In regulating the excavation and removal of
earth materials and earth products under this article, the Commission
intends to exercise not only the authority conferred upon it by § 7-148
of the Connecticut General Statutes but also the authority conferred
upon it by § 8-2 of the Connecticut General Statutes. Accordingly,
if, and to the extent that, § 7-148, as the same may from
time to time be amended, does not authorize the regulation of excavation
and removal of a given earth material or earth product, it is the
purpose and intention of the Commission to regulate the excavation
and removal of the same hereunder pursuant to the powers and authority
conferred upon it by § 8-2, as the same may from time to
time be amended.
Pursuant to the provisions of § 7-148
of the Connecticut General Statutes and the Zoning Enabling Act,[1] no earth products shall be excavated or removed from any
land or shall be piled, kept or stored on any land except as hereinafter
permitted.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 124 of the Connecticut
General Statutes.
Earth products may be excavated and removed
but only:
A.
Construction. To the extent necessary in the excavation
for the foundation of any building or swimming pool (but not for the
creation, enlargement or relocation of any watercourse) and in land
grading incidental to the construction of any such building or pool
or of accessways and parking facilities;
B.
Nonindigenous. For any purpose when the earth products
removed are not indigenous to the premises from which they are removed
and are in a manufactured or processed form;
C.
Special removal. For any purpose from land within any district when such removal is authorized in the particular instance by a special exception granted by the Commission pursuant to Article XXVI; or
D.
Private. To the extent of 500 cubic yards on any lot
in one calendar year, provided that prior written notice is given
to the Zoning Enforcement Officer and is formally acknowledged and
that such excavation and removal are not for a commercial purpose.
The grant of a special exception authorizing a use described in § 500-120C shall be subject to the following conditions:
A.
Quantity limitation. No more than 50,000 cubic yards
of earth products shall be removed from the premises and no more than
25,000 cubic yards in one year.
B.
Drainage. Provision shall be made for proper drainage
of surface or other waters without adversely affecting any other property,
and the excavation and removal shall not result in the creation of
any shaft, potholes, depressions, soil erosion or drainage or sewerage
problems.
C.
Standing water. The excavation and removal shall not
result in the creation or enlargement of any body of standing water
unless expressly and specifically authorized by the terms of such
special exception.
D.
Slopes. No bank shall exceed a slope of one foot vertical
rise in three feet horizontal distance.
E.
Boundary lines. No removal shall take place within
50 feet of a property or roadway line if the area after removal is
at a lower elevation than the adjoining land.
F.
Cover. Unless it is put to cultivation, at the conclusion
of the removal operation, or of any substantial portion thereof, the
whole area where the removal takes place shall be covered with not
less than four inches of topsoil measured after compaction and shall
be seeded with grass, permanent pasture mixture or other fast-growing
vegetation, repeated as necessary until the area is stabilized with
a firmly established growth of permanent vegetation.
G.
Truck access. Truck access to the excavation shall
be so arranged as to minimize the danger to traffic and nuisance to
premises in the general neighborhood.
H.
Processing. Except for the shredding and drying of peat, peat humus
or peat moss at the site of excavation there shall be no processing
of excavated materials on the premises except with a simple bar screen
to remove oversize aggregates.
[Amended 11-1-2016]
I.
Fencing. Fencing or barricades shall be erected as
necessary to protect pedestrians and vehicles.
J.
Erosion and sedimentation control plan. A detailed plan for erosion and sedimentation control shall be provided covering all proposed work, which plan shall show measures to be taken to control erosion and sedimentation both during and after removal in accordance with the recommendations and standards described in Article XXIII.
K.
Bond. The bond or bonds required by the Commission pursuant to § 500-122 shall be posted and maintained in effect until conclusion of the removal operation and all conditions prescribed herein or pursuant hereto have been fulfilled.
L.
Time limitation. Earth removal and restoration of site, including
cover and reseeding and completion of any conditions imposed by the
Commission, shall be completed within a time specified by the Commission,
but no more than five years.
