[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
It is the intent of this chapter to license and regulate quarries
for the protection of persons and property and for the preservation
of the public health, safety and welfare of the Township and its inhabitants;
and to insure that quarrying operations shall be conducted in such
manner as to create a minimum of annoyance from noise and dust to
nearby property owners or occupants of property, provide for the safety
of persons, particularly children; and further to insure that the
quarried area shall be suitable and reasonably rehabilitated after
quarrying operations have been completed or otherwise terminated.
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
As used in this chapter:
Shall mean any person engaged in and controlling the business
of conducting a quarry.
Shall mean a place where stone, shale, slate, bank run material,
sand, gravel, soil or earth is commercially excavated, removed, crushed,
washed, graded or otherwise processed.
Shall be the boundary lines of the premises licensed under
this chapter.
Shall mean those aspects of the business of conducting a
quarry as relate directly to the excavation and processing of stone,
shale, slate, bank run material, sand, gravel, soil or earth and the
removal thereof from quarry premises and other related activities.
Shall mean the reconditioning of the area of land affected
by quarrying operations to restore same to a productive, attractive
and environmentally safe use after termination of quarrying operations.
Shall mean a written proposal approved by the Planning Board
of the Township for reclamation of the area of land affected by quarrying
operations, including land use objectives, specifications for grading,
manner and type of vegetation, such safety devices as shall be used
at the site, and such maps and other supporting documents as may be
required by the Planning Board; the plan shall be prepared by a licensed
professional engineer and land surveyor licensed in the State of New
Jersey, unless otherwise provided by Statute.
Shall mean an operator who as part of its license application
proposes to extract, and extracts less than 4,000 tons of marketable
quarry products in a license year and who extracts less than 15,000
tons over a period of five license years from each licensed quarry.
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
It shall be unlawful for any person to conduct the business
of quarrying within the Township without first having obtained a license
therefor in accordance with this chapter.
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1; Ord. No. 2017-10]
Applications for licenses required by this chapter shall be
made upon forms provided by the Municipal Clerk and shall be signed
and verified by the applicant, setting forth or accompanied by the
following information:
a.
The name and address of the applicant, if an individual; the name,
residence and business address of each partner, if a partnership;
the name, date and State under which organized, if a corporation;
and, if a foreign corporation, whether same is authorized to do business
in the State of New Jersey. A corporate applicant shall indicate the
names of directors, principal officers and local representatives,
their residences and business addresses, and make a designation of
a person upon whom service of process can be made. All applicants
shall consent to entry upon the premises by the Quarry Inspector for
the purpose of inspection.
b.
A current legal description of the premises where the business is
to be conducted and a map of the premises prepared by a licensed professional
engineer and land surveyor licensed in the State of New Jersey showing:
the entire tract involved; all roads or buildings on the tract or
within 500 feet thereof; existing and proposed final contours of the
land involved and adjoining lands; contours to be created by the quarrying
operation at two foot intervals for grades up to 10% and five foot
intervals for grades 10% or greater; all wooded areas, brooks, streams
or bodies of water on the tract involved and within 500 feet therefrom;
and all actual or proposed stream encroachments and crossings.
The map shall also include fifty-foot set-back lines from each
quarry boundary and the location and distance from the setback lines
of any quarried rock slope, and any building, equipment, quarry products
or other material erected or stored on the quarry site.
Where the proposed quarrying operations involve any stream encroachment
or stream crossing, the applicant shall submit a written approval
or waiver of such encroachment and/or crossing by the New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection, dated within 30 days of the license application,
or dated within 30 days of a license renewal application if the stream
encroachment or stream crossing is to occur within the period covered
by such renewal application.
c.
Statement as to the ownership of the tract involved and when such
ownership was acquired, the interest of the applicant, its officers,
directors, or stockholders in the quarry property, and of any interest
of those persons in adjoining property. In the event the applicant
is not the owner, a written consent of the owner must be furnished
together with a copy of the quarry lease, agreement or permit from
the owner to the applicant. The map submitted in such case shall show
the boundary lines of the leased premises if such premises are only
a portion of the entire tract of the owner, and these shall be the
quarry boundaries.
d.
