[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Fairwater as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction — See Ch. 215.
Driveways and culverts — See Ch. 245.
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 404.
Subdivision of land — See Ch. 477.
[Adopted at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
A. 
Intent. The intent of this article is to require erosion control practices that will reduce the amount of sediment and other pollutants leaving construction sites during land development or land disturbance activities.
B. 
Authority. This article is adopted under the authority granted by § 61.354, Wis. Stats.
A. 
The Village Board finds that runoff from large construction sites carries a significant amount of sediment and other pollutants to the waters of the state and this Village.
B. 
It is the purpose of this article to preserve the natural resources; to protect the quality of the waters of the state and the Village; and to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of the people to the extent practicable by minimizing the amount of sediment and other pollutants carried by runoff or discharged from construction sites to streams and wetlands.
This article applies to land disturbing and land developing activities on lands of five acres or more, and to street excavation projects of 100 feet or more, in the Village of Fairwater and, optionally, similar projects subject to the extraterritorial authority of the Village under Ch. 236, Wis. Stats. All state funded or conducted construction is exempt from this article.
The following definitions are applicable in this article:
AGRICULTURAL LAND USE
Use of land for planting, growing, cultivating and harvesting of crops for human or livestock consumption and pasturing or yarding of livestock.
COMMERCIAL LAND USE
Use of land for the retail or wholesale sale of goods or services.
CONSTRUCTION SITE CONTROL MEASURE
A control measure used to meet the requirement of § 256-7B.
CONTROL MEASURE
A practice or combination of practices to control erosion and attendant pollution.
CONTROL PLAN
A written description of the number, locations, sizes, and other pertinent information of control measures designed to meet the requirements of this article submitted by the applicant for review and approval by the Village of Fairwater.
EROSION
The detachment and movement of soil, sediment or rock fragments by water, wind, ice or gravity.
LAND DEVELOPING ACTIVITY
The construction of buildings, roads, parking lots, paved storage areas and similar facilities.
LAND DISTURBING CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
Any man-made change of the land surface, including removing vegetative cover, excavating, filling and grading but not including agricultural land uses such as planting, growing, cultivating and harvesting of crops, growing and tending of gardens, harvesting of trees, and landscaping modifications.
LANDOWNER
Any person holding title to or having an interest in land.
LAND USER
Any person operating, leasing, renting, or having made other arrangements with the landowner by which the landowner authorizes use of his or her land.
RUNOFF
The rainfall, snowmelt, or irrigation water flowing over the ground surface.
SET OF ONE-YEAR DESIGN STORMS
The following rain intensities and rain volumes or corresponding values specific to the community for the storm durations of 0.5, one, two, three, six, 12 and 24 hours that occur approximately once per year: (Note: the following are typical characteristics of these one-year storms for most of Wisconsin.)
Storm Duration
(hours)
Average Rain Intensity
(inches/hour)
Total Rain
(inches)
0.5
1.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.1
2
0.7
1.3
3
0.5
1.5
6
0.3
1.7
12
0.2
2.0
24
0.1
2.3
SITE
The entire area of five acres or more, or a street surface of 100 linear feet or more, included in the legal description of the land on which land disturbing or land development activity is proposed in the permit application.
All sedimentation basins and other control measures necessary to meet the requirements of this article shall be maintained by the applicant or subsequent landowner during the period of land disturbance and land development of the site in a satisfactory manner to ensure adequate performance and to prevent nuisance conditions.
A. 
Applicability. This section applies to the following sites of land development or land disturbing activities:
(1) 
Those lands over five acres in area requiring a subdivision plat approval; commercial, industrial or institutional buildings on lots of five acres or more;
(2) 
Those projects of 100 linear feet or more involving street, highway, road, or bridge construction, enlargement, relocation, or reconstruction; or
(3) 
Those projects involving the laying, repairing, replacing, or enlarging of an underground pipe or facility for a distance of 100 feet or more.
B. 
Erosion and other pollutant control requirements. The following requirements shall be met on all sites described in Subsection A:
(1) 
Site dewatering. Water pumped from the site shall be treated by temporary sedimentation basins, grit chambers, sand filters, upflow chambers, hydro-cyclones, 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 Village of Fairwater. Water may not be discharged in a manner that causes erosion of the site or receiving channels.
