This chapter provides procedures and minimum standards for the
regulation of grading activities within the City. These provisions
are intended to promote the public safety and welfare by preventing
unreasonable or unnecessary erosion and sediment production and related
degradation of natural resources and the City's stormwater drainage
systems.
Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in
this chapter shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they
have in common usage and to give this chapter its most reasonable
application.
"Approval"
means the Building Official has determined that the proposed
work or completed work conforms to this chapter.
"As-graded"
is the extent of surface conditions on completion of grading.
"Bench"
is a relatively level step excavated into earth material
on which fill is to be placed.
"Best management practices (BMPs)"
are physical and managerial practices that, when used separately,
or in combination, prevent or reduce erosion, sedimentation, or pollution
of water. An example of a guide for BMPs is the State Water Resource
Control Board Best Management Practices Construction Handbook.
"Board of Appeals"
is a five-member board appointed by the City Council whose
purpose is to hear appeals relative to interpretations of the City's
ordinance regulating grading, erosion, and sediment control by the
Building Official and/or City Engineer.
"Borrow"
is earth material acquired from an off-site location for
use in grading on a site.
"Building Official"
is an official responsible for planning, organizing, managing,
and coordinating Building Division activities including building permit
processing, plan checking, building permit plan review, building inspection,
and building code compliance.
"Channel or drainage way"
is a natural or artificial open watercourse with definite
bed and banks which periodically or continuously contains moving water
or forms a connecting link between two bodies of water.
"City Engineer"
is the official responsible planning, organizing, managing,
and coordinating Engineering Division activities including planning,
designing, and inspecting the construction of public improvements,
review of development plans for compliance with engineering standards,
performance of technical studies, land surveying, and subdivision
ordinance compliance.
"City Planner"
is the official responsible for planning, organizing, managing,
and coordinating Planning Division activities including planning permit
processing, site plan review, development and implementation of general
and specific plans, and zoning code compliance.
"Civil engineer"
is the professional engineer registered in the State to practice
in the field of civil works and is qualified in accordance with Section
6730 et seq., of the
Business and Professions Code, or successor provisions.
"Civil engineering"
is 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.
"Construction activities; excavation and earth moving"
means activities that are an integral and necessary part
of a construction project that are undertaken to prepare a site for
construction of structures, landscaping, or other land improvements,
including the related excavation, grading, compaction, or the creation
of fills, road cuts, and embankments.
"Engineering geologist"
is a registered geologist experienced and knowledgeable in
engineering geology and certified by the State of California to practice
as a certified engineering geologist.
"Engineering geology"
is 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 or ice.
"Erosion and sediment control plan"
is a plan that fully indicates necessary land treatment and structural measures, including a schedule of timing for their installation, which will effectively minimize soil erosion and sediment yield. Such measures shall be in accordance with standards contained in Section
15.12.070, Grading Standards, of this chapter.
"Fill"
is the deposit of earth material caused or placed by artificial
means.
"Final plans"
are those drawings provided in sufficient detail for use
in the control of construction or related activities and for use in
the issuance of permits or approval of improvement plans. The plans
are to be accompanied by supporting calculations.
"Grade"
is the vertical location of the ground surface.
2.
"Finish grade"
is the final grade of the site which conforms to the approved
plan.
3.
"Rough grade"
is the stage at which the grade approximately conforms to
the approved plan.
"Grading"
means all grading, filling, land contouring, clearing and
grubbing, drainage activities, site preparation, and road building.
"Key"
is a designed compacted fill placed in a trench excavated
in earth material beneath the toe of proposed fill slope.
"Land disturbing activity"
is any land change which may result in soil erosion from
water, wind, and the movement of sediments onto adjacent properties.
Such activities include, but are not limited to, clearing, grading,
excavating, transporting and filling of land.
"Mulch"
is a natural or artificial layer of material placed on exposed
earth to provide more desirable moisture and temperature relationships
for plant growth. It is also used to control the occurrence of unwanted
vegetation.
