Banning Municipal Code Ch. 18.03 Permits Required

No person shall conduct any grading, stockpiling, excavating, paving, earth moving, filling, clearing, disking, brushing, or grubbing on natural or existing grade, or perform work that is preparatory to grading, without first having obtained a permit in accordance with this ordinance, except as specified below in Section 18.03.040, "permit exemptions" of this ordinance and without having obtained coverage under the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for construction activity (if applicable).

(Ord. No. 1388, § 4, 7-14-09)

Grading permits are not required for:

A. An excavation below the existing finished grade for recompaction within the building zone (within five feet of footings) or for basements and footings for a building, mobile home, retaining wall, septic system, well, or structure authorized by a building permit. This shall not exempt any fill made with the material from such excavation or exempt any excavation having an unsupported height greater than two feet after the completion of such structure.

B. Cemetery graves;

C. Refuse disposal sites controlled by other statutorily authorized regulations or agencies;

D. Earthwork or construction controlled by the federal, state, county, or city governments, or by a local agency as defined by Government Code Section 53090 through 53095 (Special Districts). This exemption, however, shall apply only when the grading activity takes place on the property, or dedicated rights-of-way or easements of the above agencies;

E. Excavation and backfill for installation of underground utilities by public utilities or companies operating under the authority of a franchise or public right-of-way permit;

F. Mining, quarrying, excavating, processing stockpiling of rock, sand, gravel, aggregate or clay for commercial purposes where established and provided for by a conditional use permit, provided such operations do not affect the lateral support of any adjacent or adjoining properties, or alter the direction of, or contribute to, sedimentation to natural watercourses;

G. Exploratory excavations under the direction of civil engineers, geotechnical engineers, engineering geologists, and/or archaeologists or paleontologists, or pursuant to a well permit, provided all excavations are properly backfilled or otherwise restored. All such elevations and trenches are subject to the applicable sections of Title 8 of the State Orders, Division of Industrial Safety and the following:

1. When such work involves removal of any native vegetation, it shall be accompanied by an administrative clearing permit in accordance with Section 18.09.120(D), "administrative clearing permit" of this ordinance. Any access roadways or pads constructed for this work shall only be constructed as approved in the administrative clearing permit and shall be restored as required in the permit;

H. An excavation not intended to support structures or mobile homes and which, (a) is less than two feet in vertical depth, or (b) which does not create a cut slope greater than three feet in vertical height and steeper than two horizontal to one vertical. This exemption shall not apply when finish grading is proposed, subsequent to a permit authorizing rough grading in accordance with Section 18.09.120(A), "types of grading permits" of this ordinance;

I. A fill less than one foot in vertical depth, placed on natural terrain with a slope flatter than five horizontal to one vertical, or less than three feet in depth, not intended to support structures or mobile homes, which does not exceed fifty cubic yards on any one site and does not obstruct a drainage course. This exemption shall not apply when finish grading is proposed, subsequent to a permit authorizing rough grading in accordance with Section 18.09.120(A), "types of grading permits" of this ordinance;

J. The construction or maintenance of roads or facilities for the generation, storage or transmission of water including floodwaters or electrical energy by public agencies or their agents. Work may be subject to Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP) requirements. A WQMP project includes the construction or reconstruction of five thousand square feet of impervious surface in a parking lot, street, roadway or highway;

K. The maintenance of private roads by private individuals or their agents, but not the construction or widening of such roads;

L. Clearing and brushing when directed by the fire chief to mitigate a potential fire hazard in accordance with Section 8.48.50 "fire hazard" of the Banning Municipal Code;

M. Clearing and brushing, expressly for the following purposes:

1. Routine landscaping and maintenance of already landscaped areas, and the removal of dead or diseased trees or shrubs.

2. Clearing which conforms to the location, extent and purpose authorized explicitly by a construction permit pursuant to a discretionary land use permit or a discretionary development permit. An administrative clearing permit, in accordance with Section 18.09.120(D) of this ordinance, shall be required for any purpose that is not specifically addressed by the construction permit;

N. Repaving, resurfacing, and maintenance of existing private roads and parking lots and the preparation necessary for that work, provided no grading beyond the limits of other exemptions is performed;

O. Minor maintenance and alterations to natural drainage areas that do not:

1. Obstruct or redirect drainage from adjacent properties, nor

2. Divert the outflow of drainage from the existing or natural discharge point of the property, nor

3. Concentrate or accelerate the flow of drainage as it leaves the property, nor

4. Create ponding, siltation, or erosion in or of the streambed, nor

5. Disturb wetlands.

Note: The above listed exemptions do not apply to clearing, grubbing, brushing, disking or grading when:

a. Work will occur in, or physically impact, designated or dedicated open space or environmentally sensitive areas as designated in the general plan, or the finally adopted plan of any public agency or governmental office with jurisdiction over the site, or as shown on any approved specific plan; or

b. Work will occur in any waterway or wetland, stream, river, channel, pond, lake, marsh, bog, lagoon, vernal pool, or riparian habitat except as provided in exemption "O" of this section, minor maintenance; or

c. Work will occur in any floodway or floodplain as shown on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Plain Maps, or on city revised maps except as provided in exemption "O" of this section, minor maintenance.

(Ord. No. 1388, § 4, 7-14-09)