[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981]
For the purposes of this Chapter the following definitions shall apply:
APPROVAL
Shall mean a written engineering or geological opinion concerning the progress and completion of the work.
AS-BUILT
Is the surface conditions existing on completion of earthwork.
BEDROCK
Is in-place solid rock.
BENCH
Is a relatively level step excavated into earth material.
BORROW
Is earth material acquired from an off-site location for use in earthwork on a site.
CIVIL ENGINEER
Shall mean a professional engineer registered in this state to practice in the field of civil works.
CIVIL ENGINEERING
Shall mean the application of the knowledge of the forces of nature, principles of mechanics and the properties of materials to the evaluation, design and construction of civil works.
COMPACTION
Is the densification of a fill by mechanical means.
CONTOUR
Shall mean the vertical location of the ground surface.
EARTH MATERIAL
Is any rock, natural soil or fill and/or any combination thereof.
EARTHWORK
Shall mean an excavation, grading, filling or any other alteration of the contour, topography or natural cover of land.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGIST
Shall mean a geologist experienced and knowledgeable in engineering geology. Engineering Geology shall mean the application of geologic knowledge and principles in the investigation and evaluation of naturally occurring rock and soil for use in the design of civil works.
EROSION
Is the wearing away of the ground surface as a result of the movement of wind, water and/or ice.
EXISTING CONTOUR
Is the contour prior to any earthwork.
EXCAVATION
Is the mechanical removal of earth material.
FILL
Is a deposit of earth material placed by artificial means.
FINISH CONTOUR
Is the final contour and condition of the site which conforms to the approved plan.
GRADING
Is any excavating or filling or combination thereof.
KEY
Is a designed compacted fill placed in a trench excavated in earth material beneath the toe of a proposed fill slope.
ROUGH CONTOUR
Is the stage at which the earthwork approximately conforms to the approved plan.
SITE
Is any lot or parcel of land or contiguous combination thereof, under the same ownership, where earthwork is performed or permitted.
SLOPE
Is an inclined ground surface the inclination of which is expressed as a ratio of horizontal distance to vertical distance.
SOIL
Is naturally occurring surface deposits overlying bed rock.
SOIL ENGINEER
Shall mean a civil engineer experienced and knowledgeable in the practice of soil engineering.
SOIL ENGINEERING
Shall mean the application of the principle soil mechanics in the investigation, evaluation and design of civil works involving the use of earth materials and the inspection and testing of the construction thereof.
TERRACE
Is a relatively level step constructed in the face of a slope surface for drainage and maintenance purposes.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981]
1. 
No person shall do any earthwork without first obtaining an earthwork permit. A separate permit shall be required for each site.
2. 
An earthwork permit shall not be required for the following:
a. 
Removal of natural vegetation in an area of less than 250 square feet when there is no change of contour.
b. 
An excavation below finish contour for basements and footings of a building, retaining wall or other structure authorized by a valid building permit. This shall not exempt any fill made with the material from such excavation nor exempt any excavation having an unsupported height greater than 5 feet after the completion of such structure.
c. 
Cemetery graves.
d. 
Refuse disposal sites controlled by other regulations.
e. 
Excavations for wells, tunnels or utilities.
f. 
Mining, quarrying, excavating, processing, stockpiling of rock, sand, gravel, aggregate or clay where established and provided for by law, provided such operations do not affect the lateral support or increase the stresses in or pressure upon any adjacent or contiguous property.
g. 
Exploratory excavations under the direction of soil engineers or engineering geologists.
h. 
An excavation which is less than 2 feet in depth, or which does not create a cut slope greater than 5 feet in height and steeper than one and one-half horizontal to one vertical.
i. 
A fill less than 1 foot in depth, and placed on natural terrain with a slope flatter than five horizontal to one vertical, or less than 3 feet in depth, not intended to support structures, which does not exceed 50 cubic yards on any one lot and does not obstruct a drainage course.
j. 
