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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 2006-05 ORDINANCE NO. 06-05 (kirr AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS, ARIZONA, AMENDING THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS ZONING ORDINANCE, CHAPTER 5, GENERAL PROVISIONS, AND AMENDING THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE, ARTICLE V, GRADING STANDARDS, RELATING TO GRADING FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES. WHEREAS, the Mayor and Town Council (the "Town Council") desires to amend the Town of Fountain Hills Zoning Ordinance to revise Chapter 5- General Provisions, Section 511.B.8, to ensure that the grading standards therein are consistent with the grading standards contained in the Town of Fountain Hills Subdivision Ordinance; and WHEREAS, the Town Council desires to amend the Town of Fountain Hills Subdivision Ordinance, Article V, Section 504.B.1.b, to provide for administrative guidelines for grading necessary for utilities outside of the disturbance area for any building; and WHEREAS, pursuant to ARiz. REV. STAT. § 9-462.04, public hearings were advertised in the December 21, 2005 and December 28, 2005 editions of The Times of Fountain Hills and Rio Verde; and WHEREAS, public hearings were held by the Fountain Hills Planning and Zoning Commission on January 12, 2006 and by the Town Council on February 2, 2006. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS as follows: SECTION 1. That the Town of Fountain Hills Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 5, General Provisions, Section 5.11, Land Disturbance Standards, subsection 5.11.B.8, Grading for Utility Lines, is hereby amended to read as follows: 8. Grading for Utility Lines. With the exception of power lines capable of carrying 69kv or more of voltage, utility lines shall be located underground. Utilities located in subdivisions platted after November 3, 1996, must be located within allowed disturbance areas.- AS OUTLINED IN ARTICLE V, SECTION 504.B.1 OF THE SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS. SECTION 2. That the Town of Fountain Hills Subdivision Ordinance, Article V, Grading Standards, Section 504, Hillside Disturbance, is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following: Section 5.04 Hillside Disturbance A. The purpose of these land disturbance regulations is to limit the amount of hillside disturbance within each subdivision. The amount of hillside area that may be 628415.1 disturbed shall be based on the severity of the slope. Hillside areas shall mean any area having slopes equal to or greater than 10 percent, as measured from a topographical contour map prepared and stamped by an Arizona-registered land surveyor. The Town requires the submission of topographic contour maps having contour intervals not greater than two feet and at a scale not smaller than 1" = 20' for sites less than 10 acres. Sites 10 to 100 acres may utilize contour intervals not greater than five feet at a scale not smaller than 1" = 50'. Sites over 100 acres may utilize contour intervals not greater than five feet at a scale not smaller than 1"=100'. Individual non-contiguous areas of hillside or non-hillside that are less than 500 square feet that are located within larger areas non-hillside or hillside, respectively, may be included with the larger area of non-hillside or hillside that surrounds it. Whether a subdivider chooses the Lot-by-Lot Hillside Protection Option or the Hillside Transfer and Protection Option, the actual square footage of disturbance permitted within one slope interval may be transferred into areas having lesser degree of slope. The percent of slope shall be determined by the spacing between the contours lines as shown on the preliminary plat. Following are the land disturbance allowance of slope interval areas of 500 square feet or more: Percent of Slope Preservation Allowance Requirement Disturbance (%) <10 0 100 10 - <20 70 30 Lir 20 - <30 80 20 30 and more 90 10 B. There are no exempted disturbance activities, except as otherwise specifically provided for in this ordinance. And exempted disturbance activities shall be subtracted from the gross area of the subdivision, and the required "Preservation Requirement" and "Disturbance Allowance" areas, as noted above in Subsection A, shall be calculated from the net (gross area of the subdivision minus exempted disturbance activities) area of the subdivision, or that area remaining after the area(s) of exempted disturbance have been subtracted from the gross area of the subdivision. 1. The following disturbance activities are exempted only from the horizontal Hillside Disturbance Regulations contained in this Section: a. Disturbance within street rights-of-way, tracts of land for private roads meeting public road standards, and any roadway grading required by the Town Engineer outside of street rights-of-way or tracts for private roads meeting public road standards. b. Utility lines, or any other public improvement activities needed for the development of utility lines and associated equipment, outside 628415.1 2 of any disturbance caused by other development activities, either pre-existing or current, may be exempted from the requirements of L. this section upon administrative review by the Community Development Director and approval of a "Utility Disturbance Permit" by the Town Council. Utility Disturbance Permits shall only be issued in conformance with the following conditions: 1) The Community Development Director shall find that the proposed disturbance is necessary. 2) The Community Development Director shall determine the method of delineating the disturbance boundary. It shall be at the Community Development Director's sole discretion as to whether a chain link fence or ropes and flags are used. 3) The Community Development Director shall approve a re- vegetation and landscaping plan which shall be completed within a specified time frame and made a condition of the Utility Disturbance Permit. 