Plans and specifications indicating places where quarrying is to
be conducted, all entrances or exits to the tract involved, fences
(including location, height and type), gates or buildings erected
or to be erected (including outside dimensions and precise location),
equipment used or to be used in the operation and the location of
such equipment, and a narrative describing the method of operation.
e.
The nature, location and phasing of a screening plan to minimize
the visibility of quarry operations to neighboring residents and persons
utilizing adjacent roadways. The owner or operator shall provide and/or
maintain effective visual screening of quarry operations. In those
areas of the quarry where fully effective visual screening is not
feasible, the owner or operator shall make every reasonable effort,
through screening, to minimize the visual impact of quarry operations
to neighboring residents. The design for such screening/buffer strip
shall utilize existing land contours, artificially created berms,
natural vegetation on site and plant material not presently on site,
all of the above to be supplied and/or maintained by the owner or
operator. Elements of the screening/buffer strip design to be submitted
shall be as follows:
1.
In those areas where natural contours of the land provide effective
visual screening, the design shall generally describe existing plant
material and, if necessary, indicate methods of preventing erosion
through planting of ground cover material.
2.
In those areas where existing land contours do not in themselves
provide adequate screening, the design shall indicate the use of berms
or plantings to provide effective visual screening, or, where effective
visual screening is not feasible, to minimize the visual impact of
quarry operations.
f.
The hours during which the quarry normally will be operated consistent
with this chapter.
g.
Certificate of insurance attached to the application or, in the case
of an initial application, a certificate of availability of insurance
evidencing on-site and off-site comprehensive general liability coverage
(including coverage for subcontractors/independent contractors) in
amounts of not less than $2,000,000 combined single limit, including
bodily injury, death, and property damage. In addition, the certificate
shall evidence Commercial Pollution Legal Liability Insurance with
policy limits of $1,000,000/$2,000,000, Coverage A. On-Site Clean
Up of Pollution Conditions; Coverage B. Legal Liability for Pollution
Conditions; Automobile Insurance with a policy limit of $1,000,000;
Workers Compensation and Employers Liability with a limit of $1,000,000;
and Umbrella Insurance with a limit of $5,000,000. All such insurance
certificates shall contain an endorsement naming the Township of Union
as an additional insured, utilizing form CG 20 12 05 09 - State or
Governmental Agency or Subdivision or Political Subdivision - Permits
or Authorizations, Commercial General Liability, or equivalent. In
addition, the applicant shall supply a signed indemnification and
hold harmless agreement to the Township of Union in a form acceptable
to the Township Attorney, indemnifying and holding the Township of
Union harmless from any and all liability or claims in connection
with the applicant's quarrying operations.
h.
Information describing roads and bridges to be used for access to
the site, including a description of the adequacy of those roads for
heavy truck traffic and any limitations that there might be with respect
to the adequacy of pavement, road shoulders, bridges and culverts.
i.
Certification
of proof from the Township Tax Collector that no taxes or assessments
for local improvements are due or delinquent on the quarry property,
or any portion thereof.
[Added 11-18-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-6]
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
a.
Prior to approval of any application, a plan for reclamation of the site shall be submitted to the Municipal Clerk. This plan, which shall include the data required under subsection 20-1.4b, shall show the ultimate plans for the quarry site after quarrying operations have terminated. It shall contain the following minimal provisions for the safety of the public and for the preservation of land values, both of the quarry site and of surrounding areas. It shall also indicate measures to be taken during the quarrying operations which will progressively fulfill these provisions and the overall reclamation plan.
1.
The material
involved in all ultimate slopes shall be stabilized and no ultimate
slope shall exceed the angle of repose for the material(s) of which
it is comprised. All slopes must be constructed in such a way as to
retain a top layer of topsoil of not less than six inches in thickness.