(a) 
There are many ways to meet this particle size performance objective, depending on the pumping rate. As an example, if the pumping rate is very low (one gallon per minute), then an inclined or vertical enlarged pipe (about eight inches in diameter for a pumping rate of one gallon per minute) several feet long would be an adequate control device to restrict the discharge of 100 micron, and larger, particles. As the pumping rate increases, then the device must be enlarged. At a moderate (100 gallons per minute) pumping rate, a vertical section of corrugated steel pipe, or concrete pipe section, or other small tank (about 4 1/2 feet across for a pumping rate of 100 gallons per minute) several feet tall would be adequate. With these pipe sections or small tanks, inlet baffles would be needed to minimize turbulence. With very large pumping rates (10,000 gallons per minute), sediment basins (about 35 feet in diameter for a pumping rate of 10,000 gallons per minute) at least three feet in depth with a simple (but adequately sized) pipe outlet would be needed. More sophisticated control devices (such as swirl concentrators or hydro-cyclones) could be specially fabricated that would generally be smaller than the simple sedimentation devices described above, but they would not be required.
(b) 
The performance standard of 100 micron maximum particles in the dewatering water at the maximum pumping rate significantly reduces the liability of the contractor when compared to a standard of no visible particulate matter. If a properly sized device is correctly used, based on the 100 micron particle size performance standard, then discharges of visible particulate matter would not constitute a violation. It is not possible to design a control device that would ensure no visible particulate matter discharges. This 100 micron standard is intended to significantly reduce sedimentation problems in downstream drainage systems and in the receiving waters that are caused by large particles. Visible particulate matter will probably still occur in water meeting this standard, as most turbidity effects are caused by very small particles that usually do not cause as severe of a sedimentation problem as larger particles. This 100 micron particle size performance standard was therefore selected to be easily met and enforced and to reduce sedimentation problems. A no visible particulate matter standard in contrast could not be met easily or cheaply, violations would frequently occur, and inspectors would have to make frequent site visits and require frequent control device changes. In addition, particle size measurements would not be required to prove compliance with the 100 micron performance standard. Only the proper use of a device designed to meet this particle size criteria is needed. However, if a contractor or site engineer feels that the dewatering water does not contain any particles larger than 100 microns, no control device would be needed if optional frequent particle size analyses confirm that fact. In most cases, the use of the simple control devices described previously would be less expensive and less bothersome than performing frequent particle size analyses.
(2) 
Waste and material disposal. All waste and unused building materials (including garbage, debris, cleaning wastes, wastewater, toxic materials, or hazardous materials) shall be properly disposed and not allowed to be carried by runoff into a receiving channel or storm sewer system.
(3) 
Tracking. Each site shall have graveled roads, access drives and parking areas of sufficient width and length to prevent sediment from being tracked onto public or private roadways. Any sediment reaching a public or private road shall be removed by street cleaning (not flushing) before the end of each workday.
(4) 
Drain inlet protection. All storm drain inlets shall be protected with a straw bale, filter fabric, or equivalent barrier meeting accepted design criteria, standards and specifications.
(5) 
Site erosion control. The following criteria [Subsection B(5)(a) through (d)] apply only to land development or land disturbing activities that result in runoff leaving the site.
(a) 
Channelized runoff from adjacent areas passing through the site shall be diverted around disturbed areas, if practical. Otherwise, the channel shall be protected as described below in Subsection B(5)(c). Sheetflow runoff from adjacent areas greater than 10,000 square feet in area shall also be diverted around disturbed areas, unless shown to have resultant runoff velocities of less than 0.5 foot per second across the disturbed area for the set of one-year design storms. Diverted runoff shall be conveyed in a manner that will not erode the conveyance and receiving channels. (Note: Natural Resources Conservation Service guidelines for allowable velocities in different types of channels should be followed.)
(b) 
All activities on the site shall be conducted in a logical sequence to minimize the area of bare soil exposed at any one time.
(c) 
Runoff from the entire disturbed area on the site shall be controlled by meeting the following criteria:
[1] 
For sites of less than 10 acres disturbed at one time, filter fences, straw bales, or equivalent control measures shall be placed along all side slope and down slope sides of the site. If a channel or area of concentrated runoff passes through the site, filter fences shall be placed along the channel edges to reduce sediment reaching the channel.
[2] 
For sites with more than 10 acres disturbed at one time, or if a channel originates in the disturbed area, one or more sedimentation basins shall be constructed. Each sedimentation basin shall have a surface area of at least 1% of the area draining to the basin and at least three feet of depth and be constructed in accordance with accepted design specifications. Sediment shall be removed to maintain a depth of three feet. The basin shall be designed to trap sediment greater than 15 microns in size, based on the set of one-year design storms having durations from 0.5 to 24 hours. The basin discharge rate shall also be sufficiently low as to not cause erosion along the discharge channel or the receiving water.
