The applicant for a grading permit required by this chapter must comply with or cause the following requirements to be met:
A. 
Civil Engineer. The civil engineer who prepared the grading and paving plans must:
1. 
Incorporate the applicable recommendations from the soil engineering and geology reports and any City Engineer approved alternative concept grading plan into the grading plan.
2. 
Establish line and grade for the grading and drainage improvements.
3. 
Act as the coordinating agent in the event the need arises for liaison between the other professionals, the contractor and the City Engineer.
4. 
Prepare plan revisions, and, when work is complete, submit as-graded drawings incorporating all changes and/or additions made during construction.
5. 
Prior to the release of building permits for any given lot or lots, submit a written statement as evidence that rough grading for land development has been completed within standard tolerances in accordance with the approved plans and that all embankments and cut slopes and pad sizes are as shown on the approved plans.
B. 
Landscape Architect. The landscape architect who designed the landscape and irrigation plans must:
1. 
Incorporate applicable recommendations from the soils engineering reports along with appropriate measures related to soil engineering into the landscape and irrigation plans.
2. 
Prepare plan revisions, including securing approval from the City Engineer prior to installation.
3. 
Submit as-graded drawings incorporating all changes and/or additions made during construction.
4. 
If requested by the City Engineer, prepare alternative concept contour grading plans for review and approval by the City Engineer.
5. 
Design all ground cover to provide 100% coverage within nine months after planting, or provide additional landscaping to meet this standard.
C. 
Soil Engineer. The soil engineer who prepares the soil engineering report(s) required by this chapter must
1. 
Perform the preliminary soils engineering investigation;
2. 
Prepare the preliminary soils engineering report;
3. 
Determine the suitability of soils during grading;
4. 
Provide preliminary pavement recommendations;
5. 
Provide compaction inspection and testing;
6. 
Prepare the final soils engineering report;
7. 
Sign the grading plan to certify that the grading plan complies with the soils and geotechnical recommendations of the preliminary soils engineering report.
(Ord. 564 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Setbacks and Other Restrictions Specified by This Section Are Minimums. The City Engineer may increase the minimums. The City Engineer may consider any recommendations regarding these minimums from the civil engineer, soil engineer or engineering geologist, and may consider whether modifications are necessary for safety and stability, to prevent damage to adjacent properties from deposition or erosion, or to provide access for slope maintenance and drainage. Where a requirement elsewhere in this code conflicts with the minimums in this section, the more restrictive requirement governs.
B. 
Minimum Setback Requirements.
1. 
Retaining walls may be used to reduce the required setbacks when approved by the City Engineer.
2. 
The tops and toes of slopes must be set back from the outer boundaries of the permit area, including from slope rights areas and easements, in accordance with the appropriate setback diagram shown in the City's design and development standards.
3. 
Setbacks between graded slopes (cut or fill) and structures must be provided in accordance with the appropriate setback diagram shown in the City's design and development standards.
4. 
Lot lines between private lots must be placed at the tops of slopes along the line of vertical curvature between the building site and the slope rounding whenever practicable. Lot lines between private lots and school sites, park sites and other similar public facilities must be placed so that the slopes remain in private ownership, wherever possible and practicable.
5. 
A usable side yard of at least five feet from any building wall must be provided to the toe and top of a slope, unless waived by the City Engineer.
C. 
No provision in this section may be construed to allow less than the required setback for berms and drainage, unless an approved drainage device is used to reduce these requirements.
(Ord. 564 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Cut slopes must be no steeper than two horizontal to one vertical (2:1), unless the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the City Engineer and Planning Director that the project would be substantially improved with steeper cut slopes, but in no case will cut slopes be steeper than 1.5:1.
B. 
Requests for approval of cut slopes steeper than 2:1 must be accompanied by a geotechnical report that establishes such slopes will be stable and by a landscape architect report that establishes such slopes can be adequately landscaped.
C. 
The City Engineer may require slopes flatter than 2:1 in order to achieve the stated design and landscaping purposes of the City.
D. 
Unless specifically approved by the City Council or Planning Commission, a cut must not exceed a vertical height of 40 feet. In approving cut slopes higher than 40 feet, the City Council considers the following:
1. 
The lack of feasible alternative grading designs which result in slopes of 40 feet or less and the furtherance of General Plan goals and objectives by the proposed development; or
2. 
Overriding benefits to the City from the development proposal.
E. 
Slopes in the Friars Formation are governed by Section 11.40.130(A).