Ultimate quarry faces shall not be sloped in excess of 26.6° (2H:1V)
and the following conditions shall be met:
[Amended 11-18-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-6]
(a)
If slopes are benched, the benches shall be no less than 20 feet
in width and at elevations which the Planning Board finds will provide
sufficiently safe conditions;
(b)
Competent engineering evidence is produced to show that the material(s)
in the face will remain stable at such ultimate angle;
(c)
No portion of any slope shall exceed 26.6° (2H:1V) and shall
be designed and certified by a professional engineer licensed in the
State of New Jersey. At least 60 days prior to beginning reclamation
activities in areas where the final slope will be 26.6° (2H:1V),
the applicant will submit to Union Township a stability analysis prepared
by a professional engineer licensed in the State of New Jersey that
demonstrates that the backfill material and construction techniques
proposed for the reclamation will achieve a factor of safety of at
least 1.5;
(d)
A statement of safety precautions to be provided relative to such
slopes is submitted and found sufficient by the Planning Board; and
(e)
A revegetation plan shall be prepared for all rehabilitated areas.
The plan shall be designed to revegetate the area to land uses similar
to that which existed prior to the commencement of quarrying operations.
Revegetation plans shall include a description of soil preparation,
stabilization and soil replacement plans which conform to Soil Conservation
Service standards. The plan shall also include a one-year maintenance
plan. The plan must provide for permanent and complete revegetation
of all areas affected by the quarrying operations.
2.
All ultimate
slopes and benches shall be drained in such manner as to minimize
the chances of erosion or sedimentation and all ultimate slopes and
benches shall be planted with rootable plant ground cover material
in sufficient number and size to prevent erosion and sedimentation.
Adequate access ways shall be provided to all benches.
3.
All ultimate
slopes shall set back a minimum of 50 feet from property lines of
the licensed premises.
4.
Arable
soil capable of supporting vegetation shall be retained or brought
upon the premises in sufficient quantity to be distributed to a minimum
depth of six inches over those portions of the premises which the
reclamation plan requires to be covered with such arable soil.
5.
To the
extent practicable, the area where quarrying operations has already
occurred on the site shall be reclaimed prior to the opening of a
new on-site quarrying area, and reclamation procedures shall be carried
on concurrently with quarrying operations.
6.
Adequate
drainage shall exist both during quarrying operations and after they
have been terminated.
7.
Adequate
lateral support slopes and grades abutting streets and adjoining lands
shall exist both during quarrying operations and after they have been
terminated.
8.
Quarrying
which will reduce the quarried area below the grade of the lowest
adjoining property or road is prohibited.
9.
Upon
completion of the reclamation in these areas, the applicant will provide
certification prepared by a professional engineer that the reclamation
was performed in accordance with the plan submitted to the Planning
Board.
[Added 11-18-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-6]
b.
The reclamation
plan shall remain in effect until such time as quarrying operations
are terminated, and until the reclamation has been completed in accordance
with the reclamation plan as most recently updated and approved. Reclamation
plans shall be updated and amended or revised annually for presentation
with the application for license renewal.
c.
Each reclamation plan must contain provisions that it can and will
be complete within a period of one year after termination of quarrying
operations.
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
The Planning Board shall review the site plan, the screening
plan, the reclamation plan and such other data as is submitted therewith,
and, within 90 days after the filing of the proper application documents,
recommend to the Municipal Clerk the grant or denial of the license.
Its recommendation shall be based upon a finding that the applicant
has complied with each of the pertinent provisions of this chapter
and that the reclamation plan is calculated to leave the quarried
premises in a condition which, under the particular circumstances,
is in the best interest of the Township. The Planning Board shall
consult with the Township Engineer and shall have full power and authority
to make such other investigation as shall be pertinent to the preparation
of its recommendation.
a.
Initial Application.
1.
In the event that the Planning Board shall recommend the grant of
the license in accordance with the site plan, screening plan, reclamation
plan, and other data submitted by the applicant, and upon posting
of a performance bond as herein-below established and upon payment
of a license fee, the Municipal Clerk shall issue the license forthwith.
2.
In the event that the Planning Board shall recommend the denial of
the license, the Municipal Clerk shall not act except to so inform
the Township Committee and set the matter down for hearing as hereinbelow
provided.
