Chapter 12.16 — GRADING REGULATIONS

• A. One copy of the approved plans and specifications shall be kept on the site at all times during the progress of the grading work by the person responsible for the undertaking of such work.

• B. All grading and noise therefrom, including but not limited to, warming of equipment motors in residential zones, or within one thousand feet of any residential occupancy, hotel, motel, or hospital shall be limited to those hours between seven a.m. and five-thirty p.m. on weekdays, unless other hours are approved by the city engineer based upon evidence that an emergency exists which would constitute a hazard to persons or property if grading at other times is not permitted.

• C. All graded surfaces and materials, whether filled, excavated, transported or stockpiled, shall be wetted, protected, or contained in such a manner as to prevent any nuisance from dust, or spillage upon adjoining property or streets. Equipment and materials on the site shall be used in a manner so as to avoid excessive dust. The city engineer may require a dust control plan at any time during the course of the grading project.

• D. No grading shall be conducted so as to alter the established gradient of natural drainage channels as to cause erosion or flooding.

• E. All exposed or finished banks or slopes of any fill or excavations shall be protected from erosion by approved planting, hydroseeding, cribbing, walls, or terracing, or a combination thereof. Other unprotected graded surfaces shall be planted, paved or built upon, or shall be provided with berms and drainage facilities approved by the city engineer as adequate to prevent erosion and to conduct the accumulation or run-off of surface waters to an approved place of discharge. It is the intent of this subsection to prohibit the abandonment of graded areas or slopes which are not provided with erosion protection and adequate drainage facilities, even though all other requirements herein have been complied with.

• F. All building site pads shall be graded to provide drainage to a street, natural watercourse, approved flood control channel or conduit, or public easement for drainage purposes as approved by the city engineer.

• G. Cuts and fills shall be designed to balance as near as possible to avoid the nuisances created by offsite hauling. If offsite hauling is determined to be necessary by the city engineer, details of the hauling operation, including but not limited to size of trucks, haul route, dust and debris control measures, and time and frequency of haul trips shall be submitted to the city engineer for approval. The city engineer shall be empowered to place such restrictions as deemed necessary to minimize health, safety, and general welfare problems which might arise from such hauling.

• H. Cut and fill slopes shall be contour rounded as approved by the city engineer.

• I. Variable slopes shall be used when required by the city engineer to eliminate the artificial appearance of slopes or to mitigate environmental damage. Variable slope treatment shall be as approved by the city engineer.

• J. Whenever any portion of the work requires entry onto adjacent property the permittee shall obtain a right of entry thereon from the owner of such property or the owner's authorized representative in a form acceptable to the city attorney. The permittee shall file a copy of the executed right of entry with the city engineer prior to the issuance of the grading permit and/or approval of the grading plan.

• K. Sediment basins may be required by the city engineer to detain runoff and to trap sediment during construction until slope erosion planting has been established. The sediment basin dam and collected silt shall often be removed and the resulting material hauled from the site or used as topsoil.

• L. Grading shall be designed so that lot lines are at the top of the slope and with adequate property line setback from the slope to provide for required vertical slope rounding.

• M. Grading shall be designed whenever possible to be at the same elevation or below adjoining properties outside the development so as not to negate the privacy of adjoining properties. If

such design is impossible, and adjoining properties will be adversely affected by the design, the permittee shall be required to arrange for either the moving of the slope onto the adjacent property, with replacement of fences and improvements, or replacement of the property owner's fence, if one exists, at the top of the slope and require that the slope be conveyed to the adjacent property owner. The city engineer may waive this requirement if the adversely affected property owner fails to negotiate for either option.

• N. Vertical slope rounding shall be required to cut and fill slopes greater than two feet in height.

• O. Stockpiling of materials shall be subject to approval of the city engineer, and shall be removed or relocated when required by the city engineer.

• (Prior code § 9-1.8; Ord. 1369 § 1, 1981)

• A. Cuts and Fills. Unless otherwise recommended in the soils engineering and/or engineering geology report and approved by the city engineer, cuts and fills shall conform to the city's standard specifications for excavations and embankments and to the following provisions:

  1. Cut and fill slopes shall be no steeper than two horizontal to one vertical (2:1).

  2. Where slopes are steeper than five horizontal to one vertical (5:1), and the height is greater than five feet, the ground surface shall be prepared to receive fill by benching into solid bedrock or other competent material as determined by the soils engineer. The bench under the toe of a fill on a slope steeper than five horizontal to one vertical (5:1) shall be at least ten feet wide. When fill is to be placed over a cut, the bench under the toe of the fill shall be at least ten feet wide, but the cut must be made before placing fill and approved by the soils engineer and the engineering geologist as a suitable foundation for fill.

