Whenever used in this chapter, the following words shall have
the meanings indicated:
APPLICANT
A person who has applied for a permit under this chapter.
BOROUGH ENGINEER
An individual licensed and registered under the laws of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania engaged in the practice of engineering,
assigned or appointed by the Borough to perform the duties required
under this chapter, and the agent(s) of such individual.
BUILDING PERMIT
A permit issued by the Borough pursuant to the provisions
of applicable Borough ordinances for the construction, erection or
alteration of a structure or building.
ENGINEER OF RECORD
An individual licensed and registered under the laws of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania engaged in the practice of engineering
and who prepared the proposed grading plan for the applicant.
EXCAVATION
Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other similar
material is cut into, dug, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced,
relocated or bulldozed, including the conditions resulting therefrom.
EXPLOSIVES
A chemical or other substance intended to produce an explosion
or that contains oxidizing or combustible units or other ingredients
in proportions or quantities that, by ignition by fire, by friction,
by concussion, by percussion or by detonation, may produce an explosion
capable of causing injury to persons or damage to property. The term
"explosive" includes, but is not limited to, black powder (all varieties),
dry gun cotton, nitroglycerine, dynamite, chlorates, fulminates, all
sensitized ammonium nitrate compositions and any other of their compounds
or mixtures, smokeless powder, wet gun cotton and wet nitrostarch.
FILL
Earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other suitable material
which is deposited, placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported or
moved to a new location to build up the ground surface to a desired
level; or the activity by which such materials are added to the ground
surface.
GRADE
The elevation of the existing ground surface at the location
of any proposed excavation or fill.
GRADING
Excavation or fill or any combination thereof on a site,
including the conditions resulting from any excavation or fill.
PERMITTEE
Any person who is required to apply for a permit under this
chapter and who has received a permit from the Borough.
PERSON
A natural person or any corporate entity, including, but
not limited to, any partnership, corporation or limited liability
company and its or their heirs, successors, assigns, directors, officers
and employees, as applicable.
SITE
A lot, tract or parcel of land where grading work is being
performed, or any series of lots, tracts or parcels of land which
are adjoining, where grading work is continuous and performed at the
same time.
All modifications to the approved plans, specifications and
permit requirements shall be submitted to the Borough for review by
the Borough Engineer. There shall be no differentiation between major
and minor modifications with respect to this section. Modifications
of the approved plans, specifications and permit requirements shall
be reviewed and approved in the same manner as the original application.
Neither the issuance of a grading permit nor compliance with
this chapter or any conditions imposed by the Borough Engineer shall
relieve any person from the responsibility for damage to any person
or property otherwise imposed by law, nor impose any liability upon
the Borough, its officials, officers, employees or agents for damages
to any person or property. All actions taken by a permittee to remedy
hazardous conditions noted during an inspection shall in no way transfer
liability to the Borough. Prior to the issuance of any permit, the
Borough may require that the applicant submit a hold-harmless agreement
to further indemnify the Borough, its officers, officials, employees
and agents.
Upon completion of the grading as approved by the Borough Engineer,
the permittee's engineer of record shall issue to the Borough
a certification of completion, which will certify that all grading,
excavation and/or fill as stipulated in the grading permit has been
completed in compliance with this chapter and the approved plans,
specifications, permit requirements and other Borough ordinance requirements.
Copies of all inspection reports shall also be submitted with the
certificate of completion document.
Upon completion of the grading, the permittee shall provide
as-built plans, sealed by the permittee's engineer of record,
to the Borough Engineer in both hard copy and digital (.pdf) format.
In case any grading is performed by any person in violation
of any of the provisions of this chapter, the proper officers of the
Borough, in addition to other remedies, may institute in the name
of the Borough an appropriate action or proceeding at law or in equity
to prevent such unlawful grading and to restrain or abate such violation.