3.
Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to preclude the applicant's
changing the site plan or binding itself to conform to the specific
recommendations of the Planning Board and, in the event of such conforming
change or guarantee, the Municipal Clerk shall issue the license forthwith.
b.
Renewal of License. Upon application for renewal, the applicant shall
be required to resubmit a site plan and shall in writing:
1.
Indicate those changes or differences which have taken place or occurred
since its last application.
2.
Set forth those changes in performance or maintenance guarantees
required by actual performance or changed conditions. No changes or
additions shall be made to the operating plans, screening plans, reclamation
plans or other operations set forth in previously approved licenses
unless the Planning Board specifically approves such changes.
3.
Set forth fully all reclamation, screening, and similar operations
which have been completed during the past year.
4.
File performance and maintenance bonds in the amount determined by
the Township Engineer to be sufficient to cover the cost of the reclamation
work required by the initially approved site plan, as officially amended,
to be performed during the ensuing year and maintenance of improvements
during the ensuing year.
5.
In the event of a dispute as to the amount of the performance and
maintenance bonds or the reclamation work and maintenance required
by the approved site plan for the ensuing year, nothing herein shall
be construed to limit the right of the applicant to contest by legal
proceedings any determinations made by the Township Engineer or other
municipal agency.
c.
Action by Township Committee. In the event the Planning Board shall
recommend a denial of the grant of a license or a renewal thereof,
the Planning Board shall inform the Township Committee, which shall
set the matter down for an advertised public hearing within 60 days
of the date of the negative recommendation, which hearing shall be
held by the Township Committee.
The applicant, upon notice of the date of hearing, shall notify
all persons within 200 feet of the quarry within the time and in the
manner provided by subsections 7.1(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f)
of the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 1975 c. 219 et seq.
The Township Committee shall, upon such hearing, give the applicant
an opportunity to be heard and shall determine the matter no later
than at its next regular meeting.
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
Prior to approval of any application for a license, the applicant shall submit a performance bond with adequate surety or other performance guarantee in a form acceptable to the Township Attorney and Engineer to assure screening and reclamation of the site of operations pursuant to the provisions of subsection 20-1.5 above for the ensuing year in accordance with the following standards:
a.
The form of the performance bond shall be subject to approval by
the Township Committee and shall be in such amount as may be approved
by the Township Committee and subject to the recommendation of the
Township Engineer as to the amount sufficient to guarantee the completion
of fencing, screening, and such portion of the reclamation plan intended
to be completed during the ensuing year.
b.
The surety thereon shall be a recognized surety company authorized
to do business in the State of New Jersey and approved by the Township
Committee.
c.
Periodic inspections shall be made by the Quarry Inspector to evaluate
performance of the applicant with respect to reclamation procedures.
A report of his/her findings shall be submitted to the Township Committee.
d.
At the request of the applicant, the amount of the performance guarantee
shall be adjusted annually provided the basis therefor is substantiated
by the applicant.
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
Each application shall be accompanied by a deposit of $2,000
payable to the Township to establish an escrow deposit account in
favor of the quarry applicant, to be administered in the manner prescribed
by the current Land Use Code of the Township of Union. It is intended
that each applicant or licensee shall bear the reasonable costs of:
a.
The engineering and other professional examination of the initial
application and of all renewal applications,
b.
All inspections of the quarry premises as provided in this chapter,
and
c.
An overhead factor of 10% of such direct costs; provided that such
costs in total shall not exceed $3,500 in any license year.
The Township Engineer and other professionals shall submit periodic
bills to the Township for services rendered respecting each quarry.
Thereupon, the Township Administrative Officer shall debit the respective
quarry deposit account for an amount equal to the Township Engineer's/professional's
bills plus 10% thereof and send a debit memo and copy of the Engineer's/professional's
bills to the applicant or licensee. When a debit exhausts the deposit
account held in favor of an applicant or licensee, the Township Administrative
Officer shall request the applicant or licensee to make an additional
deposit sufficient to create a credit balance. Failure to make such
deposit after demand therefor shall constitute grounds for the Planning
Board to refuse to recommend the initial license or a renewal thereof
or for the Township Committee to revoke or suspend a license issued
under this chapter.