(Ord. 564 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Fill slopes must be no steeper than two horizontal to one vertical (2:1), exclusive of benches and terraces. The City Engineer may require slopes flatter than 2:1 in order to achieve the stated design and landscaping purposes of the City.
B. 
Unless specifically approved by the City Council or Planning Commission, fill must not exceed a vertical height of 40 feet. In approving fill slopes higher than 40 feet, the City Council considers the following:
1. 
The lack of feasible alternative grading designs which result in slopes of 40 feet or less and the furtherance of General Plan goals and objectives by the proposed development; or
2. 
Overriding benefits to the City from the development proposal.
C. 
The soils engineer must provide a slope stability analyses with the soil engineering reports for all fill slopes exceeding 40 feet in height, where authorized by the City Council or Planning Commission, regardless of the slope ratio. The soil engineer must provide a written statement approving the slope stability. In addition, the soil engineer must recommend alternative methods of construction or compaction requirements necessary for stability.
D. 
Slopes in the Friars Formation are governed by Section 11.40.130(A).
(Ord. 564 § 3, 2019)
All slopes exceeding 40 feet in vertical height must establish drainage terraces at least six feet wide at not more than 30-foot vertical intervals on all cut or fill slopes to control surface drainage and debris. Where only one terrace is required, it must be at mid-height. Access must be provided to permit proper cleaning and maintenance. Drainage terraces must be improved with a paved swale or ditch at least one foot deep, with a minimum grade of two percent and wide enough to carry the 100-year storm runoff arriving at the terrace.
(Ord. 564 § 3, 2019)
Unless waived by the City Engineer, a compacted earthen berm must be constructed at the top, or along the line of vertical curvature, of all slopes steeper than 5:1. The berm must conform to the slope and be a minimum of one-half foot high and two feet wide. The City Engineer may require larger berms if necessary to achieve the stated design purposes of the City.
(Ord. 564 § 3, 2019)
Stormwater runoff from lots or adjacent properties must not be carried over cut or fill slopes steeper than 5:1. Such runoff must be addressed as required by the City's design and development standards. Surface runoff must not be permitted to flow from one residential lot to another without approval from the Director.
(Ord. 564 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Cut and fill slopes must have subsurface drainage as necessary for stability and as recommended by the soil engineer and/or the engineering geologist.
B. 
All canyon fills and buttress fills must have subdrains, unless waived by the City Engineer, based upon the information provided by the engineering geologist and/or the soil engineer indicating that they are not necessary and recommending against them.
(Ord. 564 § 3, 2019)
A. 
All public interest slopes must be rounded into existing terrain to produce a contoured and smooth transition from cut or fill faces to natural ground and abutting cut or fill surfaces. All public interest slopes must be contour graded and landscaped pursuant to a landscape plan prepared by a landscape architect and approved by the City Engineer. The contours of the finished slope must either approximate the natural contours to the satisfaction of the City Engineer or the slope gradient must vary from 2:1 to 2.5:1, moving through one complete cycle (i.e., from 2:1 to 2.5:1 and back to 2:1) adjacent to each lot line, or every 100 feet of slope, whichever is greater. The brows or tops of slopes may be straight to match the lot lines and facilitate placement of lot fences.
B. 
Criteria for Slope Rounding. Slope tops (brows) must be rounded between the building site and the slope surface to form a vertical parabolic curve with a length of vertical curve.
C. 
The following table must be used as a guideline for slope rounding.
Vertical Height of Slope
Length of Vertical Curve
5′ to 10′
10′
10′ to 15′
14′
More than 15′
18′
D. 
Slope rounding is not required along property lines where fences, walls or other separations are placed.
E. 
Intersections of graded surfaces must be rounded in the horizontal plane with a circular or elliptical curve using the following table for guidelines.
Deflection Angle Between Intersecting Surfaces or Between Tangents of Intersection Surfaces
Tangent Distance
External Distance
Less than 30°
14′
2′
30° to 60°
21′
5′
More than 60º
29′
8′
F. 
The landscape architect may propose and the City Engineer may approve alternative concept contour grading schemes which are, in the opinion of the City Engineer, equal to or better than the above criteria.
(Ord. 564 § 3, 2019)
A. 
Grading will be considered in substantial conformance if the pad elevations and slope heights shown on the approved grading plan are within plus or minus one foot of the elevations shown on the tentative map or approved conceptual grading plans.
B. 
The City Engineer and the Planning Director have discretion to permit up to a four foot variation if they determine that the change will not adversely affect views, drainage and usable yard areas, and the change is needed to create a better design.
(Ord. 564 § 3, 2019)