  3. Earth materials which have no more than minor amounts of organic substances and have no rock or similar irreducible material with a maximum dimension greater than eight inches shall be used for fill material. Rock or concrete in excess of eight inches may be placed in a fill only at locations and to the specifications of the soils engineer. Care shall be taken to avoid nesting and foundation interference.

  4. All fills shall be compacted to a minimum of ninety percent of maximum density as determined by the State of California Impact Method Test No. 216 F or equivalent method approved by the city engineer for determining maximum soil density. Field density shall be determined by a method acceptable to the city engineer.

  5. The tops of cuts and toes of fill slopes shall be set back from property lines and structures as far as necessary to provide for safety of adjacent property and pedestrians and vehicular traffic, for required slope rounding, for adequate foundation support, for required swales, and for berms, drainage facilities, and applicable zoning requirements. Setbacks from outer boundaries of the permit area, including slope-right areas and easements, shall be in accordance with Figure No. 1 and Table No. 70-C. Setbacks between graded slopes (cut or fill) and structures shall be provided in accordance with Figure No 2.

  6. The faces of cut and fill slopes shall be prepared and maintained to control against erosion and to return the slope to its natural appearance to the extent possible. The protection for the slopes shall be installed as soon as practicable and prior to calling for final approval. The planting shall be so timed that ground cover shall not be washed out by rains or burned due to lack of water. Where necessary, check dams, cribbing, riprap, and other devices or methods shall be employed to control erosion and provide safety.

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7. Vertical slope rounding shall be in accordance with details as recommended by the civil engineer and as approved by the city engineer.

8. A dust palliative shall be applied to the site when required by the city engineer. The type and rate of application shall be as recommended by the soils engineer and approved by the city engineer.

   9. Erosion control measures shall be employed during the rainy season as recommended by the soils engineer and approved by the city engineer.

• B. Drainage.

  1. Terraces at least eight feet in width shall be established at not more than thirty-foot intervals, subject to maximum height limitations, to control surface drainage and debris on cut or fill slopes. Suitable access shall be provided to permit proper cleaning and maintenance.

Swales or ditches on terraces shall have a minimum gradient of three percent and shall be paved with reinforced concrete not less than three inches in thickness. They shall have a minimum paved width of five feet. A single run of swale or ditch shall not collect runoff from a tributary area exceeding fifteen thousand square feet (projected) without discharging into a down drain.

2. All drainage facilities shall be designed to carry waters to the nearest practical drainage way approved by the city and/or any other applicable jurisdiction as a safe place to deposit such waters. If drainage facilities discharge onto natural ground, riprap, and/or energy dissipators shall be constructed. All building sites shall be graded and sloped away from the building foundation with a minimum slope of two percent for a distance of ten feet on all sides of every building except where yard requirements are less than twenty feet, in which case the soil shall be graded away from the foundation to a minimum of two-tenths of a foot in elevation at a distance not less than one-half the required yard width. Lot drainage shall be directed toward approved drainage facilities at a minimum gradient of two percent unless otherwise approved by the city engineer.

3. Properly designed trash racks shall be installed on the upstream end of the storm drain pipes which accept drainage from a waterway which is not to be undergrounded. These racks are to be constructed so as to preclude large debris and small children from being pulled into the pipe from heavy storm flows. The city engineer may require the installation of trash racks at other locations as necessary for proper maintenance and safety.

(Prior code § 9-1.9; Ord. 1369 § 1, 1981)

• A. All grading operations for which a permit is required shall be subject to inspection by the city engineer.

• B. For engineering grading, it shall be the responsibility of the civil engineer who prepares the approved grading plan to incorporate all recommendations from the soil engineering and engineering geology reports into the grading plan. The civil engineer shall also be responsible for the professional inspection and certification of the grading within his/her area of technical specialty. This responsibility shall include, but need not be limited to, inspection and certification as to the establishment of line, grade, and drainage of the development area. The civil engineer shall act as the coordinating agent if the need arises for liaison between the other professionals, the contractor, and the city. The civil engineer shall also be responsible for the preparation of revised plans and the submission of as-graded plans upon completion of the work.

