19721010 1972-22ORDINANCE NO. 1972-22
AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING CONTROL MEASURES FOR
EROSION AND SEDIMENTATION PREVENTION
BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Fairfax that the
zoning ordinance of the City of Fairfax, Virginia, be, and it hereby is, amended
by the addition of a new section numbered Section 15, reading in its entirety,
as follows:
SECTION 15
EROSION AND SEDIMENTATION CONTROL
A. Purpose.
The purpose of this ordinance, to be known as the Erosion and Sedimen-
tation Prevention Ordinance, for non-agricultural purposes, is to provide
that (1) adequate control measures are taken to prevent the erosion, flood-
ing, overflow of storm water, and drainage from land being subdivided or
developed during the period of site preparation, development or construction,
and thereafter; (2) to provide temporary and permanent safeguards, on all
land proposed for development where unstable slopes, highly erodible or
other unusual soil conditions exist or will be created during the course
of development or construction; (3) to provide soil conservation practices
specifically designed for the protection of said lands from erosion,
flooding, siltation or sedimentation resulting from the exposure of the
soil during the period of site clearance, development or construction;
(4) to provide for the establishment of temporary engineering structures
and agronomy practices to prevent erosion and sedimentation.
B. permits.
1. Permit Required for Gradinq, Fillinq~ etc. It shall be unlawful for
any person to change an area of ten thousand (10,000) square feet or
1972-22
more affecting the contour of any lot, parcel, or tract of land in
any zoning district by grading, filling, excavating, or the removal
or destruction of a portion of the natural topsoil or trees or other
vegetative cover thereon for any purpose except agricultural purposes
unless and until a permit for such work is issued by the City Engineer
to the owner of such land or his agent.
Plan Required for Issuance of Permit. A permit for such grading,
filling, excavating, or altering shall be issued upon submission to
and approval by the City Engineer of a plan prepared and certified by
an engineer or land surveyor, as defined by the City Zoning Ordinance
to prevent the accelerated erosion of the soil of said lot, parcel or
tract, and the erosion, flooding, or deposit of silt or sediment upon
adjacent lands or into any nearby watercourse or stream or other body
of water, provided that the City Engineer may require additional or
revised measures from time to time in the event originally approved
measures prove to be inadequate.
This plan may be contained on a separate sheet or included with the
drainage or grading plan.
3. Permit not to Authorize Chanqes in Flood Plain. Approval of the plan
shall not be construed to authorize the construction or alteration of
any structure within the flood plain or to authorize any filling,
grading, or other change of the contour of said flood plain area
without such permit, authorization or approval as may be required by
said Zoning Ordinance.
Standards for Approval of Plan.
The City Engineer shall approve the plan referred to in Sec. B.2 and
issue the permit provided for in Sec. B.1 if such plan satisfies the
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following standards:
1. The development plan shall be fitted to the topography and soils so
as to create the least erosion potential.
2. Whever feasible, allowing for development permitted in the zoning
district in which the land is situated, natural vegetation shall be
retained and protected. If necessary to accomplish the purposes of
this section, the City Engineer may increase the coverage restrictions
contained in other sections of the zoning ordinance to the extent
necessary to accomplish the purposes of this section.
3. Provisions shall be made to effectively accommodate the increased
runoff caused by changed soil and surface conditions during and after
development.
4. Sediment basins and similar structural measures shall be installed
below high sediment-producing areas to remove sediment from runoff
waters from land undergoing development. The owner or his agent shall
make provision for regular inspection of these devices after every
period of heavy rainfall; if more than thirty (30) percent of the
collecting volume is used up, the owner or his agent shall cause ac-
cumulated silt to be removed therefrom.
5. The plan shall establish the construction schedule and the sequence
for installing protective measures and facilities and shall include
provisions for the following:
a. The smallest practicable area of land shall be exposed at any one
time through appropriate planning and sequential phasing at develop-
ment.
b. When land is exposed during development, the exposure shall be kept
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o
to the shortest practical period of time; however, in no case
shall a disturbed area be denuded for more than sixty (60) calendar
days after substantial work has ceased for any reason.
c0 All erosion and siltation control structures shall be placed prior
to or as the first step in grading.
d. Temporary vegetation and/or mulching shall be used to protect
critical areas exposed during development. Storm and sanitary
sewer lines not in streets shall be mulched and seeded within
fifteen (15) days after backfill and not more than five hundred
(500) feet of ditch should be open at any one time. Electric
power, telephone and gas trenches shall be compacted, seeded and
mulched within fifteen (15) days after backfill. All temporary
earth berms, diversions and silt dams shall be mulched and seeded
for temporary vegetative cover within ten (10) days after grading.
Straw or hay mulch is required.
e. The permanent vegetation and structures shall be installed as soon
as practical in the development. Cut and fill slopes and other
exposed areas shall be seeded or sodded immediately upon completion
of final grading.
f. Special measures shall be provided to protect any disturbed area
not paved, sodded or built upon by the first day of November in
each year by seeding, mulching or other appropriate means.
Conservation practices for erosion and sediment control should equal
or exceed the specifications of those contained in the "Technical Hand
Book on Erosion and Sediment Control Practices," by the Northern Vir-
ginia Conservation District and any amendments thereto.
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Fo
Exceptions~.
Where alterations to an existing structure do not involve breaking
ground, no special plats, plans or permits will be required in connection
with erosion control.
Installation and Maintenance A~reement and Bond.
1. Prior to approval of the plan, there shall be executed by the owner or
his agent and submitted with the plan an agreement in form and substance
as approved by the City to establish the measures provided for on the
plan for the control of siltation and erosion, together with a cash bond,
to be held in escrow by the City. The said agreement and bond shall be
provided to insure the installation, maintenance and performance of such
measures. The bond shall be in the amount of the estimated cost of such
measures as determined by the City Engineer. In any case where the Bond
Committee rejects any such agreement or bond, the owner or his agent may
appeal from such decision to the City Council, provided the owner or his
agent has paid to the City of Fairfax the required filing fee.
2. Upon completion of the work required for which the City has received an
installation and maintenance agreement and bond, as required by Section
E.1, the owner or his agent may apply to the City Engineer in writing
for a Certificate of Completion and Discharge of such bond. If the
work is found by the City Engineer to conform to the approved plan
provided for in Sec. B.2 and other applicable regulations and City
ordinances, he shall issue the Certificate within thirty (30) days of
receipt of the application.
Review and Inspection Fee Required.
An erosion control review and inspection fee of $25.00 plus $10.00
per acre (or any fraction thereof) disturbed shall be paid to the City of
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Fairfax at the time of submission of plans to the City Engineer.
If any sections, subsections, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordi-
nance is for any reason held to be void, inconstitutional or for any reason
invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining pro-
visions of this ordinance. The Council hereby declares that it would have
passed this ordinance and every section, subsection, sentence, clause or
phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, sub-
sections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared void, unconstitutional
or invalid.
This ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its passage.
Passed: October 10, 1972.
Attest:
' ~ity Clerk
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