Wrentham City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XIV
Earth Removal
§ 390-14.1 Special permit required; rules and regulations; waivers.
A.
The removal of earth from land in all zoning districts in the Town of Wrentham (other than earth removal operations specifically exempt from the operation of this article as provided in § 390-14.3) shall be permitted only by special permit granted by the Planning Board, which shall be the special permit granting authority under this article. (Note: The special permit process shall, by law, conform to MGL c. 40A.)
B.
The Planning Board may establish rules and regulations governing special permit application forms, fees, and other items that may be necessary to administer this article.
C.
The Planning Board shall have the authority to waive or minimize the requirements of this article should the Board, in its discretion, find that compliance with the requirements would not serve to reduce the impacts of the proposed project to the natural environment.
§ 390-14.2 Definitions.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Includes nonorganic material normally and naturally composing part of the world's surface, excluding water, but including peat and any material under water.
The severance of any earth, as defined above, from its natural location on a site, whether or not such earth is moved from the site to another location on the same site or off the site.
§ 390-14.3 Exemptions.
A special permit shall not be required under this article for:
A.
Excavations incidental to the construction of the foundation of buildings or of walks, driveways, septic systems or swimming pools, provided the quantity of material removed shall not exceed that displaced by the portions of construction below finished grade. (Note: Excavations and/or earth removal made or done to complete the construction of ways and the installation of drainage and municipal services pursuant to a definitive subdivision plan submitted to the Planning Board under the Subdivision Control Law shall not come under the scope of this article, provided that the total amount of material to be disturbed or removed does not exceed four cubic yards per linear foot of road.) All other earth-moving activities, including individual lot grading, whether adding or removing earth, require review and approval by the Planning Board, pursuant to this bylaw, to ensure that proper lot drainage and site grading issues are addressed.
B.
Excavation in the course of normal and customary agricultural, horticultural or floricultural use of land. (Note: Excavations made in the building of farm ponds and those that will result in the lowering of existing elevations by more than two feet shall not be deemed normal and customary within the meaning of the foregoing.) Earth removal work shall not be exempted under this subsection unless the use conforms to the limitations in MGL c. 40A, § 3, and the affected parcel exceeds five acres.
C.
Excavation in the normal operation of a cemetery.
D.
Excavation underway at the time of the adoption of this article, but only to the extent that such operation shall have the status of a nonconforming use within the meaning of MGL c. 40A, § 6.
E.
Any parcel of land that is a lot in public use which is either above or under water, provided the amount of material excavated and removed off the lot does not exceed 250 cubic yards; and the amount of material removed within the lot from one location to another location within the lot does not exceed 1,000 cubic yards.
F.
Landscaping purposes in which a building permit is not required and in which the amount of material removed off the lot does not exceed 50 cubic yards; while the amount of material to be removed within the lot from one location to another location does not exceed 100 cubic yards. This operation can be done only once within a period of 12 consecutive months.
§ 390-14.4 Application; filing fee.
A.
Application. The application shall include the following specific information:
(1)
The location of the property upon which excavation is proposed, identified by both Assessor's Lot Number and street address, if an address has been assigned to the property, and identified by the Registry of Deeds book and page;
(2)
The name and address of the petitioner;
(3)
The name and address of the property owner;
(4)
The name and address of any mortgagees;
(5)
A certified list of the names and addresses of all abutters;
(6)
An estimated number of cubic yards of earth proposed for removal and an estimate, based on field data, of the number of cubic yards of loam that will be stripped and stockpiled.
B.
Filing fee. The filing fee shall be established as part of the Planning Board rules and regulations governing earth removal.
§ 390-14.5 Site plan.
All applications for earth removal shall be accompanied by a site plan in accordance with Article VII of the Town of Wrentham's Zoning Bylaws.
A.
