HomeMy WebLinkAboutNo 1022 Repealing the Slopes and Erosion Control Ordinance and Creating a New Slopes and Bluffs OrdinanceORDINANCE NO. 1022
An Ordinance Repealing the Slopes and Erosion Control Ordinance and Creating a New
Slopes and Bluffs Ordinance
The Maplewood City Council ordains as follows:
Section I. This section repeals the Slopes and Erosion Control Ordinance, Secs. 18-461
to 18-580 and replaces it with a new Slopes and Bluffs ordinance.
DIVISION 7. – SLOPES AND BLUFFS
Sec. 18-461. - Definitions.
Biological and ecological functions means functions of vegetation in stabilizing soils and slopes,
retaining and filtering runoff, providing habitat, and recharging groundwater.
Bluff means a natural topographic feature having a slope that rises at least twenty five (25) feet
where the grade of the slope averages eighteen (18) percent or greater, measured over any
horizontal distance of 25 feet, from the toe of the slope to the top of the slope. Where the slope
begins below the ordinary high water level, the ordinary high water level is the toe of the slope.
See Figure 1.
Figure 1. Bluff
Bluff impact zone (BIZ) means a bluff and land located within twenty (20) feet of the bluff. See
Figure 2.
Figure 2. Bluff Impact Zone
Bluffline means a line delineating the top of the bluff.
Bluff, Toe of means a line along the bottom of a bluff, requiring field verification, such that the
slope above the line exceeds 18 percent and the slope below the line is 18 percent or less,
measured over a horizontal distance of 25 feet. See Figure 1.
Bluff, Top of means a line along the top of a bluff, requiring field verification, such that the slope
below the line exceeds 18 percent and the slope above the line is 18 percent or less, measured
over a horizontal distance of 25 feet. See Figure 1.
Erosion means the general process by which soils are removed by flowing surface or
subsurface water or wind.
Erosion control plan means a document that, when implemented, will decrease soil erosion on a
parcel of land being developed, as well as off-site sediment damages.
Essential services means public utilities including underground or overhead gas, electrical,
communications, water distribution, or stormwater management facilities.
Gross soil loss means the average annual total amount of soil material carried from one acre of
land by erosion.
Impervious surface means a constructed hard surface that either prevents or retards the entry of
water into the soil and causes water to run off the surface in greater quantities and at an
increased rate of flow than prior to development.
Intensive vegetation clearing means the removal of all or a majority of the trees or shrubs in a
contiguous patch, strip, row, or block.
Land alteration means an activity that exposes the soil or changes the topography, drainage, or
cross-section of the land, excluding gardening or similar minor soil disturbances.
Native plant community means a community identified by the Minnesota Biological Survey or
biological survey issued or adopted by a local, state, or federal agency.
Natural vegetation means any combination of ground cover, understory, and tree canopy that,
while it may have been altered by human activity, continues to stabilize soils, retain and filter
runoff, provide habitat, and recharge groundwater.
Vegetation means any combination of ground cover, understory, and tree canopy that, while it
may have been altered by human activity, continues to stabilize soils, retain and filter runoff,
provide habitat, and recharge groundwater.
Retaining wall means a vertical or nearly vertical structure constructed to hold back soil/earth.
Sediment means suspended matter carried by water, sewage or other liquids that can be
deposited in a new location.
Selective vegetation removal means the removal of isolated individual trees or shrubs that are
not in a contiguous patch, strip, row, or block and that does not substantially reduce the tree
canopy or understory cover.
Setback means a separation distance measured horizontally.
Steep slope means a natural topographic feature with an average slope of twelve (12) to
eighteen (18) percent, measured over a horizontal distance equal to or greater than fifty (50)
feet; and any slope greater than eighteen (18) percent that are not bluffs measured over a
horizontal distance equal to or greater than fifty (50) feet.
Stormwater management facilities are facilities for the collection, conveyance, treatment, or
disposal of stormwater.
Utility means electric, telephone, telegraph, cable television, water, sanitary or storm sewer,
solid waste, gas or similar service operations.
Water body means any lake, stream, pond, wetland or river.
Wetland is the meaning given under Minnesota Statutes, section 103G.005.
Sec. 18-462. - Findings and purpose.
The city desires to protect steep slopes to minimize erosion, protect habitat, and reduce stress
on natural water systems by preserving steep slopes in a natural, vegetated state.
The purpose of this ordinance is to establish steep slope preservation and protection regulations
to assure:
(a) Maintain slope stability.
(b) Protect downstream waterbodies from sedimentation.
(c) Preserve native plant and wildlife communities.
(d) Preserve natural topography.
(e) Maintain existing drainage patterns.
(f) Preserve historical and scenic significance.
Sec. 18-463. - Structure and impervious surface placement.
