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BYLAW - By law to Replace Topsoil Conservation By law - 19920527 - 339992BY-LAW NO. 3399-92 OF THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF AURORA BEING A BY-LAW to protect and conserve Topsoil within the , Town of Aurora .~·. WHEREAS the Topsoil Preservation Act, R.S.O. 1990 c.T.12 (as amended) provides that Councils of Municipalities may pass by-Jaws to regulate or prohibit the removal of Topsoil and to provide for the rehabilitation of lands from which Topsoil has been removed. NOW THEREFORE the Council of the Corporation of the Town of Aurora enacts as follows: 1. For the purpose of this By-Law, the following definitions and interpretations shall govern. 1.1 "Director" means the Director of Public Works appointed by the Council of the Corporation of the Town of Aurora. 1.2 "Corporation" means The Corporation of the Town of Aurora. 1.3 "Council" means Council of the Corporation of the Town of Aurora. 1.4 "Lot" means a parcel of land, described in a deed or other document legally capable of conveying land, or shown as a Lot or Block on a registered plan of subdivision. 1.5 "Topsoil" means that horizon in a soil profile known as the "A" horizon, containing organic material. 1.6 "Erosion" means the detachment and movement of soil, sediment or rock fragments by water, wind, ice or gravity. 1.7 "Land Disturbance" means any man-made change of the land surface including removing vegetative cover, excavating, filling and grading. 1. 8 "Land Development" means the construction of buildings, roads, parking lots, paved storage areas and similar facilities. 1.9 "Owner" includes the registered owner of a property and a lessor, lessee, tenant, mortgagee in possession or person in charge or control of any property. 1.10 "Person" includes a Corporation, a Partnership and a natural individual. 1.11 "Site" means the lands, or lot, for which it is proposed to conduct any Land Disturbance. 2. No owner of any Lot or his agents, servants or employees shall remove or permit the removal of any Topsoil from any point on the surface of any Lot within the Town of Aurora, which causes Land Disturbance to a Lot of 2 hectares or greater, unless: 2.1 The exemptions contained in Section 2 (Subsections 2 and 3) of the Topsoil Preservation Act, R.S.O. 1990 c.T.l2 (as amended) apply to the removal; or 2.2 A Topsoil Removal Permit has been issued therefore by the Director and all terms and reconcilements of the Topsoil Removal Permit have been and continue to be complied with during the term of the Topsoil Removal Permit. '" . 2 3. All applications for Topsoil Removal Permits shall be made by the owner of the Lot, or his authorized agent, in writing to the Director, or such other person or office as Council may from time to time appoint, during normal business hours. ' ' 4. The fee for a permit to remove Topsoil shall be established by Council on a per hectare basis, or fraction thereof, as detailed in Schedule 11 A 11 from time to time. Further, the owner shall deposit a letter of credit to ensure site management control measures as detailed in Schedule 11 A 11 from time to time. 5. All applications for Topsoil Removal Permits shall be in a form established by the Director from time to time and shall be filed with the Public Works Department before any Topsoil Removal Permit may be issued. The application shall contain all information required therein and be duly executed by the applicant. 6. Topsoil Removal Permits shall only be issued after approval or acceptance of the application by the Director or a person appointed by the Director. 7. No Topsoil Removal Permits shall be issued unless the applicant provides a control plan(s) for Erosion, sedimentation control and rehabilitation for the affected land. Monitoring and maintenance of control measures may be undertaken by the Director or his appointee during the term of the permit. The permit may be revoked if non- cqmpliance of control measures occurs. Permits will be valid for a period of 180 days from the date of issuance. The Director may extend the permit one or more times for additional 180 day periods. Additional control measures, improvements to existing control measures and additional permit fees may be required. 8. The Topsoil Removal Permit may require that rehabilitation of lands from which Topsoil have been removed shall take the form of any or all of the following requirements: (1) Levelling and regrading of affected Lands. (2) Planting of trees. (3) The replacement of Topsoil (minimum lOcm depth) and stabilization by either sodding, hydroseeding, mulching or such other methods as may be stipulated by the Director. 9. As a condition for issuance of the Topsoil Removal Permit all sedimentation basins and other control measures necessary to meet the requirements of this By-Law shall be in place prior to any land disturbance of the site. These measures shall be maintained by the Topsoil Removal Permit holder or subsequent landowner during the period of land disturbance in a manner satisfactory to the Director to ensure adequate compliance with the requirements of this By-Law and to prevent damage occurring as a result of erosion, sedimentation or flooding. 10. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this By-Law, the Director may waive the requirement for a Control Plan if it is unnecessary to provide for control measures in connection with the removal of Topsoil and may therefore reduce the fee for the Topsoil Removal Permit. 