The City of Port Washington finds that urbanizing land uses
have accelerated the process of soil erosion and sedimentation in
the waters of the City. The purpose of this chapter is, therefore,
to conserve the soil, water, and related resources and control erosion
and sedimentation caused by land disturbing activities. Such conservation
activities will preserve natural resources, control floods, protect
the capacity of drainage facilities, protect the quality of public
waters, and protect the tax base.
Any land disturbing activity shall be subject to the erosion
and sediment control provisions of this chapter if:
A. An area of 4,000 square feet or greater will be disturbed by excavation,
grading, filling, or other earthmoving activities, resulting in the
loss or removal of protective ground cover or vegetation;
B. Excavation, fill, or any combination thereof will exceed 400 cubic
yards;
C. Any public (federal, state or local) street, road or highway is to
be constructed, enlarged, relocated or substantially reconstructed;
D. Any watercourse is to be changed or enlarged, or materials are removed
from stream or lake beds; or
E. It is any proposed land use by a unit of government or by public
or private utilities in which underground conduits, piping, wiring,
water lines, sanitary sewers or storm sewers, or similar structures
will be laid, repaired, replaced or enlarged, if such use involves
more than 300 linear feet of earth disturbance.
Any owner, land occupier, or land user performing an activity described in §
446-2 of this chapter shall comply with the following standards and criteria:
A. General erosion and sediment control standard. The City Engineer
shall not approve plans nor shall the City Building Inspector issue
permits required by this chapter for land disturbing uses unless erosion
and sedimentation during and after the land disturbance will not exceed
that which would have been eroded if the land had been left in its
undisturbed state and/or area controlled in accordance with established
specifications, including but not limited to the Wisconsin Construction
Site Best Management Practice Handbook or other technical guidelines
as developed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Bureau
of Water Resources Management, Nonpoint Source and Land Management
Section.
B. Standard for tracking. For plan approval and issuance of a permit,
there must be adequate provisions to prevent the tracking or causing
of any material to accumulate from the site onto any public or private
street or property. Any material reaching a public or private street
or property shall be removed by mechanical means (not flushing) before
the end of each workday.
C. Site dewatering. Water pumped from the site shall be treated by temporary
sedimentation basins, grit chambers, sand filters, upflow chambers,
hydrocyclones, swirl concentrators, or other appropriate controls
designed and used to remove particles of 100 microns or greater for
the highest dewatering pumping rate. If the water is demonstrated
to have no particles greater than 100 microns during dewatering operations,
then no control is needed before discharge, except as determined by
the City Engineer; water may not be discharged in a manner that causes
erosion of the site or receiving channels.
D. Drain inlet protection. All storm drain inlets shall be protected
with straw bales, filter fabric, or equivalent barrier meeting accepted
design criteria, standards and specifications.
E. Design criteria, engineering standards and general principles. This
section does not require the use of any particular type of structural
or nonstructural measures to control erosion and sedimentation. The
applicant for a permit may employ any structural or nonstructural
measures which he believes to be necessary to achieve all applicable
standards set forth in this chapter. However, the City Engineer is
required to evaluate these measures to determine that they follow
currently accepted design criteria and engineering standards. The
following general principles shall be used by the City Engineer when
evaluating erosion control plans by this chapter:
(1) Erosion control plans shall incorporate best management practices
to reduce soil loss during construction.
(2) The smallest practical area of land shall be exposed at any given
time during development.
(3) Such minimum exposure shall be kept to as short a duration of time
as is practicable.
(4) Temporary vegetation, mulching, or other cover shall be used to protect
critical areas, and permanent vegetation shall be installed as soon
as practical.
(5) Sod shall be laid in strips at those intervals necessary to prevent
erosion and at right angles to the direction of drainage.
(6) The plan of development shall relate to the topography and soils
of the site so that the lowest potential for erosion is created.
(7) Natural plant covering shall be retained and protected and shall
be deemed a dominant factor in developing the site.
F. Standards for filling. All fill material placed on any lot or parcel
shall consist of nonodorous and noncombustible material which shall
be free of garbage, decomposable substance, food waste, and organic
material other than soil. The following materials are specifically
prohibited:
(1) Cardboard boxes, wooden boxes and other containers.
(2) Wood, excelsior and other combustible or flammable materials.
(3) Garage sweepings, fly ash (wet or dry) and industrial acids.
(4) Any material which is likely, after exposure to the elements, to
become capable of becoming airborne.
G. Additional land disturbing standards.
(1) The top 16 inches of all fills shall be of soil and the upper four
inches thereof shall be of topsoil suitable for growing vegetation.
