[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Lower
Burrell 4-10-2017 by Ord. No. 2-2017.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Uniform construction code — See Ch. 140.
Floodplain management — See Ch. 170.
Stormwater management — See Ch. 252.
Subdivision and land development — See Ch. 260.
Zoning — See Ch. 300.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance superseded former Ch. 154, Erosion and Sediment Control, comprised of Art. I, Protection of Ditches, Culverts and Sewers for Drainage, adopted 10-13-1980 by Ord. No. 8-1980, as amended, and Art. II, Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plans, adopted 12-12-2016 by Ord. No. 6-2016.
The Building Inspector or any police officer of the City, upon
the advice of the City Engineer, shall serve upon any person who has
committed any act prohibited by this chapter, a notice that such person
has violated the provisions of this chapter. The notice shall set
forth in detail the manner of the violation and shall be sufficiently
served if it is mailed by certified mail to the usual place of residence
or the usual place of business of the offender or, if a corporation,
to its usual place of business. The offender shall be allowed 10 days
from the day on which such notice is placed in the mail to take all
necessary measures to cease the violation and in all respects to restore
circumstances as they existed prior to the violation.
Any person who produces any earth disturbance activity (i.e.,
a construction or other human activity which disturbs the surface
of the land, including land clearing and grubbing, excavations, embankments,
land development, agricultural plowing or tilling, operation of animal
heavy-use areas, timber harvesting activities, road maintenance activities,
oil and gas activities, well drilling, mineral extraction and the
moving, depositing, stockpiling or storing of soil, rock or other
earth materials) as defined by 25 Pa. Code Chapter 102, situated within
the City shall first obtain a permit from the Building Inspector to
do so.
Each applicant for a permit required by § 154-2 shall submit to the City Engineer plans and specifications fully disclosing and outlining the manner in which the applicant proposes land disturbance. The City Engineer shall direct the Building Inspector to issue a permit only if the applicant's proposed action will be in accordance with commonwealth regulations. At the direction of the City Engineer and upon payment of the applicant of a fee in an amount established from time to time by resolution of City Council and posting of the cash or bond required by § 154-4, the Building Inspector shall issue a permit to take the proposed action, as approved by the City Engineer.
The applicant shall post with the Clerk either cash money or
a bond approved by the City Solicitor and executed by the applicant
as principal and by a compensated surety company as surety in an amount,
estimated by the owner or developer and subsequently approved by the
City Engineer, equal to the actual cost of carrying out the action
proposed to be taken by the applicant, in accordance with such plans
and specifications as approved by the City Engineer. The determination
regarding the estimated cost by the City Engineer shall be conclusive.
The cash or bond shall be returned to the applicant by the Clerk upon
receipt from the City Engineer of a certificate stating that such
action has been taken in accordance with such plans and specifications.
A.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of
this article for which no other penalty is provided shall, upon conviction
thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $50 for the first
offense, and for all subsequent offenses not more than $1,000 plus
costs and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to a term
of imprisonment not to exceed 30 days.
B.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall fail, within the time prescribed by § 154-1, to remove the violation and to restore the status quo in accordance with the notice served shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $50 for the first offense and for all subsequent offenses not more than $1,000 plus costs and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 30 days. Each day that a violation continues shall be constituted a separate offense.
If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, or
phrase of this chapter shall be declared invalid for any reason whatsoever,
such a decision shall not affect the remaining portions of the chapter,
which shall remain in full force and effect, and for this purpose
the provisions of this chapter are hereby declared to be severable.
A.
If this article conflicts with the Department of Environmental Protection
standards, the DEP standards shall take precedent without rendering
the remaining portions of the article inadequate.
B.
This article requires persons proposing or conducting earth disturbance
activities to develop, implement and maintain erosion and sedimentation
(E&S) control best management practices (BMPs) to minimize the
potential for accelerated erosion and sedimentation and to protect,
maintain, reclaim and restore water quality and existing and designated
uses. Various E&S BMPs and their design standards are listed in
the Erosion and Sediment Pollution Control Program Manual (Manual),
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection,
No. 363-2134-008 (April 2000), as amended and updated.
C.
The BMPs shall be undertaken to protect, maintain, reclaim and restore
water quality and the existing and designated uses of waters of this
commonwealth.
D.
In addition to local and/or county regulations to control erosion
and sedimentation, all development in Lower Burrell shall meet the
requirements of the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law, as amended[1], and the following Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection erosion control requirements:
(1)
25 Pa. Code Chapter 93 - Water Quality Standards, latest edition.
(2)
25 Pa. Code Chapter 102 - Erosion and Sediment Control, latest edition.
(3)
25 Pa. Code Chapter 105 - Dam Safety and Waterway Management, latest
edition.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 691.1 et seq.
E.
All developers shall submit a proposed erosion and sedimentation
control plan to the Planning Commission at the preliminary review
stage. An approved plan or permit from the DEP when required shall
accompany the final plan submission.
A.