11. The Director shall issue a Topsoil Removal Permit where the requirements of this By- Law are met and where the Director is satisfied that no damage will occur as a result of erosion, sedimentation or flooding and that the land will be rehabilitated to the same or better condition than it was in at the time prior to the removal of the topsoil for which the Topsoil Removal Permit is issued. 12. Where the Director refuses to issue a Topsoil Removal Permit, the applicant shall be informed in writing of the refusal and may be required to provide additional information if the application is to be given further consideration. 3 13. Any Lot which has been the site of previous or on-going Land Disturbances or Land Development prior to the passing of this By-Law is subject to the conditions set forth in this By-Law. 14. Any owner who contravenes any provision or requirement of this By-Law may be issued a Notice of Contravention by the Director advising of the contravention and setting forth the period of time within which the corrective measures specified in the Notice of Contravention must be implemented to the satisfaction of the Director. 15. Any owner who contravenes this By-Law may by Order of the Director, be directed to forthwith cease and desist all operations with respect to Topsoil removal. 16. Every Owner who: (1) provides misleading or false information in an application under this By-Law in any statement or plan required to be produced under this By-Law; (2) fails to comply with any Notice of Contravention, Order of the Director or other requirement under this By-Law; or (3) contravenes any provision or requirement of this By-Law and every director or officer of a corporation who concurs in such production, failure or contravention is guilty of an offence and on conviction pursuant to the Provincial Offences Act, R.S.O. 1990, C.P. -33 (as amended) is liable to the maximum penalty as prescribed by the Provincial Offences Act. 17. The issuance of a Topsoil Removal Permit does not preclude the applicants' responsibility to obtain all other approvals as may be necessary from any other government or agency. 18. All Schedules attached to this By-Law shall form part of this By-Law. 19. In the event that any particular provision or provisions or part of a provision is found to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever, then the particular provision or provisions or part of the provision shall be deemed to be severed from the remainder of this By-Law and all other provisions shall remain in full force and shall be valid and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law. 20. By-law 3208-90 be and is hereby repealed. 21. Provisions for this By-Law come into force and effect on final passage by Council. READ A FIRST AND SECOND TIME THIS 27th DAY OF _ ___:.MA=Y"'----19 901 READ A THIRD TIME AND FINAL PASSED THIS DAY OF _ _,_MA:..:Y:::..._ __ 19 9d. J.WEST,M~~ L. U ON, MUNICIPAL CLERK SCHEDULE "A" TO BY-LAW #3399-92 TOPSOIL REMOVAL PERMIT FEES l. Basic Permit fee for 180 day permit: $200.00 2. Fee per hectare or fraction thereof: $ 20.00 per hectare 3. Maximum fee for 180 day permit: $1000.00 Example: 15 ha. = $200 + ($20 x 15 ha.) = $500.00 Note: Fees include inspection of control plans by Town Staff. LETTER OF CREDIT FOR SITE MANAGEMENT CONTROL MEASURES An irrevocable letter of credit to cover 100% of estimated site management control measures is required. All Letters of Credit must: be in the name of the registered owner of the property with the company name precisely spelled out; include accurate reference of the property by means of legal description (eg. Lot 5, Plan 65M-2000); be issued by one of the five major Chartered Banks (Montreal, Nova Scotia, Commerce, Royal, Toronto Dominion); be submitted to the Public Works Department prior to signing of the Topsoil Removal Permit; be worded in accordance with the attached example. The Town of Aurora 100 John West Way Box No. 1000 Aurora, Ontario lAG 611 LEIIER OF CREDIT FORM We hereby authorize you to draw on the <Bank) , Ontario for the account of an aggregate amount of----------- --------Dollars available by drafts at sight as follows: Pursuant to the request of our customer, the said <Am>licant) we, <Bank) hereby establish and give to you an Irrevocable Standby Letter of Credit in your favour in the total amount of which may be drawn upon us by you and which demand, we shall honour without enquiring whether you have the right as between yourselves and our said customer to make such demand and without recognizing any claim of our said customer. Provided, however, that you are to deliver to the <Bank) , Ontario at such time as a written demand for payment is made upon us, the original Standby Letter of Credit for our endorsement of any payment thereon accompanied by a certificate signed by you agreeing and/or confirming that monies drawn pursuant to this Standby Letter of Credit are to be and/or have been expended pursuant to obligations incurred or to be incurred by you in connection with issuance of a Topsoil Removal Permit as issued to -....,.----by The Corporation of the Town of Aurora re: <Legal Description and Municipal Address of Property). The amount of this Standby Letter of Credit may only be reduced by drawings endorsed hereon and/or by notice in writing given to us by you. This Standby Letter of Credit will continue up to and will expire on that date and you may call for payment of the full amount outstanding under this Standby Letter of Credit at any time up to that date. It is a condition of this Standby Letter of Credit that it shall be deemed to be automatically extended for one year from the present or any future expiration date hereof, unless thirty days prior to any such date we shall notify you in writing that we elect not to consider this Standby Letter of Credit renewed for any such additional period. Upon receipt by you of such notice, you may draw hereunder by means of your sight draft accompanied by your above written certificate. The drafts drawn under this Credit are to state on their face that they are drawn under the ______ -..!