003-13 - Ordinance - Amending Chapter 15.32 Stormwater Management to Authorize Permit ExtensionsIntroduced by: Public Works Director
Requested by: Public Works Director
Drafted by: City Attorney
Reviewed by: City Attorney
Introduced: February 12, 2013
Adopted: February 12, 2013
ORDINANCE NO.003-13
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD, WASHINGTON,
AMENDING CHAPTER 15.32 "STORMWATER MANAGEMENT" TO
AUTHORIZE PERMIT EXTENSIONS
WHEREAS, Port Orchard Municipal Code (POMC) Chapter 15.32 sets forth the
City's stormwater management standards; and
WHEREAS, POMC sections 15.32.03o and 15.32.06o authorize the Director of
Public Works to issue certain permits with a duration not to exceed three years and grading
permits with a duration not to exceed six months for site development activities that are
necessary to comply with stormwater management requirements; and
WHEREAS, due to the economic slowdown, property owners and developers are
finding that development projects may take longer than three years to finance and
construct; and
WHEREAS, the City wishes to encourage development while minimizing the
opportunity for permit speculation that could occur if permits had overly long expiration
dates; now, therefore,
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD, WASHINGTON,
DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION i. Port Orchard Municipal Code section 15.32.030 is hereby amended to
read as follows:
15.32.030 Permits.
(1) Review by Department of Public Works. Proposed site development
activities shall be reviewed by the Port Orchard department of public works to
determine the permits required.
(2) Expiration of Existing Construction Plan Approval. Any construction
plans previously approved by the city prior to September 8,1998, are expired.
Ordinance No.003-13
Page 2 of 8
The director may extend the expiration date if the project is under
construction and progressing satisfactorily towards final completion.
(3) Stormwater Management Permit Required. No site development activity
shall occur until a stormwater management permit has been issued, nor shall
said site development activity continue without a stormwater management
permit in force. A stormwater management permit, issued by the department
of public works, shall be required for any of the following activities:
(a) Site development or redevelopment activities that meet the
definition of a major development.
(b) Site development or redevelopment activities that require
connection to a public storm drainage system.
(c) Grading activities that result in the movement of 150 cubic yards or
more of earth.
(d) Grading activities that will result in a temporary or permanent
slope having a steepness exceeding three to one (three feet horizontal to one
foot vertical) and having a total slope height, measured vertically from toe of
slope to top of slope, exceeding five feet.
(e) Grading activities that include the construction of embankment
berms that will result in the impoundment of water to a depth exceeding 18
inches and/or with a maximum volume exceeding 2,500 cubic feet of water.
(f) Grading activities that will result in the diversion of existing
drainage courses, both natural and manmade, from their natural point of
entry or exit from the grading site.
(g) Any land clearing or grading on slopes steeper than 30 percent, or
within the mandatory setback of a wetland, stream, lake, or Puget Sound, as
established by separate ordinance or by the public works department.
(4) Exemptions. The following activities are exempt from the provisions of
this section:
(a) Commercial agriculture and forest practices regulated under WAC
Title 222;
(b) Development that is undertaken by the Washington . State
Department of Transportation in state highway rights -of -way and is regulated
by Chapter 173-270 WAC, the Puget Sound Highway Runoff Program; and
Ordinance No.003-13
Page 3 of 8
(c) Grading activities described in POMC 15.32.o6o(g).
(5) Permit Requirements. The director shall establish requirements for the
issuance of stormwater management permits, subject to the following
criteria:
(a) All site development activities shall comply with the standards,
specifications, and requirements contained in the stormwater design manual.
(b) The director shall establish fees for stormwater management
permits. Stormwater management permit fees shall include fees for the
review of permit applications and documents and for inspections during
construction.
(c) A stormwater management permit shall expire three years from the
date of issuance if the permitted work has not commenced. If construction
has begun and been documented, the property owner may request a permit
extension in writing prior to the expiration date of the permit. Having the
required inspections performed and approved within every three hundred
sixty days is evidence that work has commenced and is continuing. The
director may grant a one-time extension not to exceed two additional years.
The director shall not grant more than one permit extension. In the event that
a stormwater management permit, and any renewal thereof, expires prior to
the completion of construction, all construction activity must cease, a new
stormwater management permit application must be submitted, and the
issuance of a new stormwater management permit shall be at the discretion
of the director, subject to city site development standards in force at the time
of the new permit application.
(d) Approved stormwater management permit placards shall be
prominently displayed on construction sites at all times until the completion
of all permitted site development activities.