"Preliminary plans"
are those drawings required which are: drawn to scale, and
in sufficient detail to indicate the anticipated areas of impact owing
to grading and related activities. The plans are to include the proposed
methods of mitigating the impacts to a level of less than significant
through the use of best management or equivalent techniques.
"Professional inspection"
is the inspection required by this code to be performed by
the civil engineer, soils engineer or engineering geologist. Such
inspections include that performed by persons supervised by such engineers
or geologists and shall be sufficient to form an opinion relating
to the conduct of the work.
"Registered geologist"
is a registered geologist experienced and knowledgeable in
geology and certified by the State of California to practice in the
field of geology.
"Registered geotechnical engineer"
is an engineer experienced and knowledgeable in the practice
of geotechnical (soils) engineering and licensed by the State of California
to practice. A registered civil engineer may prepare the required
geotechnical engineering (soils) report where the engineer has at
least 15 years of experience in preparing such reports for private
or public projects which have been accepted for use by public agencies,
and is qualified in accordance with Section 6736.1 of the Business
and Professions Code, or successor provisions.
"Sediment"
is a solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in
suspension, is being transported, or has been moved from its site
or origin by air, water, or gravity.
"Sedimentation"
is the process of deposition of fragmented rock, soils, or
organic particles displaced, transported, and deposited by erosive
processes.
"Sediment detention basin"
is a sediment detention basin is a reservoir which retains
flows sufficiently to cause deposition of transported sediment.
"Site"
is any lot or parcel of land or contiguous combination thereof,
under the same ownership, where grading 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.
"Slope, determination of cross slope"
means the cross slope of a parcel shall be determined by
measurement, at 50-foot intervals, of the average slope perpendicular
to the contour lines.
"Soil"
is naturally occurring superficial deposits overlying bedrock.
"Soils engineering (geotechnical engineering)"
is the application of the principles of soils mechanics in
the investigation, evaluation and design of civil works involving
the use of earth materials and the inspection or testing of the construction
thereof.
"Stormwater runoff"
is the water which results from rainfall flowing over the
surface of the ground.
"Swale"
is a low lying stretch of land which gathers or carries surface
water runoff.
"Terrace"
is a relatively level step constructed in the face of a graded
slope surface for drainage and maintenance purposes.
"Vegetation maintenance"
is lawn and yard maintenance, brush and tree pruning, home
gardening, compliance with defensible space requirements around structures
and along roads and driveways, removal of exotic (nonnative) plant
species, and other land maintenance activities involving cutting,
removal, or planting of nonexotic vegetation by manual, mechanical,
or chemical methods.
"Winter operations"
are activities conducted pursuant to a grading permit during
the period of October 15th through April 15th.
The provisions of this chapter supplement and are in addition
to the requirements of the latest edition of the California Building
Code. Each project that includes grading shall also comply with the
applicable requirements of CBC.
All grading, other land-disturbing activities, grading plans,
revegetation plans, and erosion and sediment control plans shall comply
with the standards in this section.
A. General
Standards. All grading or other land-disturbing activities and erosion
and sediment control plans shall comply with the following general
principles.
1. The
design, scope, and location of the proposed grading shall be compatible
with adjacent areas and should result in minimal disturbance of the
terrain and natural land features.
2. The
grading shall preserve, match, or blend with the natural contours
and undulations of the land.
3. Whenever
practicable, trees and native vegetation should be retained to stabilize
hillsides, retain moisture, reduce erosion, siltation and nutrient
run-off, and to preserve the natural scenic beauty of the area.
4. Scars
from cuts and fills should be minimized; the amount of cuts and fills
should be reduced and sharp angles at the top and sides of all necessary
cut and fill slopes shall be rounded off, and/or a retaining wall
acceptable to the City shall be constructed. Where a cut or fill slope
occurs between two lots, the slope should normally be made a part
of the downhill lot.
