The purpose of this chapter is to safeguard life, health, property, public welfare and preservation of the environment by establishing minimum requirements for regulating hillside grading and excavations in addition to the grading requirements in Appendix Chapter 33 of the Glendale Building and Safety Code and as that code may be subsequently be amended.
(Prior code § 23-1; Ord. 5527 § 2, 2006)
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them unless otherwise noted:
"Hillside area"
means any land designated as mountainous terrain in Title 16 of the Glendale Municipal Code, 1995, or any land located in the R1 or SR zones as defined in Title 30 of such code, and as that code may subsequently be amended.
"Hillside design guidelines"
means the guidelines adopted by resolution of the city council for the purpose of implementing the city's hillside development.
"Landscape guidelines for hillside development"
means the guidelines adopted by resolution of the city council for the landscaping of hillside areas.
(Prior code § 23-5; Ord. 5527 § 6, 2006)
All hillside area grading shall be regulated by criteria set forth in Sections 16.04.030, 16.04.033 and 16.04.037 of this code as related to primary ridgeline areas, secondary ridgeline areas and blue-line stream areas. Any exception to the standards contained in said sections shall only be made at a public hearing conducted by the planning commission or the city council.
(Prior code § 23-6.1; Ord. 5009 § 2, 1993; Ord. 5527 § 8, 2006)
A. 
The city engineer or building official shall be responsible for reviewing grading plans for compliance with the hillside design guidelines. The city engineer or building official shall not issue a grading permit for a grading plan which is inconsistent with the intent and purpose of the hillside design guidelines.
B. 
Grading for an emergency situation which, as determined by the city engineer or building official, will involve temporary grading to protect human life, property, property improvements, or streets and street improvements from imminent danger until a permanent solution can be designed shall be exempt from this provision.
C. 
Cut slopes may exceed the height limits for street access only when such variation is necessary for initial access to the property for development purposes and when determined by the planning commission or the city council that the access is necessary to promote the public health, safety and general welfare, to insure adequate traffic circulation, and to provide appropriate ingress and egress for emergencies. Such declaration of need shall be made at a duly noticed and conducted public hearing before the planning commission when related to a parcel map application and before the city council when related to any other type of application. The planning commission or city council shall make supportive written findings that each of the following exists:
1. 
The location of the public street and associated cut slopes are proper in relation to adjacent uses, the development of the community and to the various elements and objectives of the general plan.
2. 
The public street and associated cut slopes will not be materially detrimental to the character of the neighborhood nor will it endanger the public health, safety and general welfare.
3. 
It has been demonstrated that the public street will improve and enhance traffic circulation in a manner advantageous to the public convenience and welfare.
4. 
The establishment of the proposed public street and associated cut slopes will not impede the normal and orderly development and improvement of surrounding property for permitted uses.
5. 
The appearance of the proposed cut slopes will not be so at variance with the appearance of the adjoining hillside area as to cause substantial depreciation of the hillside appearance in the vicinity.
6. 
Adequate drainage devices, landscaping, and other necessary appurtenances will be provided to city standards.
7. 
Alternative designs for street access have been evaluated and examined and have been determined to be infeasible.
8. 
Additional mitigation is applied which sufficiently compensates for the additional impacts associated with such variation.
9. 
The design is such that no cut slope shall exceed a vertical height of 100 feet (30.5 m) unless terraces with a minimum width of 30 feet (9 m) are installed at each 100 feet (30.5 m) of vertical height.
D. 
Transition Cut Slopes. Steeper than one and one-half (1 ½) horizontal to one vertical (66.7% slope) but not greater than one horizontal to one vertical (100% slope) may be permitted where a contoured transition from cut face to natural ground is required, subject to the approval of the city engineer or building official.
E. 
Nonconforming Slope Mitigation. Cut slopes steeper than one horizontal to one vertical (100% slope) may be permitted for the purpose of mitigating existing nonconforming slopes adjacent to public right-of-way subject to the approval of the city engineer or building official.
F. 
All drainage devices shall be constructed with concrete using integral color (mixed with the concrete) or with natural appearing materials (i.e., river rock) to blend with the color of the natural hillside.
G. 
Landscape plans shall show clustering of plants around drainage devices to minimize their appearance without sacrificing the ability to maintain these devices.
(Prior code § 23-6.2; Ord. 5009 § 3, 1993; Ord. 5527 § 9, 2006)
A. 