No area shall be filled to a maximum height greater than five feet
above the grade of the immediately adjacent lands. If dust shall accumulate
upon the surface of the fill, the permittee shall furnish facilities
in order to provide for proper settling of the dust by sprinkling
water thereon, or by the application of calcium chloride or other
suitable substances, all of which shall be subject to approval of
the City Engineer, both as to quality of materials and manner of application.
(2) All land disturbing projects shall be landscaped immediately upon
completion of the project. Where immediate landscaping is determined
by the City Plan Commission to be impracticable due to climate, weather,
labor supply, or other relevant conditions, the Plan Commission shall
set a time when landscaping shall be completed. In no case shall landscaping
be delayed for more than one year after the completion of the project.
(3) The finished grade of any lot that is filled shall be according to
the grading plan recommended by the Division of Engineering.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
(4) In order to protect adjacent property owners from possible damage
due to change in the existing grade of adjoining lands, no change
in the existing topography of any land shall be made which would result
in increasing any portion of the slope to a ratio of more than one
foot vertical to four feet horizontal within a distance of 30 feet
from the property line, except with the written consent of the abutting
property owner and with the approval of the Plan Commission, or which
would alter the existing drainage or topography in any way as to adversely
affect the adjoining property. In no case shall any slope exceed the
normal angle of repose of the material involved, and all slopes shall
be protected against erosion.
(5) In the event any property owner changes or permits a change to be
made in the grade of his property that adversely affects the depth
of water and sewer services, or any other utility, said property owner
may be required to pay any cost incurred by the City in the raising
or lowering of said utilities or for reconstructing the property to
proper grade.
Unless specifically exempted herein, no landowner, land occupier,
or land user may undertake a land disturbing activity without having
applied for and received an erosion control permit.
A. Each application for an erosion control permit shall be made in duplicate
to the Building Inspector on forms furnished by the City and shall
include the following where applicable:
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
(1) Name and address of the applicant, owner of the site, architect,
professional engineer, and contractor.
(2) Description of the subject site by lot, block, and recorded subdivision
or metes and bounds.
(4) Receipt of paid permit fee from the City Treasurer.
B. The following exceptions are provided from the erosion control permit
requirement:
(1) The owner and occupier of public lands are exempt from the payment
of any permit fee.
(2) The City may, for its convenience, enter into an agreement with public or private utilities and governmental units to waive the need for a permit for each individual land disturbing activity if the utility or governmental unit will agree to adopt and follow a procedure for each land disturbing activity which meets all applicable standards contained in §
446-3 of this chapter. Further, the agreement shall provide that in the event that a utility or governmental unit activity fails to meet the standard, the agreement shall terminate and the utility or governmental unit shall be subject to the penalties of this chapter.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
A control plan shall be submitted if the proposed land disturbing
activity involves four or more residential lots or greater than five
acres of land. The control plan shall contain any such information
the City Engineer may need to determine soil erosion and sedimentation
potential and control. The City Engineer may require the following,
as well as any other information which, in his judgment, is needed
to evaluate the control plan:
A. A location map of the site at a scale not smaller than one inch equals
100 feet showing the location of the predominant soil types and the
existing vegetative cover.
B. A topographic map at a scale not smaller than one inch equals 200
feet with a vertical contour interval of two feet of the site including
enough of the contiguous properties to show existing on-site drainage
patterns and watercourses that may affect or be affected by the proposed
development of the site. The site boundaries shall also be shown clearly
on the map.
C. A plan of the site at a scale not smaller than one inch equals 100
feet showing:
(1) The name, address, and telephone number of the land occupier, along
with the name and telephone number of the party responsible for maintaining
erosion control structures.
(2) The existing 100-year floodplains, flood fringes and floodways, lakes,
streams, wetlands, channels, ditches and other watercourses on and
immediately adjacent to the site; also, when applicable, the City
of Port Washington floodland zoning district boundaries.
(3) A timing schedule indicating the anticipated starting and completion
dates of the development sequence and the time of exposure of each
area of soil disturbing activity prior to the completion of effective
measures for erosion and sediment control.
(4) Existing and proposed topography of the site with a maximum of two-foot
contour intervals showing:
(a)
Location of proposed land disturbing activity, proposed disturbance
of protective cover, any proposed additional structure on the site,
areas to be seeded or mulched, areas to be vegetatively stabilized
and areas to be left undisturbed.
(b)
Elevations, dimensions, and locations of all proposed soil disturbing
activities, including where topsoil will be stockpiled so it will
not contribute to erosion and sedimentation.