5. Geologic
hazards and adverse soil conditions shall be mitigated.
6. All
cleared slopes in cuts and fills and other areas vulnerable to erosion
shall be stabilized.
7. Construction,
clearing of vegetation, or disturbance of the soil shall be limited
to areas of proven stability.
8. Sediment
or other material deposited off the site shall not exceed that which
would have been deposited if the land had been left in its natural
state.
9. The
natural geologic erosion of hillsides, slopes, graded areas, cleared
areas, filled areas, or stream banks should not be exceeded.
10. New or modified erosion and sediment control techniques may be used
provided there is mutual agreement between the City and permittee
that the technique meets the intent of the erosion and sediment control
plan and this chapter.
11. The Building Official with the consent of the City Engineer and City
Planner may waive any of the standards in this section that may conflict
with the goals of environmental restoration activities.
B. Sediment
Control Standards.
1. Sediment
being transported by runoff generated from the site shall be retained
on-site through the use of sediment basins, silt traps, or similar
measures.
2. All
subsurface flows and surface runoff shall be contained and dispersed
at non-erosive velocities into the common natural watercourse of the
drainage area.
3. In
order to prevent polluting discharges from occurring, approved erosion
and sediment control devices shall be required for all grading and
filling. Control devices and measures which may be required include,
but are not limited to, the following:
a. Energy dissipating devices to reduce the velocity of runoff water;
and
b. Sediment controls such as sediment debris basins and sediment traps.
Any trapped sediment shall be removed to a disposal site approved
by the permit-issuing authority.
4. Temporary
seeding and mulching or other City-approved method shall be required
for denuded areas prior to October 15th.
5. Mud
shall be prevented from being tracked onto public roadway or rights-of-way
by either:
a. Travel over a temporary gravel construction entrance;
b. Washing off vehicle tires before entering a public road; or
c. Other City-approved method.
6. All
existing or newly-installed storm drainage structures shall be protected
from sediment clogging by providing inlet protection and maintenance
for any drains.
7. A
vegetative barrier shall be retained around property boundaries.
C. Standards
for Revegetation.
1. A
permanent vegetation cover shall be established on denuded areas not
otherwise stabilized.
2. Permanent
vegetation shall not be considered established until a ground cover
is achieved which is mature enough to control soil erosion satisfactorily
and to survive severe weather conditions.
3. The
type of plants used shall: be self-sustaining, require little or no
maintenance, and not increase the fire hazard.
4. Native
plant species are encouraged.
D. Slope
Construction Standards.
1. Slopes,
both cut and fill, shall not be steeper than two run to one rise (2:1),
unless a thorough geological and engineering analysis indicates that
steeper slopes are safe and erosion and sediment control measures
are specified.
2. Long
or steep slopes should be terraced at regular intervals to slow runoff
and provide a place for sediment to settle out.
E. Standards
for Protection of Watercourses and Drainage Inlets.
1. Fills
shall not encroach on natural watercourse or constructed channels.
2. Trenches
and pits shall be promptly backfilled and compacted to reduce the
risk of erosion and sediment.
3. Stockpiled
soil shall be located sufficient distance from streams or drainageways
so that surface runoff cannot carry sediment downstream.
4. Stockpiled
soil shall be covered, and located so that if any erosion occurs,
it would not migrate offsite. Mulch or other protective coverings
shall be applied on stockpiled material or bare soils with an area
larger than 200 square feet which will be exposed through the winter
season.
5. Excavated
material not used at the site shall be disposed of at a location approved
by the City.
Upon completion of the rough grading work and at the final completion
of the work, the Building Official and/or City Engineer may require
the following reports:
A. An
as-graded plan prepared by the civil engineer including a certification
that the work was done in accordance with the final approved grading
plan.
B. A soil
grading report prepared by the soil engineering geologist including
a certification as to the adequacy of the site for the intended use
and as affected by geologic features.