. Report the occurrence of the hazard to the Municipal Clerk and MGC
within 24 hours of discovery.
B. Halt construction activities which would impact the mining or geologic
hazard.
C. Prepare a report on the mining or geologic hazard which analyzes
the impact of the hazard and details a remediation plan for review
and approval by the MGC.
D. After obtaining approval from the municipality, perform necessary
remediation of the hazard to prevent or minimize damages to buildings,
structures, utilities, driveways, parking areas, roadways, or other
site improvements, and to minimize pollution of the groundwater.
E. Repair any damage to improvements and restore ground cover and landscaping.
F. In those cases where the hazard cannot be repaired without adversely
affecting the previously approved site plan or subdivision plan, the
applicant shall file an amended application for site plan or subdivision
approval in compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
Subsequent to the submission of the Phase I information required in §
310-202C, the Planning Board, upon recommendations by the MGC, may grant a waiver from all or any part of the geotechnical investigation testing and report requirements in §
310-202C.