Slope and Height.
1. 
Cut slopes shall not exceed a vertical height of 50 feet unless the toe of the cut slope is at least 40 horizontal feet from the nearest downslope public or private street in which case the cut slope may have a maximum vertical height of 100 feet.
2. 
The slope angle must be shown to be stable without any special measures such as wire mesh, gunite or soil cement as determined by a registered professional geologist or soils engineer in a report submitted to and approved by the city engineer or building official.
3. 
All cut slopes shall be rounded into the existing terrain to produce a contoured transition from cut face to natural ground where conditions permit. Cut slopes over 100 feet in horizontal length at the toe which are also over 25 feet in height shall include variation in both vertical and horizontal planes to create a more natural appearance.
(Prior code § 23-9; Ord. 5009 § 4, 1993; Ord. 5527 § 12, 2006)
A. 
Fill slopes may not exceed 60 feet in vertical height unless the fill slope is at least 40 feet from the nearest downslope public or private street, in which case the fill slope may have a maximum vertical height of 120 feet.
B. 
All fill slopes shall be rounded into the existing terrain to produce a contour or transition from fill face to natural ground where conditions permit. Fill slopes over 100 feet in horizontal length at the toe which are also over 25 feet in height shall include variation in both vertical and horizontal planes to create a more natural appearance.
(Prior code § 23-10; Ord. 5009 § 5, 1993; Ord. 5527 § 13, 2006)
A. 
General.
1. 
All fill and cut slopes in hillside areas shall be planted and irrigated with an automatic irrigation system to promote the growth of ground cover plants, shrubs and trees in order to protect the slopes against erosion, and provide a smooth transition between indigenous and introduced landscaping, as required in this section. These slopes shall be immediately planted upon completion of rough grading and shall be maintained. Planting design and planting material shall be consistent with the landscape guidelines for hillside development that have been adopted by resolution of city council.
2. 
The owner shall be responsible for planting and maintaining all slopes greater than three feet in height where such is required in this section. As individual lots are developed, maintenance responsibility may then be transferred to the new owner.
B. 
Minimum requirements shall be:
1. 
Plant with ground cover plants as recommended in the landscape guidelines for hillside development adopted by resolution of city council.
2. 
In addition to ground cover plants, shrubs and trees are required as specified in the landscape guidelines. Trees and shrubs may be grouped in clumps rather than by uniform spacing.
3. 
Slopes adjacent to drainage terraces shall be planted with shrubs and trees, minimum size one gallon, a maximum of five feet on center, parallel to the terraces and within two feet of the uphill side.
4. 
Install an adequately designed automatic irrigation system prior to planting shrubs and trees and before grading is approved.
C. 
Special Requirements for Automatic Irrigation Systems. Plans for the automatic irrigation system shall be submitted to and approved by the city engineer or building official prior to installation in accordance with the following criteria:
1. 
The automatic irrigation system shall be designed to provide sufficient watering to allow for the rapid establishment of plant materials. Irrigation design should consider the individual needs of each specimen and plant clusters. Irrigation design shall be consistent with the landscape guidelines for hillside development that have been adopted by resolution of city council. In no event shall the irrigation be permitted to create a saturated condition and cause an erosion problem, or allow the discharge of excess water into any public or private street.
2. 
A check valve and balance cock shall be installed in the system where drainage from sprinkler heads will create an erosion problem.
3. 
Adequate backflow protection shall be installed in each sprinkler as set forth in the Uniform Building Code as adopted by the city.
4. 
A functional test of each irrigation system shall be performed by the installer for every irrigation system prior to approval by the city engineer or building official.
5. 
When more than one lot is included in the plan, the irrigation system shall be so designed that all slopes may be initially watered through one meter maintained by the owner. Provisions shall be made so that slopes can be watered through individual water meters at each area maintained by a homeowners association or each lot at the time the lot is developed.
6. 
Irrigation piping located above ground shall be galvanized steel, except in the case of temporary irrigation for naturalizing landscaping, where (ultraviolet resistant) brown line is acceptable.
D. 
Plants. All plants required by this section shall be selected from the recommended list of plants and shrubs contained in the landscape guidelines for hillside development that have been adopted by resolution of city council.
(Prior code § 23-11; Ord. 5009 § 6, 1993; Ord. 5527 § 14, 2006)