<B~an!!.!k!..l) ___ , Ontario, Standby Letter of Credit No. ------ dated 19 __ . We hereby agree that drafts under this Credit will be duly honoured upon presentation provided that all terms and conditions of the Credit have been complied with. SCHEDULE "B" TO BY-LAW #3399-92 TOPSOIL BY-LAW -ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE PERMIT APPLICATION No owner of any lot or his agents, servants or employees shall remove or permit the removal of any topsoil from any lands with an area of 2 hectares or greater without receiving prior approval of a control plan for the site by the Director of Public Works and a permit from the Public Works Department. Permit fees are on a per hectare basis, or fraction thereof as detailed in Schedule 11 A 11 of the By- Law. CONTROL PLAN Applicants will submit the following documents with their permit application: (a) Existing Site Map: A map of existing conditions on a scale of 1:1000 or greater detailing: (1) Site boundaries and adjacent lands which accurately identify site location as well as a key plan; (2) Lakes, streams, wetlands, channels, ditches and other water courses on and immediately adjacent to the site; (3) Regional Storm Flood Plain and Conservation Authority Fill Regulation line; (4) Location of the predominant soil types; (5) Vegetative cover; (6) Location and dimensions of stormwater drainage systems and natural drainage patterns on and immediately adjacent to the site; (7) Locations and dimensions of utilities, structures, roads, highways, and paving; and (8) Site topography at a contour interval not to exceed one metre. (b) Plan of Final Site Conditions: A plan of final site conditions after the Land Disturbance on the same scale as the existing site map showing the site changes. (c) Site Construction Plan: A site construction plan and covering document including: (1) Locations and dimensions of all proposed Land Disturbance activities; (2) Locations and dimensions of ·ail temporary soil or dirt stockpiles; (3) Locations and dimensions of all construction site management control measures including calculations necessary to meet the requirements of this By-law; (4) Schedule of anticipated starting and completion date of each land disturbing or land developing activity including the installation of construction site management control measures needed to meet the requirements of this By-law, and (5) Provisions for maintenance of the construction site control measures during construction. REVIEW OF CONTROL PLAN Within 45 days of receipt of the application, control plan, and fee, the Public Works Department shall review the application and control plan to determine if the requirements of this By-law are met. The Public Works Department may request comments from other department or agencies. If the requirements of the By-law are met, the Public Works Department shall approve the plan and notify the applicant and issue a permit. If the conditions are not met, the Public Works Department shall inform the applicant in writing and may either require needed information or disapprove the plan. Within 30 days of receipt of needed information, the Public Works Department shall again determine if the plan meets the requirements and if the plan is disapproved, the Public Works Department shall inform the applicant in writing of the reasons for the disapproval. PERMITS (a) Duration: Permits shall be valid for a period of 180 days, or the length of the building permit or other construction authorizations, whichever is longer, from the date of issuance. The Public Works Department may extend the period one or more times for additional 180 day periods. The Public Works Department may require additional control measures as a condition of the extension if they are necessary to meet the requirements of this By-law. (b) Letter of Credit: As a condition of approval and issuance of the permit, the Public Works Department will require the applicant to deposit an irrevocable letter of credit in an amount equal to 100% of the cost of work to guarantee a good faith execution of the approved control plan and any permit conditions. (c) Pennit Conditions: All permits shall require the permittee to: (1) Notify the Public Works Department with 48 hours of commencing any land disturbing activity; (2) Notify the Public Works Department of completion of any control measures with 14 days after their installation; (3) Obtain permission in writing from the Public Works Department prior to modifying the control plan; ( 4) Install all control measures as identified in the approved control plan; '·-. ' (5) Maintain all road drainage systems, stormwater drainage systems, control measures and other facilities identified in the control plan; (6) Repair any siltation or erosion damage to adjoining surfaces and drainageways resulting from land developing or disturbing activities; (7) Inspect the construction control measures after each rain of lcm or more and at least once each week and make needed repairs; (8) Allow the Public Works Department to enter the site for the purpose of inspecting compliance