In addition to the foregoing, the applicant shall pay an annual
quarry license fee of $250 payable prior to the issuance of the quarry
license and of each annual renewal thereof.
In the case of a small quarry operator,
|
a.
|
Each initial application shall be accompanied by a deposit of
$1,000.
|
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b.
|
The engineering costs and overhead for which the licensee shall
be responsible shall not exceed $1,500 in any license year; and
|
|
c.
|
The annual quarry license fee shall be $100.
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[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
The office of Quarry Inspector is hereby created and established.
The Quarry Inspector shall be the Township Engineer and shall receive
such compensation for the time he/she reasonably devotes to the work
involved therein as he/she receives for comparable engineering or
inspection work for the Township. The duties of the Quarry Inspector
shall be to conduct a periodic inspection of the licensed premises
in order to determine whether operations are being conducted in accordance
with the application therefor and the terms and provisions of this
chapter. Such inspections shall be no fewer than annual and more frequent
if, in the opinion of the Township Committee, the size and nature
of the quarry operation justifies it. The Quarry Inspector shall also
submit written reports of such inspections as may be required by the
Township Committee and placed on file.
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
a.
Unless otherwise regulated by State or Federal regulation:
1.
Quarrying and related operations shall be conducted for a period
not in excess of 9 1/2 gross hours per day, starting at 7:00
a.m. ending 4:30 p.m.
2.
Quarrying or related operations shall not be conducted on Sundays,
except for emergency equipment maintenance.
3.
Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to prevent the emergency
maintenance or repair of equipment.
b.
All drilling must be done by the wet drilling method or by any other
method of equivalent effectiveness for dust control.
c.
All roads or traveled rights-of-way within the licensed premises
must be treated in order to prevent the dissemination of dust.
d.
Quarrying which will reduce the quarried area below the grade of
the lowest adjoining property or road is prohibited, except along
the boundary line with a licensed adjoining quarry, in which case,
the grade of the quarried area cannot be below the grade of the adjoining
quarry at the boundary line. No quarrying shall be permitted which
will endanger the lateral support of abutting properties or roads.
A minimum leveled (or natural) buffer area of 50 feet shall be provided
between any quarry boundary line (except boundary lines between adjacent
licensed quarries) and the commencement of the slope.
[Amended 11-18-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-6]
e.
In no case shall any quarry products, equipment or other materials
be deposited or stored on any property, public or private, other than
the licensed premises. No buildings, equipment, quarry products or
other materials shall be erected or stored within a distance of 50
feet of any quarry boundary line.
f.
A chain-link fence of a minimum height of six feet, with normal barbed
wire protection added to the top, shall be erected around the perimeter
of the area being quarried and that has been quarried; and all means
of ingress and egress shall be controlled by substantial gates of
similar height, which gates shall be closed and securely locked when
not in actual use. Reasonable variations of fence alignment may be
made in order to accommodate existing natural features and terrain,
thereby making erection of the fence practicable within the boundary
lines of the quarry premises. Installation of fences shall be completed
in one-third segments over three years but not less than 2,000 linear
feet per year.
g.
Blasting and the use of explosives shall be in conformity with the
New Jersey Statutes and regulations and Federal regulations where
applicable. The licensee shall notify the Office of the Municipal
Clerk at least 24 hours in advance of any scheduled blasting time.
h.
Signs shall be maintained at all entrances or exits of the quarried
premises, indicating the name and address of the licensee and that
the business being conducted is a licensed quarry operation. Signs
shall also be maintained at no greater than 200-foot intervals on
the perimeter fence, warning of the potential hazard of climbing over
the fence.
i.
Where conveyors discharge materials of less than one inch in diameter
onto stockpiles of such material, and where the free and uncontained
fall of the material being stockpiled from the conveyor to the highest
point of the stockpile shall exceed a distance of six feet, a high-pressure
water mist spray must be directed on the material as it falls from
the conveyor to the stockpile in such manner as to reduce the accumulation
and dissemination of dust.
j.