Agricultural areas including, but not limited to, orchards, farms and vegetable or flower gardens where there is no change of contour.
k. 
Erodible ground surface in an area surrounded by sufficient undisturbed ground to prevent silt from reaching public streets, storm drains, streams or the Lake. Exemption of the area from the Code under this subsection must be approved by the Building Official.
l. 
Earthwork in an isolated, self contained area if there is no danger apparent to private or public property. Exception of areas from the Code under this subsection must be approved by the Building official.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981; Ord. No. 1807, 9-15-1981; Ord. No. 1830, 6-8-1982; Ord. No. 2135, Amended, 10-1-1996; Amended, 11-19-2024 by Ord. No. 2948]
1. 
An application for an earthwork permit shall be accompanied by two sets of earthwork plans drawn to scale upon substantial paper and of sufficient clarity to indicate the nature and extent of the work proposed. The earthwork plans shall show in detail that they will conform to the provisions of this chapter and all relevant laws, ordinances, rules and regulations. The first sheet of each set of plans shall give the location of the work, the name and address of the owner and the person by whom they were prepared.
2. 
The earthwork plans shall include the following information:
a. 
General vicinity of the proposed site.
b. 
A stamped topographical survey showing property limits and accurate contours of existing ground and details of terrain and area drainage.
c. 
Limiting dimensions, elevations or finish contours to be achieved by the earthwork, and proposed drainage channels and related construction.
d. 
Detailed plans of all surface and subsurface drainage devices, walls, cribbing, dams and other protective devices to be constructed with, or as a part of, the proposed work together with a map showing the drainage area and the estimated runoff of the area served by any drains.
e. 
Location of any buildings or structures on the property where the work is to be performed and the location of any buildings or structures on land of adjacent owners which are within 15 feet of the property or which may be affected by the proposed grading operations.
f. 
An Erosion Control Plan in compliance with LOC §§ 52.04.010, 52.04.020 and 52.04.030, if erosion control is required pursuant to LOC Chapter 52. If an Erosion Control Plan is submitted and complied with in conjunction with an earthwork permit, a separate erosion control permit shall not be required.
g. 
If the proposed earthwork involves more than one acre of land, an approved DEQ 1200-C Construction Stormwater Discharge Permit must be submitted to the City Erosion Control Inspector.
3. 
Specifications shall contain information covering construction and material requirements.
4. 
The Building Official may require that earth work operators and project designs be modified if delays occur which may incur weather generated problems not considered at the time the permit was issued.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981; Amended, 11-19-2024 by Ord. No. 2948]
1. 
An earthwork plan shall be accompanied by supporting data consisting of a geotechnical report and an engineering geology report when:
a. 
The application is for earthwork in excess of 5,000 cubic yards; or
b. 
The earth work is proposed in an area of:
i. 
Known or potential slide areas, or
ii. 
Known or potential unstable or weak foundation areas; or
c. 
The Building Official or City Engineer has cause to believe that significant erosion or geologic factors may be involved in the earthwork operation.
2. 
The geotechnical report required by subsection 1 shall be prepared by a licensed engineer (PE) with geotechnical experience and shall include the following:
a. 
Field investigation summary;
b. 
Statements regarding the nature and extent of the hazard;
c. 
Recommendations for site preparation and construction methods to minimize the effects of the hazard;
d. 
The effects of infiltration, flow spreaders, or other discharge onto the slope;
e. 
A description of any hazard area that must not be disturbed by construction activities or post-construction use;
f. 
A statement as to whether or not the proposed development can create conditions conducive to landslides, subsidence, or further weaken the existing soil conditions.
3. 
The engineering geology report required by subsection 1 shall be prepared by a certified engineering geologist (CEG) and include an adequate description of the geology of the site, conclusions and recommendations regarding the effect of geologic conditions on the proposed development, and opinions and recommendations covering the adequacy of sites to be developed by the proposed earthwork.
4. 