The plan shall be prepared and certified by a registered civil engineer, licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and shall show the following, in addition to the requirements of Article VII:
(1)
All the property where the earth is to be removed, showing boundary lines in detail and the names of abutters;
(2)
The elevations of abutting land at the lot lines;
(3)
All adjacent roads and structures, public or private, their elevations and established grades;
(4)
All waterways, brooks, swamps, Watershed Protection, Aquifer Protection and Floodplain Districts on the locus and their respective elevations;
(5)
Existing and proposed contours at two-foot intervals, with all profiles drawn to a scale of one inch equals eight feet;
(6)
A minimum of two vertical control benchmarks (one to be permanent) must be established and maintained on site on the National Geodetic Vertical Datum, U.S. Geological Survey base to the closest hundredth of a foot (0.01 foot) before any excavation starts, with an additional benchmark similarly provided per each additional four acres or portion thereof on the site; and
B.
The applicant shall provide the Board with a .pdf version of the plan and other application submittals and reports by email, compact disc or thumb drive.
§ 390-14.6 General requirements.
The applicant for the special permit must introduce evidence establishing, and the Planning Board must make specific findings of fact, that each of the following general requirements will be met:
A.
That the earth removal may be accomplished without unreasonable danger to the health, safety and general welfare of the inhabitants of the Town in general nor to that of those in the immediate vicinity;
B.
That the earth removal will not produce unreasonable noise, dust, or other effects observable as detrimental to the normal use of adjacent land;
C.
That the earth removal and change in topography may be accomplished without adverse effect to abutting land by reason of surface water drainage nor to the recharge of the water table nor to the pumping rate of any nearby Town well site;
D.
That the earth removal will not have a material adverse effect on the health or safety of persons living in the neighborhood or on the use or amenities of adjacent land.
§ 390-14.7 Specifications.
All work performed under a special permit granted under this article shall be done in accordance with the following specifications, which shall be deemed to be incorporated therein by reference:
A.
All trees are to be cut, not bulldozed. All trees and brush are to be chipped on site unless removed for commercial purposes. Stumps may be buried in a disposal area designated on the site plan at a depth which will provide a six-foot cover at finished grade. A plan designating the disposal area shall be recorded with the special permit at the Registry of Deeds. The applicant shall dispose of any wood wastes in accordance with DEP Wood Waste Policy and the Massachusetts Solid Waste Regulations for the disposal of less than and greater than 200 cubic yards.
B.
All loam and topsoil must be scraped and stockpiled on the site for use in later landscaping. No loam or topsoil may be removed from the site.
C.
Excavation to the property line is not permitted. The site plan shall designate a minimum fifty-foot buffer strip along the property lines where the earth and vegetation shall remain undisturbed. The Planning Board may reduce the requirement for a buffer zone if the affected abutters petition in writing for a reduction in the buffer zone or if in the Planning Board's discretion the need for a buffer zone is not in the Town's best interests. The Planning Board may consider any comments made during the public hearing in making its decision.
D.
Earth must be removed to contours set forth in the approved site plan. Boulders must be buried at a depth which will provide a six-foot cover at finished grade. Ledge shall not be left exposed under normal circumstances. If ledge is encountered, the permittee must either remove it or submit a revised site plan for approval, which must be approved before work is continued. The use of ledge or rock outcroppings as part of the finished landscaping may be incorporated into a natural or designated environment landscape plan for consideration by the Planning Board. A plan showing the location of any on-site disposal areas of excessive boulders (ledge) that exceed 30 square feet shall be recorded with the special permit at the Registry of Deeds.
E.
Slopes shall not exceed a 3:1 ratio and a 4:1 ratio is preferred where practical. A 4:1 slope may be required in areas determined to be sensitive by the special permit granting authority.
F.
Earth removal shall be carried out in four-acre grids and not over the entire site at one time. After each such grid has been excavated, the land shall be brought to rough finish grade and loam spread to a depth of not less than six inches to bring the land to finished grade before proceeding to the next excavation area. This regraded area must then be seeded with an acceptable perennial grass at the rate of not less than 200 pounds per acre and the area maintained until the grass heights have reached the two-inch minimum. In appropriate cases, the permit granting authority may modify this requirement in the light of special requirements of site work to allow regrading at the end of the removal operation upon making specific findings of fact as to why such modification is required and subject to particular conditions set forth pursuant to § 390-14.8.
G.
The regrading and seeding of each grid of disturbed area shall be completed, according to specification, within 30 days of the completion of excavation of the grid, expiration of the special permit or upon cessation of operations, whichever occurs first.
H.
