The purpose of this chapter is to safeguard life, limb, property,
and the public welfare by controlling activities that lead to soil
erosion and sedimentation into watercourses, wetlands, riparian areas,
public and private roadways caused by development activities, including
clearing, grading, stripping, excavating, and filling of land.
This chapter sets forth rules and regulations to control excavation,
grading, and earthwork construction, including fills and embankments;
establishes the administrative procedure for issuance of permits;
and provides for approval of plans and inspection of grading construction.
Except as provided in Section
16.152.040 of this chapter, no person shall do any grading work without first having attained a grading permit from the building official.
A grading permit is not required for the following:
A. When
approved by the building official, grading in an isolated, self-contained
area if there is no danger to private or public property.
B. An
excavation below finished grade 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 or exempt any structure having unsupported height
greater than five feet after completion of such structure.
D. Refuse
disposal sites controlled by other regulations.
E. Excavations
for wells, tunnels, or utilities.
F. Mining,
quarrying, 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: (1) is less than two feet in depth; or (2) which
does not create a cut slope greater than five feet in height and steeper
than one unit vertical in one and one-half units horizontal (66.7%
slope).
I. A
fill less than one foot in depth and placed on natural terrain with
a slope flatter than one unit vertical in five units horizontal (20%
slope), or less than three feet in depth, not intended to support
structures, that does not exceed 50 cubic yards on any one lot and
does not obstruct a drainage course.
Exemption from the permit requirements of this chapter shall
not be deemed to grant authorization for any work to be done in any
manner in violation of the provisions of this chapter or any other
chapter of this Code, or other laws or ordinances of the City of Warrenton.
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Whenever the building official determines that any existing
excavation or embankment or fill on private property has become a
hazard to life and limb, or endangers property, or adversely affects
the safety, use, or stability of a public way or drainage channel,
the owner of the property upon which the excavation or fill is located,
or other person or agent in control of said property, upon receipt
in writing from the building official, shall within the time period
specified therein eliminate such excavation or embankment to eliminate
the hazard and to be in conformance with the requirements of this
Code.
A. Permits Required. Except as exempted in Section
16.152.040, no person shall do any grading without first obtaining a grading permit from the building official. A separate permit shall be obtained for each site, and may cover both excavations and fills.
B. Application.
To obtain a grading permit, the applicant shall file an application
in writing to the City of Warrenton on a form furnished by the building
official. Every such application shall contain:
1. Identification and description of work to be covered by the permit
for which the application is made, including estimated quantities
of work involved.
2. Description of the land on which the proposed work is to be done
by legal description, street address, assessor parcel number, or similar
description that will readily identify and definitely locate the proposed
building or work.
3. Indication of the use or occupancy for which the proposed work is
intended.
4. Plans, diagrams, computations, and specifications, and other data
as required by this chapter. Plans and specifications shall be drawn
to scale and shall be of sufficient clarity to indicate the location,
nature, and extent of the work proposed, and show in detail that it
will conform to all provisions of this Code and relevant laws, ordinances,
rules, and regulations of the City.
6. Other data as required by the building official.
C. Grading
Designation. Grading in excess of 5,000 cubic yards shall be permitted
in accordance with the approved grading plan prepared by a civil engineer,
and shall be designated as "engineered grading." Grading involving
less than 5,000 cubic yards shall be designated as "regular grading"
unless the permittee chooses to have the grading performed as engineered
grading, or the building official determines that special conditions
or unusual hazards exist, in which case grading shall conform to the
requirements of engineered grading.
D. Engineered
Grading Requirements. As required by the currently adopted Oregon
Structural Specialty Code Appendix J, as may be amended.
E. Regular
Grading Requirements. Each application for a grading permit shall
be accompanied by a plan in sufficient clarity to indicate the nature
and extent of the work. The plans shall give the location of the work,
the name of the owner, and the name of the person who prepared the
plan. The plan shall include the following information:
1. General vicinity of the proposed site.
2. Limiting dimensions and depth of cut and fill.
3. Location of any buildings or structures where work is to be performed,
and the location of any buildings or structures within 15 feet of
the proposed grading.
F. Issuance.
1. The application, plans, specifications, computations, and other data
filed by an applicant for a grading permit shall be reviewed by the
building official. Such plans may be reviewed by other City departments
to verify compliance with any applicable laws of the City. The building
official may require that grading operations and project designs be
modified if delays occur which incur weather generated problems not
considered at the time the permit was issued. The provisions of UBC
Section 106.4 are applicable to grading permits.
2. The building official may require professional inspection and testing
by the soils engineer. When the building official has cause to believe
that geologic factors may be involved, the grading will be required
to conform to engineered grading.
(Ord. 1175-A § 14, 2013; Ord. 1238 § 1, 2020)
Grading fees shall be set by resolution of the Warrenton City
Commission.
(Ord. 1175-A § 15, 2013)
The building official may require bonds in such form and amounts
as may be deemed necessary to assure that the work, if not completed
in accordance with the approved plans and specifications, will be
corrected to eliminate 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.
Upon completion of the rough grading work and at the completion
of the work, the following reports and drawings and supplements thereto
are required for engineered grading or when professional inspection
is performed for regular grading, as applicable:
A. An as-built grading plan prepared by the civil engineer retained to provide such services in accordance with Section
16.152.070 showing original ground surface elevations, as-graded ground surface elevations, lot drainage patterns, and the locations and elevations of surface drainage facilities and of the outlets of subsurface drains. As-constructed locations, elevations, and details of subsurface drains shall be shown as reported by the soils engineer.
Civil engineers shall state that to the best of their knowledge
the work within the specified area of responsibility was done in accordance
with the final approved grading plan.
B. A report prepared by a soils engineer retained to provide such services in accordance with Section
16.152.070, including locations and elevations of field density tests, summaries of field and laboratory tests, other substantiating data, and comments on any changes made during grading and their effect on recommendations made in the approved soils engineering investigation report. Soils engineers shall submit a statement that, to the best of their knowledge, the work within their area of responsibilities is in accordance with the approved soils engineering report and applicable provisions of this chapter.