Recommendations included in the geotechnical report and the engineering geology report approved by the Building Official or City Engineer shall be incorporated into the earthwork plans or specifications.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981]
An application for an earthwork permit shall not be processed in any manner until after payment of an application fee as established pursuant to the City Council.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981]
The Building Official shall require bonds in such form and amounts as may be deemed necessary to assure that the work will be completed in accordance with the approved plans and specifications, and will not result in hazardous conditions.
In lieu of a surety bond the applicant may file a cash bond or instrument of credit with the Building Official in an amount equal to that which would be required in the surety bond.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981]
1. 
Unless otherwise recommended in the approved soil engineering and/or engineering geology report, cuts shall conform to the provisions of this section.
2. 
The slope of cut surfaces shall be no steeper than is safe for the intended use.
3. 
Drainage and terracing shall be provided as required by LOC § 45.16.645.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981]
1. 
Unless otherwise recommended in the approved soil engineering report, fills shall conform to the provisions of this section.
In the absence of an approved soil engineering report these provisions may be waived for minor fills not intended to support structures.
2. 
Fill slopes shall not be constructed on natural slopes steeper than two to one.
3. 
The ground surface shall be prepared to receive fill by removing vegetation, noncomplying fill, topsoil and other unsuitable materials scarifying to provide a bond with the new fill, and, where slopes are steeper than five to one, and the height is greater than 5 feet, by benching into sound bedrock or other competent material as determined by the soils engineer. The bench under the toe of a fill on a slope steeper than five to one shall be at least 10 feet wide. The area beyond the toe of fill shall be sloped for sheet overflow or a paved drain shall be provided. Where fill is to be placed over a cut, the bench under the toe of fill shall be at least 10 feet wide but the cut must be made before placing fill and approved by the soils engineer and engineering geologist as a suitable foundation for fill. Unsuitable soil is soil which, in the opinion of the Building official, the City Engineer, the civil engineer, the soils engineer or the geologist, is not competent to support other soil or fill, to support structures, or to satisfactorily perform the other functions for which the soil is intended.
4. 
Detrimental amounts of organic material shall not be permitted in fills. No rock or similar irreducible material with a maximum dimension greater than 12 inches shall be buried or placed in fills, except that the Building Official may permit placement of larger rock when the soils engineer properly devises a method of placement, continuously inspects its placement and approves the fill stability. When such exception is granted the following conditions shall also apply:
a. 
Prior to issuance of the earthwork permit, potential rock disposal areas shall be delineated on the earthwork plan.
b. 
Rock sizes greater than 12 inches in maximum dimension shall be 10 feet or more below grade, measured vertically.
c. 
Rocks shall be placed so as to assure filling of all voids with fines.
5. 
All fills shall be compacted to a minimum of 90 percent of maximum density as determined by U.B.C. Standard No. 70-1. Field density shall be determined in accordance with U.B.C. Standard No. 70-2 or equivalent as approved by the Building Official.
6. 
The slope of fill surfaces shall be no steeper than is safe for the intended use. Fill slopes shall be no steeper than two horizontal to one vertical.
7. 
Drainage and terracing shall be provided and the area above fill slopes and the surfaces of terraces shall be graded and paved as required by LOC § 45.16.645.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981]
1. 
The setbacks and other restrictions specified by this section are minimum and may be increased by the Building Official or by the recommendation of a civil engineer, soils engineer or engineering geologist, if necessary for safety and stability or to prevent damage of adjacent properties from deposition or erosion or to provide access for slope maintenance and drainage. Retaining walls may be used to reduce the required setbacks when approved by the Building Official.
2. 
The tops of cuts and toes of fill slopes shall be set back from the outer boundaries of the permit area, including slope right areas and easements, in accordance with Figure No. 1 and Table 1.
TABLE 1
Required Setbacks from Permit Area Boundary (In feet)
 
SETBACKS
H
a
b1
Under 5
0
1
5 - 30
H/2
H/5
Over 30
15
6
Notes:
1Additional width may be required for interceptor drain.