(d) 
Any soil or dirt storage piles containing more than 10 cubic yards of material should not be located with a down slope drainage length of less than 15 feet to a roadway or drainage channel.
(e) 
In-street utility repair or construction soil or dirt storage, for applicable project sites, must be protected with straw bale or other appropriate filtering barriers to prevent down-site erosion.
A. 
Approval. No landowner or land user may commence a land disturbance or land development activity subject to this article without receiving prior approval of a control plan for the site and a permit from the Village of Fairwater. The landowner or land user shall submit an application for a permit and a control plan and pay an application fee to the Village. By submitting an application, the applicant authorizes the inspector designated by the Village to enter the site to obtain information required for the review of the control plan.
B. 
Content of the control plan for land disturbing activities covering five acres or more:
(1) 
Existing site map. A map of the existing site conditions on a scale of at least one inch equals 100 feet showing the site and immediately adjacent areas. The site plan shall include:
(a) 
Site boundaries and adjacent lands which accurately identify the site location.
(b) 
Site identification information to include all streams, wetlands, channels, ditches and other watercourses, floodplain information, information on vegetative cover, locations and dimensions of stormwater drainage systems, and natural drainage patterns, and locations and dimensions of utilities, structures, and roads.
(2) 
Site construction plan. Location, description, and dimensions of all construction site management control measures necessary to meet the requirements of this article and provisions for maintenance of the construction site control measures during construction.
(3) 
Plan of final site conditions. A plan of final site conditions on the same scale as the existing site map showing the site changes.
C. 
Review of control plan. Within 10 work days of receipt of the application, control plan, and fee, the inspector designated by the Village will review the application and control plan to determine if the requirements of this article are met. If the requirements of this article are met, the inspector shall approve the plan and issue the permit. If the requirements of this article are not met, he shall so advise the applicant of the reasons for disapproval of the permit.
D. 
Permits.
(1) 
Duration. Permits shall be valid for a period of 180 days or the length of the building permit or other construction authorizations, whichever is longer, from the date of issuance. The Village of Fairwater may extend the period one or more times for up to an additional 180 days. The Village of Fairwater may require additional control measures as a condition of the extension if they are necessary to meet the requirements of this article.
(2) 
Surety bond. As a condition of approval and issuance of the permit, the Village of Fairwater may require the applicant to deposit a surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit to guarantee a good faith execution of the approved control plan and any permit conditions.
(3) 
Permit conditions. All permits shall require the permittee to:
(a) 
Notify the Village of Fairwater within 48 hours of commencing any land disturbing activity;
(b) 
Notify the Village of Fairwater of completion of any control measures within 14 days after their installation;
(c) 
Obtain permission, in writing, from the Village of Fairwater prior to modifying the control plan;
(d) 
Install all control measures as identified in the approved control plan;
(e) 
Maintain all road drainage systems, stormwater drainage systems, control measures and other facilities identified in the control plan;
(f) 
Repair any siltation or erosion damage to adjoining surfaces and drainageways resulting from land developing or disturbing activities;
(g) 
Inspect the construction control measures after each rain of 0.5 inch or more and at least each week and make needed repairs;
(h) 
Allow the Village of Fairwater to enter the site for the purpose of inspecting compliance with the control plan or for performing any work necessary to bring the site into compliance with the control plan; and
(i) 
Keep a copy of the control plan on the site.
A. 
The inspector shall inspect construction sites as often as he deems it appropriate to ensure compliance with this article.
B. 
If land disturbing or land development activities are being carried out without a permit, the inspector shall enter the land pursuant to the provisions of § 66.0119, Wis. Stats.
A. 
The Village of Fairwater may post a stop-work order if:
(1) 
Any land disturbing or land developing activity regulated under this article is being undertaken without a permit;
(2) 
The control plan is not being implemented in a good faith manner; or
(3) 
The conditions of the permit are not being met.
B. 
If the permittee does not cease the activity or comply with the control plan or permit conditions within 10 days, the Village of Fairwater may revoke the permit.
C. 
If the landowner or land user where no permit has been issued does not cease the activity within 10 days, the Village of Fairwater may request the Village Attorney to obtain a cease and desist order.
D. 
The Village of Fairwater or the Zoning Board of Appeals may retract the stop-work order or the revocation.