Lancaster Municipal Code Ch. 8.16 Dust Control

In the interest of the protection of the health, safety, and general welfare, it is declared to be the policy of the city that it is unlawful to contribute to wind erosion and dust emissions by clearing the vegetation, excavating, grading, cultivating or discing the surface or subsurface of the land or other construction activities within the city.

(Prior code § 5-5.1)

As used in this chapter:

"Parcel" or "land" means a contiguous quantity of land in the possession of, or owned by, or recorded as the property of, the same claimant or person.

"Person" means any individual, firm, co-partnership, joint venture, association, social club, fraternal organization, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, syndicate, or any other group or combination acting as a unit, and the plural as well as the singular.

(Prior code § 5-5.2)

No person who owns or is in possession or control of land shall disturb or cause to be disturbed the surface or subsurface of said land by excavating, grading, leveling, cultivating, plowing, discing, removing any existing vegetation or by depositing or spreading a quantity of soil on said land, or by any other act likely to cause or contribute to dust emission or wind erosion of said land. No person shall cause or aggravate an existing dust or wind erosion condition without providing sufficient protection so as to prevent the soft on said land from being eroded by wind, creating dust, or blowing into a public road or roads or other public or private property.

(Prior code § 5-5.3)

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to:

A. Activities that are performed by the forester and fire warden, agricultural commission, road department or person acting in compliance with a specific order of that department because of required ordinances, statutes, rules or regulations;

B. Unpaved roadways open to public travel or unimproved public rights-of-way.

(Prior code § 5-5.4)

Protection of the land shall be provided by means of walls, fences, planting and maintaining vegetation, covering the land, applying water, or other effective method(s) that will control dust emissions and wind erosion. If water is used, the land shall be kept moist to a depth of one inch and shall be applied as follows: (A) five acres or less, application to be by tankers or on-site sprinkler system; (B) more than five acres, application to be by an on-site sprinkler system.

(Prior code § 5-5.5)

If an investigation of a project site indicates that dust control or wind erosion measures are inadequate, the city engineer or his authorized representative may limit or halt all activities on the site until adequate wind erosion or dust control has been achieved.

(Prior code § 5-5.6)

Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and each such person shall be deemed guilty of a separate offense for each and every day or portion thereof during which any violation of any of the provisions of this chapter is committed, continued or permitted, and upon conviction of any such violation such person shall be punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both fine and imprisonment.

(Prior code § 5-5.7)