§ 310-3. Minimum requirements.

(a)

General provisions. Excessive soil erosion and resulting sedimentation can take place during land-disturbing activities if requirements of the ordinance and the NPDES general permit are not met. Therefore, plans for those land-disturbing activities which are not exempted by the ordinance from which this article derives, shall contain provisions for application of soil erosion, sedimentation and pollution control measures and practices. The provisions shall be incorporated into the erosion, sedimentation and pollution control plans. Soil erosion, sedimentation and pollution control measures and practices shall conform to the minimum requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of this section. The application of measures and practices shall apply to all features of the site, including street and utility installations, drainage facilities and other temporary and permanent improvements. Measures shall be installed to prevent or control erosion, sedimentation and pollution during all stages of any land-disturbing activity in accordance with requirements of this article and the NPDES general permit.

(b)

Minimum requirements/BMPs.

(1)

Best management practices as set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall be required for all land-disturbing activities. Proper design, installation and maintenance of best management practices shall constitute a complete defense to any action by the director of the EPD of DNR or an authorized representative or to any other allegation of noncompliance with subsection (b)(2) below, or any substantially similar terms contained in a permit for the discharge of stormwater issued pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-5-30(f), the "Georgia Water Quality Control Act". As used in this section the terms "proper design" and "properly designed" mean hydraulic design specifications contained in the "Manual for Erosion and Sediment Control in Georgia" specified in O.C.G.A. § 12-7-6(b).

(2)

A discharge of stormwater runoff from disturbed areas where best management practices have not been properly designed, installed and maintained shall constitute a separate violation of any land-disturbing permit issued by the City or of any state general permit issued by the division pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-5-30(f), the "Georgia Water Quality Control Act", for each day on which such discharge results in the turbidity of receiving waters being increased by more than 25 nephelometric turbidity units for waters supporting warm water fisheries or by more than ten nephelometric turbidity units for waters classified as trout waters. The turbidity of the receiving waters shall be measured in accordance with guidelines to be issued by the director of the EPD of DNR or an authorized representative. This subsection shall not apply to any land disturbance associated with the construction of single-family homes which are not part of a larger common plan of development or sale unless the planned disturbance for such construction is equal to or greater than five acres.

(3)

Failure to properly design, install or maintain best management practices shall constitute a violation of any land-disturbing permit issued by the City or of any state general permit issued by the division pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-5-30(f), the "Georgia Water Quality Control Act", for each day on which such failure occurs.

(4)

The director of the EPD of DNR or an authorized representative may require, in accordance with regulations adopted by the Georgia Board of Natural Resources reasonable and prudent monitoring of the turbidity level of receiving waters into which discharges from land-disturbing activities occur.

(5)

The City may set more stringent buffer requirements than stated in subsections (c)(15) and (16) of this section, in light of O.C.G.A. § 12-7-6(c).

(c)

The rules and regulations, ordinances or resolutions adopted pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-7-1 et seq., for the purpose of governing land-disturbing activities shall require, as a minimum, protections at least as stringent as the state general permit; and best management practices, including sound conservation and engineering practices to prevent and minimize erosion and resultant sedimentation, which are consistent with, and no less stringent than, those practices contained in the Manual for Erosion and Sediment Control in Georgia, published by the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission as of January 1 of the year in which the land-disturbing activity was permitted, as well as the following:

(1)

Stripping of vegetation, regrading and other development activity shall be conducted in a manner so as to minimize erosion;

(2)

Cut-fill operations must be kept to a minimum;

(3)

Development plans must conform to topography and soil type so as to create the lowest practical erosion potential;

(4)

Whenever feasible, natural vegetation shall be retained, protected and supplemented;

(5)

The disturbed area and the duration of exposure to erosive elements shall be kept to a practicable minimum;

(6)

Disturbed soil shall be stabilized as quickly as practicable;

(7)

Temporary vegetation or mulching shall be employed to protect exposed critical areas during development;

(8)

Permanent vegetation and structural erosion control practices shall be installed as soon as practicable;

(9)

To the extent necessary, sediment in runoff water must be trapped by the use of debris basins, sediment basins, silt traps, or similar measures until the disturbed area is stabilized. As used in this subsection, a disturbed area is stabilized when it is brought to a condition of continuous compliance with the requirements of O.C.G.A. § 12-7-1 et seq.;

(10)

Adequate provisions must be provided to minimize damage from surface water to the cut face of excavations or the sloping of fills;

(11)

Cuts and fills may not endanger adjoining property;

(12)

Fills may not encroach upon natural watercourses or constructed channels in a manner so as to adversely affect other property owners;

(13)

Grading equipment must cross flowing streams by means of bridges or culverts except when such methods are not feasible; provided, in any case, that such crossings are kept to a minimum;

(14)