• C. Prior to foundation work, the permittee's engineer shall certify that the building pad elevations do not vary more than two-tenths of a foot from the approved pad elevations.

• D. During grading, all necessary reports, compaction data, and soil engineering geology recommendations shall be submitted to the civil engineer and the city engineer by the soil engineer and the engineering geologist.

• E. The area of responsibility of the soil engineer shall include, but need not be limited to, the professional inspection and certification concerning the preparation of ground to receive fills, testing for required compaction, stability of all finish slopes and design of buttress fills, and the design and need for subdrains and other ground water control devices, where required, incorporating data supplies by the engineering geologist.

• F. The area of responsibility of the engineering geologist shall include, but need not be limited to, professional inspection and certification of the adequacy of natural ground for receiving fills, and the stability of cut slopes with respect to geological matters. The engineering geologist shall report findings to the soils engineer and civil engineer for engineering analysis.

• G. The city engineer, upon at least twenty-four hours notification from the permittee or his or her agent, shall inspect the work at the following stages and whenever he or she deems it necessary, and shall either approve the portion then completed or shall notify the permittee or the permittee's agent as to how the work fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter:

  1. Initial: When the silt has been cleared of vegetation and unapproved fill and has been scarified, benched or otherwise prepared, and before any fill is placed.

  2. Rough: When rough grading has been completed and approximate final elevations have been established; drainage terraces, swales, and other drainage devices graded are ready for paving; and berms have been installed at the top of slopes.

3. Final: When work has been completed, and all drainage devices, systems and facilities have been installed and slope planting has been established. The civil engineer shall certify that all grading, lot drainage and drainage facilities have been completed, and that the slope planting has been installed in conformance with the approved plans and the requirements of this chapter. In addition to the called inspections specified above, the city engineer may make such other inspections as he or she deems necessary to determine that the work is being performed in compliance with the requirements of this chapter.

• H. Periodic density tests made by the soils engineer shall be submitted to the city engineer. Dry density, moisture content, and the location, elevation, and sampling date of each sample taken shall be reported, along with sufficient data to correlate with laboratory analysis submitted.

• I. Upon completion of the grading, the soils engineer shall certify that the site was graded and filled with the material in accordance with the approved specifications. The soils engineer shall also give a professional opinion regarding remaining shrinkage or settlement, expansive characteristics, slope stability, load bearing qualities, saline or alkaline conditions, and of any other conditions pertinent to construction upon the completed cut or fill.

• J. If the civil engineer, the soil engineer, the engineering geologist, or the testing agency of record are changed during the course of the work, the work shall be stopped until the replacement has agreed to accept the responsibility within the area of technical competence for certification upon completion of the work.

• K. If, in the course of fulfilling responsibility under this chapter, the civil engineer, the soil engineer, the engineering geologist, or the testing agency finds that the work is not being done in conformance with this chapter, or the approved grading plans, the discrepancies shall be reported immediately in writing to the person in charge of the grading work and to the city engineer. Recommendations for corrective measures, if necessary, shall be submitted.

• L. Upon completion of the rough grading work and at the final completion of the work, the city engineer may require the following reports and drawings and supplements thereto:

  1. An as-graded grading plan prepared by the civil engineer, including original ground surface elevations, as-graded ground surface elevations, lot drainage patterns, and locations and elevations of all surface and subsurface drainage facilities;

2. A soil and geologic grading report prepared by the soil engineer and engineering geologist, including locations and elevations of field density tests, summaries of field and laboratory tests and other substantiating data and comments on any changes made during grading and their effect on the recommendations made in the soil engineering investigation report. The report shall include a final description of the geology of the site, including any new information disclosed during the grading, and the effect of such information on recommendations incorporated in the approved grading plan. A certification shall be provided as to the adequacy of the site for the intended use as affected by soil and geologic factors.

• M. The city engineer may require or allow modification of the erosion control plan after issuance of a permit so as to adjust the plan to the actual conditions on the site.

• (Prior code § 9-1.10; Ord. 1369 § 1, 1981)