(c)
The finished grade, stated in feet vertical per foot horizontal,
of cut and fill slopes.
(d)
The kinds of utilities and proposed areas of installation.
(e)
Proposed paved and covered areas in square feet or to scale
on a plan map.
(f)
The type of proposed soil (upper 16 inches) on areas not covered
by buildings, structures, or pavement. Description shall be in such
terms as original surface soil, subsoil, sand, silt, clay or other.
(g)
Proposed kind of cover on areas not covered by buildings, structures
or pavement. Description shall be in such terms as lawn, turfgrass,
shrubbery, trees, forest cover, riprap, mulch, or other.
(h)
Seeding mixtures and rates, lime and fertilizer application
rates, and kind and quantity of mulching for both temporary and permanent
vegetative control measures.
(i)
Methods to prevent tracking of soil off the site of the land
disturbing activity.
(j)
Estimated cost of erosion and sediment control features.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
The City's Division of Engineering shall receive all permit applications, which shall be accompanied by either an erosion control plan or an erosion control checklist plan. The City Engineer shall determine if measures included in the plan to control erosion and sedimentation during and after the land disturbing activities are adequate to meet all the applicable standards as set forth in §
446-3 of this chapter. Upon receipt of the City Engineer's review comments, the City shall inform the permit applicant whether the application is approved, approved conditionally with revisions, or disapproved. If the City approves the control plan, it shall issue the permit. If additional information or revisions are required, the City shall so notify the applicant. In the event that the plan is disapproved, the applicant may resubmit a new control plan or may appeal the City's decision as provided in §
159-13 of this Code. If the City requires revisions to the erosion control plan, the applicant must revise the permit application and control plan accordingly and reapply for the permit; however, no additional permit fee is required, or the applicant may appeal the decision as provided in §
159-13 of this Code.
All permits issued under this chapter shall be issued subject
to the following conditions and requirements, and any permittee who
begins to perform any land disturbing activity authorized by permit
shall be deemed to have accepted all of these conditions:
A. All land disturbances, construction and development will be done
pursuant to the erosion control plan as approved by the City.
B. The permittee shall give at least two working days' notice to the
City in advance of the start of any land disturbing activity.
C. The permittee shall request a final inspection of all land disturbing
activities and/or the completion of installation of all on-site detention
facilities immediately upon completion or prior to removing equipment
from the site.
D. Approval must be obtained from the City Building Inspector prior
to any modifications to the approved erosion control plan.
E. The permittee will be responsible for maintaining all public rights-of-way,
streets, runoff and drainage systems, and drainageways as specified
in the approved erosion control plan until they are accepted and become
the responsibility of a governmental entity.
F. The permittee will be responsible for repairing any damage at his
expense to all adjoining drainage systems caused by excessive sedimentation
resulting from activities which are not in compliance with the approved
erosion control plan.
G. The permittee must provide and install at his expense all drainage
and erosion control improvements required by this chapter and the
approved erosion control plan.
H. No work will be done on the site during periods of high wind velocity
unless provision has been made to eliminate dust and flowing dirt.
I. No portion of the land which undergoes the land disturbing activity
will be allowed to remain uncovered for greater than two weeks after
notice is given to the City Building Inspector that the land disturbing
activity is completed.
J. The permittee agrees to permit the City to enter onto the land regulated
under this chapter for the purpose of inspecting for compliance with
the approved control plan and permit.
K. In the event that the permittee fails to perform as specified in the erosion control permit, the permittee authorizes the City to perform any work or operations necessary to bring the condition of the lands into conformity with the approved control plan or plan as modified by the City and further consents to the City of Port Washington drawing the total of the costs and expenses of such work and operations from the letter of credit or cash deposit provided for in §
446-10 of this chapter.
Permits issued under this chapter shall be valid for a period
as specified on the face of the permit by the City Building Inspector,
and work must be completed prior to the expiration date of the permit.
However, the City may extend the expiration date of the permit if
it finds that such an extension will not cause an increase in erosion,
sedimentation or runoff. The City Building Inspector is further authorized
to modify the plans if necessary to prevent any increase in sedimentation,
erosion or runoff resulting from any extension.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
As a condition for approval and issuance of an erosion control
permit for a land disturbing activity consisting of four or more residential
lots or greater than five acres of land, the City shall require the
permittee to deposit an appropriate irrevocable letter of credit or
cash bond to guarantee the faithful execution of the approved control
plan and permit conditions equal to the cost of the land disturbing
work. The form of the letter of credit or cash bond shall be such
that it is readily available for City use without any restrictions
and as approved by the City Attorney.