[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of North Attleborough as Art. XVIII of the Bylaws. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
The removal of topsoil from any parcel of land in the Town of North Attleborough by any person, firm or corporation shall be allowed only by approval of the Planning Board after public notice and hearing.
B. 
No approval is required where topsoil removal is:
(1) 
Incidental to or in connection with the construction, alteration, excavating or grading for a building or road; or
(2) 
Involved in the use of the land, for which a plan has been approved by the Planning Board.
C. 
No approval shall be required where the surface area from which topsoil is removed is less than 200 square feet.
D. 
Approval by the Planning Board shall be subject to the determination that the topsoil removal is not detrimental to the neighborhood.
E. 
Approval shall be limited to two years from date of acceptance.
F. 
Removal operations as a nonconforming use shall not be extended beyond the property lines of the parcels upon which such operations are in progress at the time of the adoption of this amendment.
G. 
All areas from which topsoil has been removed shall:
(1) 
Be graded to meet adjacent ground elevations at a slope of not less than one foot vertical to two feet horizontal.
(2) 
A suitable plant cover shall be seeded and maintained until established to the satisfaction of the Planning Board. A bond may be required to insure the satisfactory completion of this covering.
H. 
In issuing approval, the Planning Board may impose other reasonable restrictions under removal operations. Such requirements imposed in addition to those above shall be considered as conditions of approval.
I. 
Maximum excavation under a single granted permit shall be five acres.
A. 
The quarrying of stone, sand, gravel, and subsoil shall be allowed only by approval of the Planning Board after public notice and hearing.
B. 
Site plans. Site plans shall be filed in triplicate with the Planning Board for any land which is used or intended to be used for the extraction of sand, gravel, rock and associated earth materials. Site plans of the removal areas shall be prepared by a registered professional engineer or registered land surveyor at a scale of 40 feet to the inch and shall be in accordance with and indicate the following:
(1) 
Lot lines and ownership.
(2) 
Existing topography and proposed elevations at two-foot contour intervals.
(3) 
Names of abutters as found on the most recent tax list.
(4) 
Adjacent public streets and private ways.
(5) 
Proper provisions for safe and adequate water supply and sanitary sewerage and for temporary and permanent drainage of the site.
(6) 
A location plan at a scale of one inch equals 1,000 feet.
(7) 
Plan for regrading of all or parts of the slopes resulting from such excavation or fill.
(8) 
Plan for replacement of at least four inches of compacted topsoil over all excavated, filled, or otherwise disturbed surfaces and seeding with a perennial cover crop, reseeded as necessary to assure uniform growth and soil surface stabilization.
(9) 
Hours of operation and plan for lighting if night operation is contemplated.
(10) 
Proposed lateral support to all adjacent property.
(11) 
Proper provision for vehicular traffic, service roads, control of entrances and exits to highways.
(12) 
The relation of future buildings, temporary buildings and operations machinery to the removal areas.
(13) 
Delineation of removal areas and depths. Provision for a substantial fence enclosing the excavation or quarry where any excavation or quarry will extend under original ground level or will have a depth of 10 feet or more and create a slope of more than one foot in two feet. Such fence shall be located 10 feet or more from the edge of the excavation or quarry and shall be at least six feet in height.
(14) 
Method of removal.
(15) 
Distance of excavation to street and lot lines.
(16) 
Disposition of boulders and tree stumps.
(17) 
Cleaning, repair and/or resurfacing of streets used in the removal activities that have been adversely affected by the removal activity.
C. 
Adequate provision is to be made for drainage during and after completion of operations.
D. 
When quarrying is discontinued, earth shall be reshaped to conform to approval plan. The maximum allowable slopes shall be 50% (one foot vertical to two feet horizontal). These measures shall be taken progressively as the use of each part of an operating quarry is discontinued to all intents and purposes and shall not be postponed until final abandonment of the entire quarry.
E. 
All timbers, structures and the like shall be removed when the operation is terminated.
F. 
Approval shall be limited to two years from date of acceptance.
G. 