3. 
Setbacks between graded slopes (cut or fill) and structures shall be provided in accordance with Figure No. 2 and Table 1.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981; Ord. No. 2135, Amended, 10-1-1996; Amended, 11-19-2024 by Ord. No. 2948]
1. 
Unless otherwise indicated on the approved earthwork plan, stormwater facilities and terracing shall conform to the provisions of this section and an erosion and sediment control permit, if required by LOC Chapter 52. Facilities required by LOC Art. 38.25 must follow the requirements of the Stormwater Management Documents.
2. 
Terraces at least 6 feet in width shall be established at not more than 30-foot vertical intervals on all cut or fill slopes to control surface drainage and debris except that where only one terrace is required, it shall be at mid-height. For cut or fill slopes greater than 60 feet and up to 120 feet in vertical height one terrace at approximately mid-height shall be 12 feet in width. Terrace widths and spacing for cut and fill slopes greater than 120 feet in height shall be designed by the civil engineer and approved by the City Engineer. Suitable access shall be provided to permit proper cleaning and maintenance.
3. 
Cut and fill slopes shall be provided with subsurface drainage as necessary for stability.
4. 
All drainage facilities including roof drains, gutters, and ground water drains shall be designed to carry waters to an approved point of discharge.
a. 
The point of discharge during construction shall not be to any stormwater facility required by LOC Art. 38.25.
b. 
During construction, all stormwater and groundwater must discharge to a sediment control that has been approved as part of the erosion and sediment control permit.
c. 
After construction is complete, stormwater from roof drains and gutters are required to discharge to an approved stormwater facility as required by LOC Art. 38.25. If stormwater treatment is not required by LOC Art. 38.25, then stormwater must be disposed of in a manner that complies with the Oregon Plumbing Code and is approved by the Building Official.
d. 
Groundwater drains may be connected to the public stormwater system downgradient from stormwater facilities.
5. 
Building pads shall have a drainage gradient of two percent toward the approved point of discharge unless waived by the Building Official except that the gradient from the building pad may be one percent if all of the following conditions exist throughout the permit area:
a. 
No proposed fills are greater than 10 feet in maximum depth.
b. 
No proposed finish cut or fill slope faces have a vertical height in excess of 10 feet.
c. 
No existing slope faces, which have a slope face steeper than 10 horizontally to 1 vertically, have a vertical height in excess of 10 feet.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981; Ord. No. 2135, Amended, 10-1-1996]
1. 
All earthwork shall be prepared and maintained to prevent and control erosion pursuant to an Erosion Control Plan in compliance with LOC Chapter 52.
2. 
The Building Official shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the City Engineer to enforce the requirement of LOC Chapter 52 and the Erosion Control Plan.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981; Ord. No. 1830, 6-8-1982; Ord. No. 2135, Amended, 10-1-1996; Ord. No. 2890, Amended, 3-17-2022]
1. 
All earthwork operations for which a permit is required shall be subject to inspection by the Building Official. The Building Official may require inspection and testing by an approved testing agency. The testing agency’s responsibility shall include, but need not be limited to, approval concerning the inspection of cleared areas and ditches to receive fill and the compaction of fill.
2. 
When required by the Building Official, special inspection of earthwork operation and special testing shall be performed in accordance with the provisions of the Oregon State Structural Specialty Code and the Fire and Life Code enforced pursuant to LOC § 45.09.005.
3. 
Whenever an application for an earthwork permit is accompanied by soil erosion reports and soil geology reports, it shall be the responsibility of the civil engineer who prepares the approved earthwork plan to incorporate all recommendations from the soil engineering and engineering geology reports into the earthwork plan. The civil engineer shall also be responsible for the professional inspection and approval of the earthwork within their area of technical specialty. This responsibility shall include, but need not be limited to, inspection and approval as to the establishment of line, grade and drainage of the development area. The civil engineer shall act as the coordinating agent in the event the need arises for liaison between the other professionals, the contractor, and the Building Official. The engineer shall be responsible for revised plans and the submission of as-built plans upon completion of the work. The earthwork contractor shall submit in a form prescribed by the Building Official a statement of compliance to said as-built plan.
