Loomis Municipal Code Art. II General Requirements

Except for the specific exemptions listed hereinafter, no person shall do or permit to be done any grading on any site in the town without a valid permit obtained from the director of public works.

(Ord. 55 § 1.03, 1987)

A grading permit is not required if the proposed work consists of the following activities and such activities will not endanger adjacent property, cause increased erosion, sedimentation and rate of water runoff, divert or impair the flow of water within a water course or cause a public nuisance. All development activities exempt from the grading permit requirements shall be carried out in a manner consistent with the design principles and standards set out herein to assure that the potential for erosion of any project is minimized. However, this does not relieve the property owner or contractor from abiding by Chapter 13.54, "Tree Preservation and Protection."

A grading permit is not required for the following:

A. Excavation below finished grade for basements and footings of a building, retaining wall, swimming pool, or other structure authorized by a valid building permit. This shall not exempt any fill made with the material from such excavation nor exempt any excavation having an unsupported height greater than five feet after the completion of such structure;

B. Routine cemetery excavations and fills;

C. Excavations or fills when all the following conditions are met:

1. Less than fifty cubic yards of grading material,

2. The depth/fill is three feet or less,

3. The slope of the cut/fill face is two feet horizontal to one foot vertical or less,

4. The existing drainage patterns are not altered;

D. The removal, plowing under or burial of less than ten thousand square feet of vegetation on slopes ten percent of greater or any amount of vegetation on slopes less than ten percent. This does not include trees, which shall follow Chapter 13.54, "Tree Preservation and Protection";

E. Do not encroach onto sewage disposal systems or areas;

F. Is not within seventy-five feet of the center of a natural watercourse or not within the FEMA floodplain;

G. Has no more than one minor grading project (a project with less than five hundred cubic yards), including no more than one amendment to an issued minor grading project, within the previous twelve months;

H. Grading necessary for agricultural operations land leveling less than three feet in height unless such grading will create a cut or fill whose failure could endanger any structure intended for human or animal occupancy or any public road, or could obstruct any watercourse or drainage conduit;

I. Clearing vegetation when all of the following conditions are met (this does not include trees, which shall follow Chapter 13.54, "Tree Preservation and Protection:"

1. The slope of the ground is twenty percent or less,

2. The area to be cleared is one acre or less;

J. Trenching and grading incidental to the construction or installation of approved underground pipe lines, septic tank disposal fields, conduits, electrical or communication facilities, and drilling or excavation for approved wells or post holes;

K. Excavations for soil or geological investigations by a geotechnical engineer or engineering geologist;

L. Grading in accordance with plans incorporated in an approved surface mining permit, reclamation plan or sanitary landfill;

M. Maintenance of existing firebreaks and roads to keep the firebreak or road substantially in its original condition; and

N. Performance of emergency work necessary to protect life or property when an urgent necessity therefore arises. The person performing such emergency work shall notify the director of public works promptly of the problem and work required and shall apply for a permit therefore within ten calendar days after commencing said work.

(Ord. 55 § 1.04, 1987; Ord. 116 § 1, 1992; Ord. 210 § 3, 2004; Ord. 236 § 2, 2007)