(6) When a Professional Engineer Is Required. Unless otherwise required by
POMC 15.32.050 or 15.32.o6o, stormwater management permit applications
shall require the submittal of documents prepared by a qualified professional
engineer when one of the following conditions exists:
(a) Any land use or building or development on real property which
meets the definition of a major development; or
(b) Any improvements within the boundaries of city rights -of -way for
which Port Orchard will ultimately assume responsibility for maintenance; or
Ordinance No.003-13
Page 4 of 8
(c) Any site development activity that the director deems to be in the
public's best interest to require that certain stormwater management permit
application submittal documents be prepared by a professional civil engineer.
(7) Off -Site Analysis. All stormwater management permit applications which
meet any of the criteria listed in subsection (6) of this section shall include,
along with other required submittal documents, an off -site drainage analysis
as described in POMC 15.32.070(3)(f) and (8)(c) prepared by a qualified
professional engineer and based on a field investigation of the development's
off -site contributing and receiving drainage areas.
(8) Geotechnical Analysis. All stormwater management permit applications
for development activities where grading or the construction of retention
facilities, detention facilities, or other stormwater facilities is proposed within
200 feet of slopes steeper than 30 percent, or where the director deems that
the proposed construction poses a potential hazard due to its proximity to a
slope, shall, when required by the director, include a geotechnical analysis,
prepared by a qualified engineer. Said geotechnical analysis shall address the
effects of ground water interception and infiltration, seepage, potential slip
planes, and changes in soil bearing strength.
(9) Soils Analysis. All stormwater management permit applications which
meet any of the criteria listed in subsection (6) of this section, where the soils
underlying the proposed project have not been mapped, or where existing
soils maps of the project site are inconsistent, or where the director deems
that existing soils maps of the project site are not of sufficient resolution to
allow proper engineering analysis, shall include a soils investigation report.
(10) Permit Modifications. Proposed modifications to an approved
stormwater management permit must be submitted to the department of
public works and be reviewed for compliance with this chapter. Substantial
proposed modifications, as determined by the director, shall require
additional review fees and shall require reissuance of the required permit.
Minor proposed modifications may be accepted by the director without
requiring the reissuance of the accepted permit or the payment of additional
review fees.
(11) Erosion and Sedimentation Control. All final drainage, grading, clearing,
or other site development plans requiring acceptance from the department of
public works shall include a plan for the control of erosion and sedimentation
as required in POMC 15.32.050(1) and (3), for the period beginning with the
commencement of site development activity and continuing without
interruption until permanent site stabilization is achieved.
Ordinance No.003-13
Page 5 of 8
No clearing, grubbing, grading, or other construction activity may take place
on a project site until an erosion and sedimentation control plan has been
approved by the department of public works.
SECTION 2. Port Orchard Municipal Code section 15.32.o6o is hereby amended to
read as follows:
15.32.o6o Grading.
(1) Authority of the Director. The director is the designated agent for the
issuance of stormwater management permits for grading, and shall have the
authority to prepare regulations and set administrative procedures to carry
out the purposes and intent of this section.
(2) Grading Plan Required. Grading projects meeting the criteria of POMC
15.32.030(6) shall be required to have an approved engineered grading plan.
(3) Abbreviated Grading Plan. Grading projects meeting the definition of a
minor development will require an approved abbreviated grading plan in lieu
of an engineered grading plan. An abbreviated grading plan is a grading plan
that does not require the seal of a professional civil engineer.
(4) Erosion and Sedimentation Control. The grading plan shall include a
temporary erosion and sedimentation control plan. The plan shall clearly
indicate the construction sequence for establishment of all erosion and
sedimentation control work, both temporary and permanent. The plan shall
conform to all requirements and standards for erosion and sedimentation
control set forth in POMC 15.32.050.
(5) Drainage.
- (a) All grading activities shall conform to the requirements of this
chapter concerning stormwater management.
(b) Where required by the director, all discharge of runoff from the
project site shall be of like quality, flow rate, and velocity as that which flowed
from the project site prior to the work for which the stormwater management
permit has been issued.
(c) Stormwater flows shall be accepted onto, and shall be discharged
from, a project site at the natural or otherwise legally existing locations.
(6) Minimum Grading Standards. This chapter sets forth minimum standards
which shall apply to grading activities as described in POMC 15•32.030 (3).
Ordinance No.003-13
Page 6 of 8
For circumstances not specifically addressed in this chapter or the
stormwater design manual, the provisions of the Uniform Building Code shall
apply.
(7) Hazards. Whenever the director determines that an existing excavation,
embankment, or fill on private property has become a hazard to public safety,
endangers property, or adversely affects the safety, use or stability of a public
way, critical drainage area, or drainage channel, such conditions shall become
a violation of POMC 15.32.110(9).
(8) Additional Review. Permits regulating grading activities for major
developments may be subject to review and recommendation of approval by
the city planning department.
