A. Civil
Engineer. It shall be the responsibility of the civil engineer who
prepared the grading plans to incorporate the applicable recommendations
from the soil engineering and geology reports and to incorporate any
city engineer approved alternative concept grading plan into the grading
plan.
B. The
civil engineer shall be responsible for establishing line and grade
for the grading and drainage improvements and shall act as the coordinating
agent in the event the need arises for liaison between the other professionals,
the contractor and the city engineer. The civil engineer shall also
be responsible for the preparation of plan revisions, and upon completion
of the work, the submission of as graded drawings incorporating all
changes and/or additions made during construction. Prior to the release
of building permits for any given lot or lots, the civil engineer
shall 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.
C. Landscape
Architect. The designing landscape architect shall incorporate applicable
recommendations from the soils engineering reports along with appropriate
measures related to soil engineering into the landscape and irrigation
plans and conditional approval recommendations. The landscape architect
shall also prepare plan revisions, to include securing approval from
the city engineer prior to installation, and shall submit asgraded
drawings incorporating all changes and/or additions made during construction.
The landscape architect shall, if requested by the city engineer,
prepare alternative concept contour grading plans for review and approval
by the city engineer.
D. All
groundcover shall provide one hundred percent coverage within nine
months of planting, or additional landscaping shall be required in
order to meet this standard.
E. Soil
Engineer. The soil engineer is responsible for performing the preliminary
soils engineering investigation and preparing the preliminary soils
during grading, providing compaction inspection and testing, and preparing
the final soils engineering report. The soil engineer is also responsible
for reviewing and signing the grading plan insuring and assuring that
they comply with the soils and geotechnical recommendations of the
preliminary soils engineering report.
(Ord. 371 § 1, 2008; Ord. 428 § 1, 2015)
A. Setbacks
and other restrictions specified by this section are minimums and
may be increased by the city engineer or by the recommendation of
the civil engineer, soil engineer or engineering geologist, if necessary
for safety and stability, or to prevent damage to adjacent properties
from deposition or erosion, or to provide access for slope maintenance
and drainage. Where zoning requirements exceed the minimums in this
section, the zoning setbacks shall govern.
B. Retaining
wall may be used to reduce the required setbacks when approved by
the city engineer.
C. The
tops and toes of slopes shall be set back from the outer boundaries
of the permit area, including slope rights areas and easements, as
follows:
1. Top
of Cut Slope. Top of cut slopes shall not be made nearer to a site
boundary line than one fifth of the vertical height of cut with a
minimum of two feet and a maximum of ten feet, as measured horizontally.
2. Toe
of Fill Slope. The toe of fill slopes shall be made not nearer to
the site boundary line than one half the height of the slope with
a minimum of two feet and a maximum of twenty feet, as measured horizontally.
D. Setbacks
between graded slopes (cut or fill) and structures shall be provided
to the satisfaction of the city engineer.
E. A usable
side yard of at least five feet from any building wall shall be provided
to the toe and top of a slope, unless waived by the city engineer.
F. No
provision in this section shall 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. 371 § 1, 2008; Ord. 428 § 1, 2015)
A. Cut
slopes shall be no steeper than two horizontal to one vertical (2:1)
unless the applicant can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the city
engineer and development services director that the project would
be substantially improved with steeper cut slopes.
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 accompanied by a landscape architect report that establishes such
slopes can be adequately landscaped. In no case shall cut slopes steeper
than 1-1/2:1 be allowed under any waiver of the 2:1 standard.
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,
no cut shall exceed a vertical height of forty feet. In approving
cut slopes higher than forty feet, the following shall be considered:
1. The
lack of feasible alternative grading designs which result in slopes
of forty 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.
(Ord. 371 § 1, 2008; Ord. 428 § 1, 2015)
A. Fill
slopes shall 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. Where a fill slope is to be located near the
site boundary and the adjacent off-site property is developed, special
precautions shall be incorporated in the work as the city engineer
deems necessary to protect the adjoining property from damage as a
result of such grading.
B. Unless
specifically approved by the city council or planning commission,
no fill shall exceed a vertical height of forty feet. In approving
fill slopes higher than forty feet, the following shall be considered:
1. The
lack of feasible alternative grading designs which result in slopes
of forty 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. Slope
stability analyses shall accompany soil engineering reports for all
fill slopes exceeding forty feet in height, where authorized by the
city council or planning commission, regardless of the slope ratio.
The soil engineer shall provide a written statement approving the
slope stability. In addition, the soil engineer shall recommend alternative
methods of construction or compaction requirements necessary for stability.
(Ord. 371 § 1, 2008; Ord. 428 § 1, 2015)
All slopes thirty feet or more in vertical height shall have
drainage terraces at least six feet in width established at not more
than thirty foot vertical intervals on all cut or fill slopes to control
surface drainage and debris. Where only one terrace is required, it
shall be at mid-height. Suitable access shall be provided to permit
proper cleaning and maintenance. Such drainage terraces shall 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 one-hundred year
storm runoff arriving at the terrace.
(Ord. 371 § 1, 2008; Ord. 428 § 1, 2015)
Unless waived by the city engineer, a compacted earthen berm
shall be constructed at the top, or along the line of vertical curvature,
of all slopes steeper than 5:1. The berm shall conform to the slope
and shall 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. 371 § 1, 2008; Ord. 428 § 1, 2015)
Stormwater runoff from lots or adjacent properties shall not
be carried over cut or fill slopes steeper than 5:1. Such runoff shall
be provided to the satisfaction of the city engineer. Surface runoff
shall not be permitted to flow from one residential lot to another.
(Ord. 371 § 1, 2008; Ord. 428 § 1, 2015)
A. Cut
and fill slopes shall be provided with 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 shall be provided with 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. 371 § 1, 2008; Ord. 428 § 1, 2015)
The city engineer may require public interest slopes to 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. Such slopes shall 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 shall approximate
the natural contours to the satisfaction of the city engineer. The
brows or tops of slopes may be straight to match the lot lines and
facilitate placement of lot fences.
(Ord. 371 § 1, 2008; Ord. 428 § 1, 2015)
A. The
grading will be considered in substantial compliance 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 development services director have discretion
to permit up to a two-foot elevation variation if they determine that
the change will not adversely affect views, drainage and unusable
yard areas, and the change is needed to create a better design.
(Ord. 371 § 1, 2008; Ord. 428 § 1, 2015)