Land-disturbing activity plans for erosion, sedimentation and pollution control shall include provisions for treatment or control of any source of sediments and adequate sedimentation control facilities to retain sediments on-site or preclude sedimentation of adjacent waters beyond the levels specified in Subsection (b) of this section;

(15)

Except as provided in Subsection (c)(16) of this section, there is established a 25-foot buffer along the banks of all state waters, as measured horizontally from the point where vegetation has been wrested by normal stream flow or wave action, except where the director of the EPD of DNR or an authorized representative determines to allow a variance that is at least as protective of natural resources and the environment, where otherwise allowed by the director of the EPD of DNR or an authorized representative pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-2-8, or where a drainage structure or a roadway drainage structure must be constructed; provided that adequate erosion control measures are incorporated in the project plans and specification, and are implemented along any ephemeral stream. As used in this provision, the term "ephemeral stream" means a stream that under normal circumstances has water flowing only during and for a short duration after precipitation events; that has the channel located above the groundwater table year-round; for which groundwater is not a source of water and for which runoff from precipitation is the primary source of water flow. Unless exempted as along any ephemeral stream, the buffers, as defined in Chapter 110, of at least 25 feet established pursuant to O.C.G.A. tit. 12, ch. 5, art. 5, pt. 6, the "Georgia Water Quality Control Act", shall remain in force unless a variance is granted by the director of the EPD of DNR or an authorized representative as provided in this subsection. The following requirements shall apply to any such buffer:

a.

No land-disturbing activities shall be conducted within a buffer and a buffer shall remain in its natural, undisturbed state of vegetation until all land-disturbing activities on the construction site are completed. Once the final stabilization of the site is achieved, a buffer may be thinned or trimmed of vegetation as long as a protective vegetative cover remains to protect water quality and aquatic habitat and a natural canopy is left in sufficient quantity to keep shade on the stream bed; provided, however, that any person constructing a single-family residence, when such residence is constructed by or under contract with the owner for his or her own occupancy, may thin or trim vegetation in a buffer at any time as long as protective vegetative cover remains to protect water quality and aquatic habitat and a natural canopy is left in sufficient quantity to keep shade on the stream bed; and

b.

The buffer shall not apply to the following land-disturbing activities, provided that they occur at an angle, as measured from the point of crossing, within 25 degrees of perpendicular to the stream; cause a width of disturbance of not more than 50 feet within the buffer; and adequate erosion control measures are incorporated into the project plans and specifications and are implemented:

1.

Stream crossings for water lines; or

2.

Stream crossings for sewer lines.

(16)

There is established a 50-foot buffer as measured horizontally from the point where vegetation has been wrested by normal stream flow or wave action, along the banks of any state waters classified as "trout streams" pursuant to O.C.G.A. tit. 12, ch. 5, art. 2, the "Georgia Water Quality Control Act", except where a roadway drainage structure must be constructed; provided, however, that small springs and streams classified as trout streams which discharge an average annual flow of 25 gallons per minute or less shall have a 25-foot buffer or they may be piped, at the discretion of the landowner, pursuant to the terms of a rule providing for a general variance promulgated by the board, so long as any such pipe stops short of the downstream landowner's property and the landowner complies with the buffer requirement for any adjacent trout streams. The director of the EPD of DNR or an authorized representative may grant a variance from such buffer to allow land-disturbing activity, provided that adequate erosion control measures are incorporated in the project plans and specifications and are implemented. The following requirements shall apply to such buffer:

a.

No land-disturbing activities shall be conducted within a buffer and a buffer shall remain in its natural, undisturbed, state of vegetation until all land-disturbing activities on the construction site are completed. Once the final stabilization of the site is achieved, a buffer may be thinned or trimmed of vegetation as long as a protective vegetative cover remains to protect water quality and aquatic habitat and a natural canopy is left in sufficient quantity to keep shade on the stream bed; provided, however, that any person constructing a single-family residence, when such residence is constructed by or under contract with the owner for his or her own occupancy, may thin or trim vegetation in a buffer at any time as long as protective vegetative cover remains to protect water quality and aquatic habitat and a natural canopy is left in sufficient quantity to keep shade on the stream bed; and

b.

The buffer shall not apply to the following land-disturbing activities, provided that they occur at an angle, as measured from the point of crossing, within 25 degrees of perpendicular to the stream; cause a width of disturbance of not more than 50 feet within the buffer; and adequate erosion control measures are incorporated into the project plans and specifications and are implemented:

1.

Stream crossings for water lines; or

2.

Stream crossings for sewer lines.

(d)

The fact that land-disturbing activity for which a permit has been issued results in injury to the property of another, shall neither constitute proof of, nor create a presumption of a violation of the standards provided for in this article or the terms of the permit.

(Ord. No. 743 , 12-19-17)