Mission Viejo Municipal Code Div. 3 Permits Required

No person shall conduct any grading, clearing, brushing, or grubbing on natural or existing grade that is preparatory to grading, without first having obtained a grading permit from the director. Exceptions to this requirement are as follows or as otherwise determined by the director:

(a) An excavation below finished grade for basements and footings of a building, mobile home, retaining wall, or other structure authorized by a valid building permit or construction permit. This shall not exempt any excavation having an unsupported height greater than five feet after the completion of such structure. This shall not prohibit a minimum fee grading permit or soil or geologic report from being required for foundation design and inspection purposes when, in the opinion of the director, stability or flooding considerations warrant such inspection. Further, fill made with the excavated material is not exempt from a grading permit, unless otherwise waived by the director.

(b) Cemetery graves.

(c) Refuse disposal sites controlled by other regulations.

(d) Earthwork construction regulated by the federal, state, county agencies, or city, or by any local agency as defined by Government Code 53090 through 53095 (special districts). Pipeline or conduit excavation and backfill conducted by local agencies or public utilities. Earthwork construction performed by railway companies on their operating property. This exemption, however, shall apply only when the earthwork construction 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 property encroachment permit.

(f) Mining, quarrying, excavating, processing, stockpiling of rock, sand, gravel, aggregate, or clay where established and provided for by law, provided such operations do not affect the lateral support or increase the stresses in or pressures upon any adjacent or contiguous property.

(g) Exploratory excavations under the direction of soil engineers or engineering geologists, provided all excavations are properly backfilled. All such excavations and trenches are subject to the applicable sections of title 8 of the State Orders, Division of Industrial Safety.

(h) Grading in conjunction with work performed pursuant to the provisions of title 7, division 8, article 1 of the Codified Ordinance of the County of Orange (The Orange County Oil Code), unless the director determines it is necessary to obtain a grading permit to assure proper construction of a building or other structure, or where it is necessary for the protection of adjacent properties not devoted to oil drilling or production.

(Ord. No. 10-286, § 2, 12-6-10)

No person shall construct pavement surfacing in excess of three thousand (3,000) square feet, on natural or existing grade for the purpose of a private road or commercial, industrial or multiresidential parking lot or travelway or sidewalk without a valid grading permit unless waived by the director or a separate improvement plan for such paving is approved and signed by an authorized city official. Resurfacing or maintenance of existing paved surfaces shall be exempt from this requirement.

(Ord. No. 10-286, § 2, 12-6-10)

No person shall alter an existing watercourse, channel, or revetment by excavating, or placing fill, rock protection or structural improvements without a valid grading permit, unless waived by the director or performed an interim protection under emergency flooding-fighting conditions.

(Ord. No. 10-286, § 2, 12-6-10)

No person shall perform any construction for which a building permit is required, without a grading permit, unless waived by the director. The following building categories shall be exempt from this requirement, provided that such construction does not alter an existing watercourse, channel or revetment: roofing, block walls, swimming pools and spas, demolition of existing swimming pools and spas, patio covers, driveways or on-site paving less than 3,000 square feet in area, patio enclosures less than 400 square feet in area, and building additions less than 400 square feet in area.

(Ord. No. 10-286, § 2, 12-6-10)

No person shall stockpile soil on a lot or parcel without a valid grading permit, unless waived by the director.

(a) A site plan of the lot showing the area in which the stockpile is to be placed, the approximate amount of soil to be stockpiled, and the erosion control system used shall be required. The placement of the stockpile shall not adversely affect the safety, use, or stability of any structure, nor create a nuisance because of dust or erosion therefrom, nor block a public way or drainage course; nor shall such placement of stockpile material constitute a hazard to public welfare or endanger property.

(b) Stockpiling in a residential zone may be permitted under this section for purposes of providing fill material to be used on site only.

(c) Stockpiling in residential zones for purposes of selling of material shall be prohibited.

(d) The grading permit for stockpiling shall expire one year after issuance thereof. A new permit shall be required annually.

(e) Stockpiling directly associated with construction of exempted building categories listed in section 8.10.330 does not require a grading permit.

The permittee shall implement an effective erosion control system to prevent dust and erosion therefrom.

(Ord. No. 10-286, § 2, 12-6-10)

No person shall possess, store, sell, transport or use explosives and blasting agents to do any excavation without a permit from the fire department and authorization by the director.

(Ord. No. 10-286, § 2, 12-6-10)

(a) Either a rough grading permit or a precise grading permit may be issued for grading work upon completion of an application in accordance with subarticle 5 of the grading manual and approval by the director. The rough or precise grading permit is the option of the permittee provided that the plans satisfy the requirements of subarticle 5 of the grading manual.

(b) Building permits may be issued for a site graded under a valid precise grading permit upon completion and approval of rough grade inspection, as specified in section 8.10.1450. A building permit shall not be issued unless written confirmation that the rough grading has been completed in accordance with the city-approved plans is received from an applicant's engineer(s) of record.

(c) Building permits shall not be issued for a site graded under a rough grading permit until a new precise grading permit has been issued, the provisions of subsection (b) have been satisfied, or the precise grading permit has been deemed by the director to be unnecessary.

(Ord. No. 10-286, § 2, 12-6-10)