The extension of existing quarries as nonconforming uses shall be restricted to the property lines of the parcel upon which such operations are in progress at the time of the adoption of this amendment; provided, however, that no existing operation shall be extended to violate or further violate the restrictions of this subsection.
H. 
Removal operations shall not be conducted or extended closer than 50 feet to a public road, existing dwelling, park or school, and shall be so indicated on the plan referred to in § 140-2B.
[Amended 8-29-2023 by Measure No. 2023-079]
I. 
All equipment for sorting, washing, crushing, grading, drying, processing, and treating, or other operation machinery, shall not be used closer than 100 feet from any public street or from any adjoining lot line.
J. 
Off-street parking as required in Chapter 290, Zoning, § 290-19C, shall be provided.
K. 
Any access to excavated areas or areas in process of excavation will be adequately posted with "Keep Out – Danger" signs.
L. 
Any work face or bank that slopes more than 30° downward adjacent to a public street will be adequately fenced at the top.
M. 
Lateral support shall be maintained for all adjacent properties.
N. 
The use of explosives shall be done in accordance with the regulations for storage or handling of explosives as punished by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
O. 
All operations shall be conducted in such a manner to comply with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts regulating water pollution and air pollution.
P. 
Before approval of a permit for any excavation, the owner shall file a performance bond, or deposit money, or other negotiable securities in an amount determined by the Planning Board to be sufficient to cover costs of all or any part of cleaning the site upon completion of work, such as removing stumps, large boulders, general cleanup and other miscellaneous debris.
Q. 
Before granting approval, the Planning Board shall find that the proposed operation will not be injurious or dangerous to the public health; will not produce noise, dust or other effects observable from adjacent property in amounts seriously objectionable or detrimental to the normal use of the property; will not result in a change in topography and cover which will be disadvantageous to the most appropriate use of the land on which the operation is conducted and will not have a material adverse effect on the water supply, health or safety of persons living in the neighborhood or on the use of or amenities of adjacent land.
R. 
The permit issued shall be granted only to the owner of record and shall not be transferable.
S. 
In granting a permit hereunder, the Planning Board shall impose reasonable conditions specially designed to safeguard the neighborhood and the Town, which may include conditions as to the overall operations set forth above and as relating to the site plan and land reuse plan requirements set forth in the subsections below.
T. 
Land restoration plans. Land restoration plans must be submitted to and approved by the Planning Board subject to the regulations set forth in the following subsections:
(1) 
The Planning Board may require up to three approved alternative future land restoration plans be submitted for such land as is used for the extraction of sand, gravel, rock and associated earth materials. It is recognized that land restoration of the removal areas is in the public interest.
(2) 
Said land restoration plan and its implementation applies to the conversion of the abandoned site and its planned restoration. It is, therefore, required that any land restoration plan correspond to a situation which could reasonably occur in the immediate future (zero to five years), and be revised as necessary as the existing physical character of the removal area changes.
(3) 
The land restoration plan or any part thereof which reasonably applies to an area which has been abandoned from removal use shall be put into effect within one year of the abandonment of said operation.
U. 
Bonding. The Planning Board shall require a bond or other security to insure compliance with its conditions of authorization, unless, in a particular case it specifically finds that such security is not warranted and so states its decision giving reasons for its finding. Release of the bond shall not be made until inspection by the Planning Board has shown satisfactory compliance. The Planning Board may require a public hearing before release of the bond.
V. 
Exemptions. The removal of earth material in any of the following operations shall be exempt from this section:
(1) 
The removal of less than 10 cubic yards of material in the aggregate in any year from anyone one lot.
(2) 
The transfer of material from one part of a lot to another part of the same lot.
(3) 
The removal of material necessarily excavated in connection with lawful construction of a building, structure, street, driveway, sidewalk, path, or other appurtenance.
A. 
It will be the duty of the Planning Board or its designated agent to administer and enforce the provisions of these supplemental regulations.
B. 
Anyone found to be in violation of these regulations shall be so notified by the Planning Board or its agent, by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, of the alleged violations. Whoever violates any of these supplementary regulations shall be punished by a fine of $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense, and $200 for each subsequent offense, for each day the violation continues.
[Amended 8-29-2023 by Measure No. 2023-079]