4) The Community Development Director shall determine the method, if any, of covering open trenches during non- working hours. 5) The Community Development Director shall specify the expiration date of the Utility Disturbance Permit. 6) Utility Disturbance Permits are project and property specific and are non-transferable. 7) The Community Development Director may, at his sole discretion, include any other reasonable condition he feels is necessary to ensure public safety and convenience. 8) Any violations of the conditions of a Utility Disturbance Permit shall render the permit void. 2. The following disturbance activities are specifically not exempted from the Hillside Disturbance Regulations contained in this Section: a. Disturbance activities for the development of any effluent watering field or any lake or pond intended for the storage of treated effluent, or any service and/or access road or any above or below ground pipeline or utility lines, whether or not the development of such fields, ponds, lakes, service/access roads, pipelines or utility lines have been mandated or suggested by another governmental agency or Court. 628415.1 3 b. Any "utility" disturbance, other than for a utility line and associated equipment as described above in subsection 504(B)(1)(b). 3. In addition to the detailed information that is required to be provided to the Town to ensure compliance with this Article, as noted in Section 203(D)(9) of this Ordinance, the property owner may submit to the Town an alternative method of calculating the "Preservation Requirement" and the "Disturbance Allowance" as included in Section 5.04(A). The Town Council may approve this alternative method of calculating the "Preservation Requirement" and the "Disturbance Allowance" at the time of preliminary plat consideration. C. Any previously-disturbed hillside areas within a proposed subdivision, including but not limited purposes as described in Section 606(C) of this Ordinance has occurred, shall be counted toward the total amount of hillside within the subdivision but shall not be accepted by the Town as undisturbed hillside areas. If an applicant desires to salvage landscape materials for revegetation purposes prior to Final Plat approval, the applicant to areas such as access roads, where the salvaging of landscape materials for revegetation may do so at the risk of non- compliance with this Ordinance and denial of the final plat. D. All grading and/or disturbance performed subsequent to September 20, 1991, or subdivision improvement grading (whichever date is most recent) is considered to be cumulative under this ordinance. In other words, the topography of land within the Town as of September 20, 1991 is considered to be natural grade by this Ordinance. Grading and/or other disturbance activities conducted since September 20, 1991 shall not be exempted from the hillside disturbance regulations of this Ordinance and their cumulative hillside disturbance shall be offset at the time of subdivision approval pursuant to the regulations of this Section. E. Disturbance Buffers and Fencing. 1. Fencing: After a disturbance area is defined, an area at least equal to the hillside protection requirements of the lot, parcel or tract, may be protected by a chain-linked fence six feet in height and affixed in the ground to assure non-movement. The fenced-in area shall include all previously disturbed areas and all areas intended to be disturbed. There shall be no disturbance outside the fenced area. However, the Town Staff may approve the revegetation of Hillside Protection Areas disturbed prior to September 21, 1991 in accordance with a landscape plan approved by the Staff. The fencing may be removed only after the completion of all construction activity on the lot. 628415.1 4 2. No-Fencing: When there is no fencing, as described in paragraph 1. of this subsection, the area to be disturbed shall include a perimeter area of $ not less than 20 feet in width around all buildings in a condominium development and ten feet in width around all other construction or grading activities. The proposed disturbance perimeter, as shown on the approved set of grading plans, shall be iron-staked by an Arizona-registered Land Surveyor or Civil Engineer, roped, and warning signs posted prior to any disturbance activity on the lot or parcel. This staking, roping and warning signage shall be inspected by the Town Engineer prior to any disturbance activity on the lot or parcel. The staking, roping and warning signage shall be maintained in the same location during all subdivision construction activities, and shall not be removed until a certificate of occupancy (for a condominium subdivision) or until final approval has been given by the Town. F. Disturbance activities for utility line (including but not limited to water and sewer mains and laterals) installation shall include an area on center with the utility line at a width (may vary) calculated by the following formula: (20 feet + the trench depth in feet x Three). No disturbance activities are permitted outside of the area indicated to be disturbed. G. In order to comply with the Land Disturbance Regulations of this Section, the subdivider of a subdivision wherein future disturbance activities will take place can choose either of the following two options: 11600 1. Lot-by-Lot Hillside Protection Option. If the subdivider does not desire to utilize the Hillside Transfer and Protection Option to comply with the regulations of this Section, and no hillside protection measures are proposed (other than those measures required in subsection "C", above) in the platting process for the undisturbed, yet developable lots or parcels within the subdivision, each lot or parcel shall be required to individually- meet the land disturbance requirements in Chapter 5, Section 5.11 Land Disturbance Standards of The Zoning Ordinance for the Town of Fountain Hills. 