(a) Structures and impervious surfaces must not be placed in the bluff impact zones
unless identified as an exemption.
(b) Setbacks:
(1) Bluffline:
a. Accessory structures, decks, and facilities must maintain the
setbacks identified in the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area
(MRCCA) ordinance (Sections 44-1191 to 44-1235).
b. Principal structures must maintain the setbacks identified in the
MRCCA ordinance (Sections 44-1191 to 44-1235).
(2) Steep Slope:
a. Principal and accessory structures, decks, and facilities must
maintain a 40-foot setback to a steep slope except as follows:
1. Legally nonconforming principal and accessory structures,
decks, and facilities that do not meet the setback
requirements may be expanded laterally with an approved
building permit. The expanded structure’s scale and bulk is
consistent with that of the original structure and existing
surrounding development.
2. Exemptions to the steep slope setback:
1. Public recreation facilities.
2. Scenic overlooks.
3. Public observation platforms.
4. Public trail systems.
Sec. 18-464. – Land Alteration Standards and Stormwater Management.
(a) Land alteration is prohibited on steep slopes, except for the following, which are
allowed by permit.
(1) Erosion control consistent with an erosion control plan approved by the
local government.
(2) Essential services with an erosion control plan approved by the local
government.
(3) Retaining walls with an erosion control plan approved by the local
government.
(4) Repair and maintenance of existing buildings and facilities with an erosion
control plan approved by the local government.
(5) Vegetation management.
(b) Stormwater runoff must be directed away from steep slopes.
Sec. 18-465. - Vegetation Management
(a) Intensive vegetation clearing is prohibited on steep slopes.
(b) Selective vegetation clearing is permitted on steep slopes with a permit.
(c) Vegetation Restoration Plan:
(1) Development of a vegetation restoration plan and reestablishment of
natural vegetation is required for:
a. Any vegetation removed as part of a permitted land alteration.
b. Areas with soils showing signs of erosion, especially on or near
the top and bottom of steep slopes.
(2) Vegetation restoration plan shall:
a. Include restoration with native vegetation to the greatest extent
practicable.
b. Be restored to an area (square feet) similar to that removed to the
greatest extent practicable.
c. Be restored with vegetation that provides biological and ecological
function equivalent to any native plant community vegetation
removed.
d. Be prepared by a qualified individual with demonstrable
experience and knowledge related to management of natural
areas such as natural resource manager or ecologist.
e. Include a maintenance plan that includes management provisions
for controlling invasive species and replacement of plant loss for
three years.
f. Require a certificate of compliance by the City after the vegetation
restoration plan requirements have been satisfied.
Sec. 18-466. - Erosion control and soils.
(a) The following erosion control and soil standards apply to all land alteration:
(1) All erosion control, stormwater runoff, and essential service shall be
designed to be maintained and operated without requiring the crossing or
operation of heavy maintenance vehicles and equipment, such as
bulldozers, trucks and backhoes, on steep slopes. This requirement may
be waived by the city council where there is no other alternative.
(2) Construction shall not be allowed where there are soil problems,
including, but not limited to, soil-bearing strength, shrink/swell potential or
excessive frost movement unless effective soil correction measures or
building construction methods are approved by the building official.
(3) Development shall be accomplished only in such a manner that on-site
gross soil loss levels shall not exceed five tons per acre per year during
construction, but only two tons per acre per year when the site is adjacent
to a water body or storm sewer inlet, and one-half ton per acre per year
after construction activities are completed.
(4) Erosion protection measures shall make maximum use of existing
vegetation, rather than the placing of new vegetation on the site.
Sec. 18-467-18-580. – Reserved.
Section II. This ordinance shall be effective following its adoption and publication.
Approved by the City Council of the City of Maplewood on September 27, 2021.
Signed:
_______________________________
Marylee Abrams, Mayor
Attest:
_______________________________
Andrea Sindt, City Clerk
AFFIDAVIT OF PUBLICATION
STATE OF MINNESOTA
COUNTY OF RAMSEY
Emily Kunz , bei ng duly sworn on oath, says :
that she is, and during all times herein states
has been, Clerk of Northwest Publications,
LLC., Publisher of the newspaper known as the
Saint Paul Pioneer Press, a newspaper of
general circulation within the Counties of
Chisago, Dakota, Ramsey and Washington in
Minnesota and Pierce and St. Croix in
Wisconsin .
That the notice hereto attached was from
the columns of said newspaper and was
printed and published therein on the
following date(s):
September 29th 2021
Newspaper Ref./ Ad #0071477749
Subscribed and sworn to before me this
29 September 2021
True Lee
NOT ARY PUBLIC
Ramsey County, MN
M y Commission Expires January 31, 2025
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