Finished grades shall be as indicated on the approved site plan. In general, finished grades may not be designed to be below the level of any abutting public way unless the special permit granting authority determines, based upon satisfactory engineering data, that a finished grade below the elevation of an abutting way is advantageous to the plan for future use of the property.
I.
Topsoil must be spread to a depth of not less than six inches over disturbed areas and seeded and maintained as stated previously.
J.
Fingerling fir, white pine or other approved tree cover shall be planted over the entire disturbed area at five feet to six feet on center.
K.
No excavation shall be made at less than 10 feet above annual high water table as established from test pits and soil borings. A minimum of three observation wells shall be monitored for one year to establish the high water table ground plane elevation. Additional wells may be necessary on sites exceeding 10 acres. This data shall be shown on the site plan submitted to the Planning Board for approval and on a permanent monument placed on the property and shown on the site plan. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the permittee from the construction of approved ponds, wetlands or the like. Said construction may also require approval under the provisions of MGL c. 131 and/or Town of Wrentham Wetland Protection Bylaws.[1]
L.
All access roads leading to public ways shall be treated to minimize dust and mud for a distance of not less than 200 feet back from the public way. Any spillage on public ways shall be cleaned by the applicant on a twice-daily basis, one time being following the normal working hours.
M.
Unless the site conditions expressly require alteration of drainage patterns, the land shall be left so that natural storm drainage shall leave the property at the original natural drainage points; and so that the total discharge at peak flow, and the area of drainage to any one point, is not increased; and so that the hydrography of any post-development stream is the same as that of the pre-development stream.
N.
Any earth removal in the vicinity or within wetland areas governed by MGL c. 131 or other wetlands-related laws shall also be subject to orders of conditions from the Conservation Commission. Whether such proposed earth removal projects fall within the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission shall be determined by the Conservation Commission and the applicable Town, state and federal laws.
§ 390-14.8 Particular conditions.
The permit granting authority may, in approving an application, impose reasonable particular conditions deemed necessary in the light of special conditions. Special conditions may include, but without limitation, the proximity of residential or commercial uses that might be affected by dust, blasting with respect to ledge removal, drainage matters, lateral support of abutting property and the like. The permit granting authority shall set forth particular hours of operation for each individual operation as a particular condition.
§ 390-14.9 Environmental assessment.
An environmental impact assessment shall be filed with an application involving the proposed removal of more than 1,500 cubic yards of earth. The environmental assessment shall be prepared in accordance with Article VIII of the Town Zoning Bylaws.
§ 390-14.10 Monitoring requirements.
The applicant shall be responsible for monitoring the amount of earth removed from the site. A biweekly report, prepared and certified by a registered civil engineer, licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, shall be forwarded to the permit granting authority for the duration of the earth removal project. The report shall include, as a minimum, a daily account, on an hourly basis, of the number of truckloads of earth removed from the site, the number of cubic yards of earth contained in each truckload, daily and weekly totals of the number of cubic yards of earth removed from the site and a cumulative total, from project inception to date, of the number of cubic yards of earth removed from the site.
§ 390-14.11 Bond.
Prior to the start of any work under a special permit granted hereunder, a surety company bond or deposit of money (which may take the form of an assignment of a bank account assented to by the depository bank) of not less than $5,000 per acre shall be delivered to the permit granting authority to ensure compliance with this bylaw and of the particular conditions, if any, imposed in granting the permit. The bond shall have a term of not less than two years beyond the estimated completion date of the earth removal project. If the permit granting authority finds that extraordinary conditions require additional surety, a bond in excess of $5,000 per acre may be required. In establishing such a sum, the permit granting authority shall specifically enumerate the special conditions which it deems to require such additional sum as it may set. Such bond or other security shall be held by the Town Treasurer until the permit holder submits an "as built" plan, prepared and certified by a registered civil engineer licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, showing that all excavation has been to grades approved on the site plan, and that all restoration work has been completed.
§ 390-14.12 Violations and penalties.
A violation of this article shall be punishable by a fine of not less than the maximum permissible limit set forth by MGL c. 40A, § 7, as amended. Each truckload of earth removed from the site in violation of this article shall constitute a separate offense. Each late delivery of the biweekly monitoring report shall also constitute a separate offense, with the late delivery defined as being postmarked five days beyond the scheduled delivery date.