with the control plan or for performing any work necessary to bring the site into compliance with the control plan; and (9) Maintain a copy of the control plan on site during any site activity. INSPECTION The Public Works Department shall inspect construction sites at least once a month during the period starting March 1 and ending October 31 and at least 2 times during the period starting November 1 and ending February 28 to ensure compliance with the control plan. DEFAULT BY OWNER (1) Upon the failure by the Owner to complete all or part of the works in the time stipulated in the Control Plan, the Town may draw the appropriate amount from the securities posted and use the funds to arrange for the completion of the said works, or any part thereof; (2) Upon the failure by the Owner to repair or maintain a specific part of the works as requested by the City, and in the time requested, the City may at any time authorize the use of all or part of the securities to pay the cost of any part of the work it may in its or their absolute discretion deem necessary; or (3) In the case of emergency repairs or clean-up, the City may undertake the necessary works at the expense of the Owner and reimburse itself out of securities posted by the applicant. OTHER AGENCY APPROVALS This permit does not preclude applicants responsibility to obtain all other approvals as may be required by other agencies. SCHEDULE "C" TO BY-LAW #3399-92 TOPSOIL BY-LAW SITE DESIGN CRITERIA The following requirements shall be met on all sites of 2 hectares or greater where topsoil is being removed. 1. Site Dewatering Water pumped from the site shall be treated by temporary sedimentation basins, grit chambers, sand filters, upflow chambers, swirl concentrators or other appropriate controls. If the water is demonstrated to have no particles greater than 40 microns, then dewatering operations may be conducted provided the water is not permitted to discharge directly into receiving water streams or bodies. 2. Waste and Material Disposal All waste and unused building materials (including garbage, cleaning wastes, wastewater, toxic materials, or hazardous materials) shall be properly disposed and not allowed to be carried by runoff into a receiving channel or storm sewer system. 3. Tracking Each site shall have gravelled roads, access drives and parking areas of sufficient width and length to prevent sediment from being tracked onto public or private roadways. In addition, a temporary construction entrance must be installed at all sites to remove mud from the vehicle tires and keep it off roads. The temporary entrance will be a minimum 25 metre by 4 metre strip of clear stone 15cm deep with a woven filter fabric underneath to prevent the gravel from sinking into the ground. If this measure is insufficient a wash rack may be required at the entrance. Any sediment reaching a public or private road shall be removed by street cleaning (not flushing) before the end of each workday. 4. Drain Inlet Protection All storm drain inlets shall be protected with fllter fabric, or equivalent barrier meeting accepted design criteria, standards and specifications. 5. Site Erosion Control The following criteria apply only to land development or land disturbing activities that result in runoff leaving the site: (a) Channelized runoff from adjacent areas passing through the site shall be diverted around disturbed areas. Otherwise, the channel shall be protected by filter fences being placed along the channel edges to reduce sediment reaching the channel. (b) All activities on the site shall be conducted in a logical sequence to minimize the area of bare soil exposed at any one time. (c) Runoff from the entire disturbed area on the site shall be controlled as follows: (i) All disturbed ground left inactive shall be stabilized by seeding, sodding, mulching or covering, or any other measure deemed acceptable by the Director. The period of time of inactivity will be at the discretion of the Director but will not exceed 30 days. (ii) For sites with less than 4 hectares distmbed at one time and slopes less than 12 percent grade, filter fences, or equivalent control measures shall be placed along all sideslope and downslope sides of the site; (iii) For sites with more than 4 hectares disturbed at one time or with slopes greater than 12 percent grade, or if a channel originates in the disturbed area, one or more sedimentation basins shall be constructed. Each sedimentation basin shall have a surface area of a least 1 percent of the area draining to be the basin and at least 1 metre of depth and constructed in accordance with accepted design specifications. Sediment shall be removed to maintain a depth of 1 metre. The basins shall be designed to trap sediment greater than 40 microns in size, based on the one hour duration 5 year design storm. It is not permitted to discharge the basin into receiving water streams or bodies. Basin discharge rate shall be sufficiently low as to not cause erosion along the discharge channel; and (iv) A 3 metre wide buffer strip will be provided along the perimeter of the downslope sides of the site. (d) Any soil or dirt storage piles containing more than one hundred cubic metres of material should not be located with a downslope drainage length of less than 10 metres to a roadway or drainage channel. If remaining for more than 30 days, they shall be stabilized by mulching, vegetative cover, tarps or other means. Erosion from piles which will be in existence for less than 30 days shall be controlled by filter fence barriers around the pile.