Whenever the licensed premises abuts a public street or road, a solid
and continuous landscape screen shall be planted and maintained. The
landscaping shall be designed by a licensed landscape architect and
shall consist of massed evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs of
such species and spacing as will provide within five years of their
planting date a solid and continuous screen throughout the full course
of the year. The licensee shall at all times adequately maintain this
landscape screen as well as all other visual screening shown upon
the licensee's approved license applications as a continuing obligation
and as a condition of renewal of the license.
k.
All crushing and processing of quarry materials shall be conducted
by use of wet method of dust control or by local exhaust systems of
equivalent effectiveness.
l.
Provisions shall be made for adequate drainage, soil and sediment
control, point and non-point source water and air pollution to best
management practices as defined by the Federal Environmental Protection
Agency and the State Department of Environmental Protection, during
quarrying operations and after termination of same. Tracking pads
shall be installed at all quarry exits to the satisfaction of the
Township Engineer. All tracking pads must be adequately maintained
at all times.
m.
The licensee shall be responsible for the prompt removal of any trash,
unused machinery or vehicles or graffiti placed in the quarry, and
shall maintain the licensed premises at all times in a reasonably
neat and orderly condition.
n.
Any fill
material brought to the quarry property for reclamation purposes must
provide certified testing reports to the license holder to ensure
that the fill material is free of environmental contamination. All
sampling must be certified with a letter from a New Jersey licensed
professional engineer, licensed geologist, or certified hazardous
materials handler (CHMM).
[Added 11-18-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-6]
o.
All operations
shall be conducted in accordance with applicable law.
[Added 11-18-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-6]
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
All license applications shall be reviewed by the Quarry Inspector
and shall be certified as to whether they comply with the requirements
of this chapter. Licenses shall expire on December 31 of each year
and be renewed annually upon filing an application therefor in accordance
with the standards outlined above. Initial licenses issued during
a calendar year shall expire on December 31 of the same year. A quarry
presently in operation may, upon filing an initial application for
license as provided above, continue operation pending action upon
the application by the Township Committee. Where the approval of or
certification by State or Federal regulatory agencies or departments
is required, such approvals or certifications shall be attached to
the application before action by the Municipal Clerk.
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
After 10 days' notice and an opportunity to be heard, the Township
Committee may revoke or suspend any license issued under this chapter
if it finds that the licensee is violating the terms or provisions
of this chapter.
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
This chapter shall be enforced by the Zoning Officer of the
Township, who shall investigate any violation thereof coming to his/her
attention, whether by complaint, or arising from his/her own personal
knowledge. If a violation is found to exist, he/she shall serve written
notice by certified mail or personal service upon the owner or person
designated to accept service of process, but if the owner or person
so designated cannot be served, then upon the party in charge of the
licensed premises. If an owner or person so designated or person in
charge cannot be served, then posting a notice of the violation in
a prominent place upon the premises shall be adequate notice of the
violation. The notice shall require the violation to be abated within
a period of 10 days from the date of service thereof or within such
lesser period of time as the Zoning Officer shall deem reasonable
in cases where the danger to public health, safety and general welfare
is so imminent as to require more immediate abatement. If the violation
is not abated within the time specified, the Zoning Officer shall
notify the Township Committee and prosecute a complaint to terminate
the violation in Municipal Court.
All initial applications shall be made within three months of
the effective date of this section for the next calendar year of operations.
In the interim, all existing quarrying operations shall be deemed
not to be in violation of this chapter.
[Ord. No. 87-6 § 1]
a.
Any operator of a quarry or any agent, servant or employee of such operator or any person directly or indirectly connected with a quarrying operation who shall violate any provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be liable to the penalty stated in Chapter 1, Section 1-5. Each day such violation continues shall be determined a separate offense. Further, the Zoning Officer of the Township or any other interested party as defined in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-4, may, in addition to the other remedies provided in this chapter, institute appropriate actions or proceedings to restrain, correct, or abate violations of this chapter.