[Amended 11-1-2016]
M.
Cross sections. At the end of the period permitted
for earth removal, cross sections of the excavated site showing the
amount of material removed shall be provided by a registered professional
engineer. If earth removal is to be conducted over a period greater
than one year, cross sections shall in addition be provided at the
end of each year from the date of approval;
N.
General. Such other reasonable conditions as the Commission
may deem necessary or appropriate to impose for the purpose of preventing
or diminishing any adverse effect of such use upon the health, safety
or welfare of the community and any undue annoyance or disturbance
of the occupants of premises in the general neighborhood of such use
and any impairment of the suitability, usefulness, or value of premises
involved in such uses and in the general neighborhood of such use
for the uses prescribed therefor under these regulations and predominantly
existing therein.
O.
Excavation in stages. As each stage of the excavation operation is
completed, that portion of the permit premises shall be graded to
its final contour lines as shown on the plans, as approved by the
Commission, and a layer of arable topsoil, of a quality approved by
the Zoning Enforcement Officer, shall be spread over the previously
excavated areas, except exposed rock surfaces, to a minimum depth
of four inches. The areas shall be mulched and seeded in accordance
with current recommendations of the Soil Conservation Service. The
cover vegetation shall be stabilized and maintained for a period of
24 months following seeding. The Commission may authorize different
restoration vegetation for areas that are to be used for recreation
or agriculture.
[Added 11-1-2016]
P.
Annual progress maps. On the anniversary of the approval of any special
exception granted in accordance with this section, the permit holder
shall file with the Commission a map, prepared by a Connecticut licensed
land surveyor, showing existing grades, areas of disturbance, location
of erosion and sedimentation controls, and any other information to
demonstrate continued compliance with the plans and conditions approved
for such special exception.
[Added 11-1-2016]
[Amended 11-1-2016]
The Commission shall require that one or more performance bonds be approved by the Commission and filed with the Zoning Enforcement Officer to guarantee completion of all work necessary to fulfill all conditions prescribed in or pursuant to § 500-151D in connection with the grant of a special exception. The bond shall be in such form as determined by the Commission. The Commission may require that a single comprehensive bond shall be posted to guarantee fulfillment of all such conditions or it may require that several separate bonds be posted to guarantee completion of separable components of any such conditions. The Commission, in its discretion, may require a personal performance bond secured by cash in a savings account deposited in a Connecticut bank or a nonrevocable letter of credit. Said bonds shall be in such form, in such amount, and of such duration as shall be determined by the Commission. The amount and duration of each bond shall be subject to annual review by the Commission. A single comprehensive bond, posted to guarantee completion of a separable component of any such conditions, shall remain in effect until completion of such component. The posting and maintenance of a bond or bonds required by the Commission hereunder shall themselves be conditions of the use permitted under this article. No removal shall be commenced unless and until the bond or bonds required hereunder have been posted. Bonds shall be subject to annual review by the Commission until all work is completed.
Whenever an application for a special exception is made to the Commission for a use described in § 500-120C, the Commission, in deciding such application, shall consider in addition to the standards prescribed in § 500-155 the following criteria:
A.
Neighborhood. The character of the neighborhood and
zone classification thereof in which the proposed use is to be located;
B.
Instrumentalities. The number, size and character
of the vehicles and other instrumentalities to be used in carrying
on such proposed use;
C.
Streets. The character of the public streets of necessary,
probable or possible use for vehicular transport of earth products
removed in carrying on such proposed use; and
D.
Past performance. The actual use of the same or nearby premises for the same or a substantially similar use as the use proposed and the applicant's performance in adhering to and fulfilling the conditions of any previous special exceptions granted to him/her for a use described in § 500-120C and of all representations made by him/her in support of his/her application therefor.
[Amended 11-1-2016]
Any use of land for the removal, piling, keeping or storage
of earth products which was being carried on at the effective date
of these regulations shall not be continued except when authorized
in the particular instance by a special exception granted by the Commission
hereunder.