(9) Permit Exemptions. The following grading activities shall not require the
issuance of a stormwater management permit:
(a) Excavation for utilities, or for wells or tunnels under separate
permit.
(b) An excavation below finished grade for basements and footings of a
building, retaining wall or other structure authorized by a valid building
permit. This shall not exempt the placement of any fill material removed from
such an excavation, and shall not exempt any excavation beyond the limits of
the basement or footing excavations nor exempt excavations having an
unsupported height greater than five feet after the completion of such a
structure.
(c) Agricultural crop management outside of critical drainage areas
limited to the preparation of soil by turning, discing, or other means endorsed
by the Kitsap conservation district.
(d) Excavation for cemetery graves.
(e) Landscape installation where fill is confined to less than one foot of
topsoil and land disturbing activities are limited to less than one acre.
(f) The disposal of solid waste, wood waste, problem waste, and
demolition waste authorized pursuant to Chapter 70.95 RCW, and
regulations presently enacted or as may be amended or as specifically
approved by the Bremerton-Kitsap County health district.
(g) Mining, quarrying, excavating, processing, and/or stockpiling of
rock, sand, gravel, aggregate, or clay where established and provided by law,
Ordinance No.003-13
Page 7 of 8
and a permit for said activity has been issued by the state of Washington or
the federal government, provided such operations do not affect the lateral
support or increase the stresses in or pressure upon any adjacent or
contiguous land.
(h) Exploratory excavations under the direction of a qualified civil
engineer.
(i) Grading activities already approved by separate permit granted by
any governing authority.
0) Emergency sandbagging, diking, ditching, filling, or similar work
during or after periods of extreme weather conditions when done to protect
life or property.
(k) Maintenance activities within public rights -of -way performed by
city personnel. However, exemption from the stormwater management
permit does not constitute an exemption from the other requirements of this
chapter.
(1o) Changes in Site Topography.
(a) The maximum surface gradient on any artificially created slope
shall be two feet of horizontal run to one foot of vertical fall. This gradient
may be increased to that gradient which can be demonstrated through
engineering calculations to be stable, if, in the opinion of the director, it has
been demonstrated by the applicant through engineering calculations
performed by a qualified professional engineer that surface erosion can be
controlled to that erosion rate equal to a properly stabilized two to one slope
under the same conditions.
(b) The applicant shall, at all times, protect adjacent private properties
and public rights -of -way or easements from damage occurring during grading
operations. The applicant shall restore public improvements damaged by
his/her operations.
(c) The applicant shall be responsible for obtaining and coordinating
all required state or federal permits associated with the filling of wetlands or
other regulated activities.
(n) Rockeries and Retaining Structures. Any rockery or other retaining
structure greater than four feet in height shall be permitted under a separate
building permit issued by the city building department.
Ordinance No.003-13
Page 8 of 8
(12) Maintenance. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to maintain all
erosion control and drainage facilities in good operating condition at all
times, as required in POMC 15.32.050.
(13) Progress of Work. All work permitted under this chapter shall proceed
continuously to completion in an expeditious manner unless otherwise
authorized by the director, with the intent that work may be halted due to
weather conditions or the need to coordinate other construction on the
project site. Stormwater management permits, issued for grading only, shall
be administered in accordance with POMC 15•32.030(5)•
SECTION.a. If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance should be
held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or
unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity of constitutionality of any other section,
sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance.
SECTION 4. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect five (5) days after
posting and publication as required bylaw. A summary of this Ordinance maybe published
in lieu of the entire ordinance, as authorized by State Law.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Port Orchard, APPROVED by the Mayor
and attested by the City Clerk in authentication of such passage this 12th day of February
2013.
Timothy C. Matthes, Mayor
ATTEST:
Brandy Rinearson, CMC, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM: Sponsored by:
tit\4i T17177 0,9�•'
GregoA. Ci orney ory `:�? , �°:•,�
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Vol
u, Councilmember
NOTICE OF CITY OF PORT ORCHARD
ORDINANCE
The following is a summary of an Ordinance approved by the Port Orchard City Council at their regular
Council meeting held February 12, 2013.
ORDINANCE NO. 003-13
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD,
WASHINGTON, AMENDING CHAPTER 15.32 "STORMWATER
MANAGEMENT" TO AUTHORIZE PERMIT EXTENSIONS
Copies of Ordinance No. 003-13 are available for review at the office of the City Clerk of the City of Port
Orchard. Upon written request a statement of the full text of the Ordinance will be mailed to any
interested person without charge. Thirty days after publication, copies of Ordinance No. 003-13 will be
provided at a nominal charge.
City of Port Orchard
Brandy Rinearson
City Clerk
Publish: Port Orchard Independent
February 22, 2013