Permit required. Regulations require that certain earthmoving activities
may not be undertaken until a permit from the Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) has been obtained. This requirement allows the DEP
to review the erosion and sedimentation control plan and approve it
prior to any earthmoving activity. (Refer to 25 Pa. Code Chapter 102
for permit requirements.)
B.
No earth disturbance activity shall commence until such time that
a plan for minimizing erosion and sedimentation in accordance with
local and commonwealth regulations has been processed with and approved
by the Zoning Officer.
C.
No subdivision or land development plan shall be approved unless
there has been a plan approved by the Zoning Officer that provides
for minimizing erosion and sedimentation consistent with this article,
and an improvement bond or other acceptable securities are deposited
with the City in the form of an escrow guarantee which will ensure
installation and completion of the required improvements.
The following measures are effective in minimizing erosion and
sedimentation and shall be included where applicable in the erosion
control plan:
A.
Stripping of vegetation, regrading or other development shall be
done in such a way that will minimize erosion.
B.
Development plans shall preserve salient natural features, keep cut-fill
operations to a minimum, and ensure conformity with topography so
as to create the least erosion potential and adequately handle the
rate, volume and velocity of surface water runoff.
C.
Whenever feasible, natural vegetation shall be retained, protected
and supplemented.
D.
The disturbed land area and the duration of exposure shall be kept
to a practical minimum.
E.
Disturbed soils shall be temporarily stabilized immediately following
earth disturbance activities and permanently stabilized immediately
after final elevations are achieved.
F.
Temporary vegetation and/or mulching shall be used to protect exposed
critical areas during development.
G.
The permanent (final) vegetation and structural erosion control and
drainage measures shall be installed immediately after final elevations
are achieved.
H.
Provisions shall be made to effectively accommodate the increased
runoff caused by changed soil and surface conditions during and after
development. Where necessary, the rate and volume of surface water
runoff will be structurally retarded.
I.
Sediment in the runoff water shall be trapped until the disturbed
land area is stabilized, by the use of E&S BMPs, including, but
not limited to, sediment basins, silt traps or similar measures required
locally or by the DEP.
In order to provide more suitable sites for building and other
uses, to improve surface drainage and to control erosion and sedimentation,
the following requirements shall be met:
A.
All lots, tracts or parcels and land within a development shall be
graded to provide proper drainage away from buildings and to drain
and dispose of surface water without ponding, except where approved
by the City Engineer.
B.
All drainage provisions shall be of such design as to adequately handle the surface runoff and carry it to the nearest suitable outlet, such as a curbed street, storm drain or natural watercourse. Where drainage swales are used to divert surface waters away from buildings, they shall be lined, sodded or planted as required and shall be of such slope, shape and size in accordance with the requirements of the City, Chapter 252, Stormwater Management, and the commonwealth.
C.
Excavations and fills.
(1)
Cut-and-fill slopes shall not be steeper than a 2:1 horizontal-to-vertical
ratio unless stabilized by a retaining wall or cribbing, or unless
authorized by the City Engineer after considering the special physiographic
conditions of a particular site.
(2)
Adequate provisions shall be made to prevent surface water from damaging
the cut face of excavations and the sloping surfaces of fills.
(3)
Cut-and-fills shall not endanger adjoining property.
(4)
Fill shall be placed and compacted as to minimize sliding or erosion
of the soil.
(5)
Fills placed adjacent to natural watercourses or constructed channels
shall have suitable protection against erosion during periods of flooding.
(6)
Fills shall not encroach on natural watercourses or constructed channels
unless the appropriate permits are obtained from the PA DEP.
(7)
Grading shall not be done in such a way as to divert water onto the
property of another landowner without the express consent, in the
form of a drainage easement, of such landowner and the City Engineer.
(8)
During grading operations, necessary measures for dust control shall
be exercised.
A.
All building materials and wastes shall be removed from the site
and recycled or disposed of in accordance with the Department's
solid waste management regulations at 25 Pa. Code §§ 260.1
et seq., 271.1, and 287.1 et seq. No building materials or wastes
or unused building materials shall be burned, buried, dumped, or discharged
at the site.
B.
Maintenance of all drainage facilities within any subdivision or
land development is the responsibility of the developer until they
are accepted by the City or some other official agency, after which
they become the responsibility of the accepting agency.
C.
No person, corporation or other entity shall block, impede the flow
of, alter, construct any structure, or deposit any material or thing,
or commit any act which will affect normal or flood flow in any communal
stream or watercourse without having obtained prior approval from
the City or Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as applicable.
A.
The Planning Commission, in its consideration of all preliminary
plans of subdivision and land development, shall condition its approval
upon the execution of erosion and sediment control measures as contained
in this article.
B.
The installation and design of the required erosion and sediment
control measures shall conform to criteria established by the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
C.
Final plans for minimizing erosion and sedimentation, as approved, will be incorporated into the agreement and bond requirements as required under § 154-8C.
D.
The approval of plans and specifications for the control of erosion
and sedimentation shall be concurrent with the approval of the final
plats of subdivision or land development and become a part thereof.