During the earthwork all necessary reports, compaction data and soil engineering and engineering geology recommendations shall be submitted to the civil engineer and the Building Official by the soil engineer and the engineering geologist.
The soil engineer’s area of responsibility shall include, but need not be limited to, the professional inspection and approval concerning the preparation of ground to receive fills, testing for required compaction, stability of all finish slopes and the design of buttress fills, where required, incorporating data supplied by the engineering geologist.
The engineering geologist’s area of responsibility shall include, but need not be limited to, professional inspection and approval of the adequacy of natural ground for receiving fills and the stability of cut slopes with respect to geological matters, and the need for subdrains or other ground water drainage devices. Findings shall be reported to the soil engineer and the civil engineer for engineering analysis.
The Building Official shall inspect the project at the various stages of work requiring approval and at any more frequent intervals necessary to determine that adequate control is being exercised by the professional consultants.
4. 
If, in the course of fulfilling their responsibility under this chapter, the civil engineer, the soil engineer, the engineering geologist or the testing agency finds that the work is not being done in conformance with this chapter or the approved earthwork plans, the discrepancies shall be reported immediately in writing to the person in charge of the earthwork and to the Building Official. Recommendations for corrective measures, if necessary, shall be submitted.
5. 
If the civil engineer, the soil engineer, the engineering geologist or the testing agency of record are changed during the course of the work, the work shall be stopped until the replacement has agreed to accept the responsibility within the area of their technical competence for approval upon completion of the work.
[Ord. No. 2446, Add, 2-7-2006]
No person shall excavate, create, cause, maintain or allow to remain any open pit, excavation or trench having a depth of four feet or greater, and having slopes of 1:1 or greater, unless the perimeter of the pit, excavation or trench is surrounded by safety fencing not less than four feet high, placed and maintained in a manner and location approved by the Building Official. This section shall not apply to trenches excavated by or for a provider of one or more of the following utility services: water, sanitary sewer, surface water, natural gas, electricity, cable television or telecommunications.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981; Ord. No. 2135, Amended, 10-1-1996]
1. 
The permittee or the permittee’s agent shall notify the Building Official when the earthwork operation is ready for final inspection. Final approval shall not be given until all work including installation of all drainage facilities, any other underground utilities and their protective devices and all erosion control measures have been completed in accordance with the final approved earthwork plan and/or erosion control permit and the required reports have been submitted.
2. 
Upon completion of the rough contour work and at the final completion of the work for projects required to file supplemental reports pursuant to LOC § 45.16.615 the Building Official may require the following reports, drawings and supplements thereto:
a. 
As-Built Earthwork Plan prepared by the civil engineer, including original ground surface elevations, as-built ground surface elevations, lot drainage patterns, locations and elevations of all surface and subsurface drainage facilities. The Building Official shall provide approval that the work was done in accordance with the final approved earthwork plan.
b. 
A Soil Grading Report prepared by the soil engineer including locations and elevations of field density tests, summaries of field and laboratory tests and other substantiating data and comments on any changes made during the earthwork and their effect on the recommendations made in the soil engineering investigation report. The Building Official shall provide approval as to the adequacy of the site for the intended use.
c. 
A Geologic Grading Report prepared by the engineering geologist including a final description of the geology of the site, any new information disclosed during the earthwork and the effect of same on recommendations incorporated in the approved grading plan. The Building Official shall provide approval as to the adequacy of the site for the intended use as affected by geologic factors.
[Ord. No. 1803, 7-7-1981]
Dragging, dropping, tracking or otherwise placing or depositing or permitting to be deposited mud, dirt, rock or other debris from a building construction site or earthwork site upon a public street is prohibited.