2. Hillside Transfer and Protection Option. If the subdivider chooses to transfer allowable hillside disturbance from undisturbed hillside areas to lots, parcels, tracts or rights-of-way in a subdivision, the subdivider may do so by identifying an area acceptable to the Town of Fountain Hills and granting to the Town a Hillside Protection Easement(s). If the Hillside Transfer and Protection Option is utilized, all areas located outside of the Hillside Protection Easements within the subdivision may be disturbed through the subdivision improvement process and/or through future development activity. 628415.1 5 H. If the Hillside Transfer and Protection Option is chosen by the subdivider to preserve the required amount of hillside areas within the subdivision, the following regulations shall apply: 1. If a subdivision is located in two or more zoning districts, the amount of hillside slopes required to be preserved within each zoning district shall be calculated separately. The total amount of required undisturbed hillside areas for the subdivision can be preserved anywhere within the subdivision. 2. Hillside Protection Easements can be placed on lots intended to be developed, instead of or in addition to tracts of land within the subdivision boundaries, and in some Town-approved instances, outside of the subdivision boundaries. 3. The following Hillside Protection Easement text shall be used for easements intended to meet the intent of this Section: Owner hereby grants to the Town of Fountain Hills a perpetual easement upon, across, over and under all those areas designated as "Hillside Protection Easement" for the purpose of preserving the natural topography and vegetation of land area within the Final Plat of (Subdivision Name) in conformance with the Article V of the Town of Fountain Hills Subdivision Regulations. The owner or any of his heirs, successors, or assigns shall not perform nor allow to be performed, any construction; or cutting, filling, grading to the topography; nor any grubbing, brushing, removal, or otherwise damage any vegetation, rock outcropping, or other natural feature in the Hillside Protection Easement area without prior Town Council approval. A trailway may be a permitted use if approved by the Town Council. Disturbance activities in violation of this ordinance could result in, but not limited to, the immediate chain-link fencing of all disturbance perimeters, the immediate revegetation of any illegally-disturbed areas and/or project wide stop work orders. Furthermore, disturbance activities in violation of this ordinance are violations of The Fountain Hills Town Code, and are subject to ARTICLE 1-8 PENALTY, paragraph A., which states: Any person found guilty of violating any provisions of this code, except as otherwise provided in this code, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day that a violation continues shall be a separate offense punishable as hereinabove described. L 628415.1 6 ILLUSTRATION OF PRESERVATION REQUIREMENT 446. The following is an illustration of the correct method to calculate the "Preservation Requirement" and "Disturbance Allowance" for Happy Acres, a fictional, 100 acre subdivision, having 25 acres in each percentage slope band, with 10 acres "exempted" for roadway construction. The ten acres of"exempted" disturbance activities are allocated evenly across the four percentage slope bands. The following table provides the only acceptable methodology to calculate "Preservation Requirement" and "Disturbance Allowance" under the Hillside Transfer and Protection Option, as described in Subsections A and G(2) above: Happy Acres Subdivision Slope Percentage 0-10% 10-20% 20-30% 30%+ Total A Total Land Area(In Acres) 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 100.00 B Exempt Areas(In Acres) 2.50 2.50 2.50 2.50 10.00 C Residual (Net)Total 22.50 22.50 22.50 22.50 90.00 D Disturbance Allowance % 100% 30% 20% 10% E Maximum Disturbance Allowance in Acres 22.50 6.75 4.50 2.25 36.00 F Preservation Requirement % 0% 70% 80% 90% G Minimum Preservation Requirement in Acres 0 15.75 18.00 20.25 54.00 H Proposed Disturbance in Acres 15.00 7.00 4.00 4.00 30.00 I Excess(Short) N/A (0.25) 0.50 (1.75) J Internal Hillside Transfers N/A 0.25 (0.25) 0 K Required Size of Outside Sending Area N/A 0 0 17.50 Notes A. The total gross subdivision size for the Happy Acres Subdivision is 100 acres. B. The total"exempt"areas for the subdivision total 10.0 acres. C. Residual or"net" areas in the subdivision are derived by subtracting "Exempt Areas" from "Total Land Area",in each slope category. These net totals, in each slope category, are used to calculate Maximum Disturbance Allowance and Minimum Preservation Requirement in each slope category. D. The maximum disturbance percentage in each slope category. E. Derived by multiplying"Residual(Net)Total"by"Disturbance Allowance %." F. The minimum preservation requirement in each slope category. F. Derived by multiplying"Residual(Net)Total"by"Preservation Requirement%. G. The developer of the Happy Acres Subdivision proposes to disturb, through the development of the subdivision, an amount of non-"exempted"land in each slope category, in an amount noted on the table. H. Derived by subtracting"Proposed Disturbance in Acres" from"Maximum Disturbance Allowance in Acres." A(Short) in this row indicates that the proposed subdivision will disturb more land in 628415.1 7 that slope category than is permitted. In this case the subdivider can transfer an excess in the 20- 30% slope category to compensate for the shortage in the 10-20% slope category. In the case of the "short" in the 30%+ slope category, the subdivider may either reduce the amount of disturbed 4111or land in that slope category or seek Town Council approval of a hillside transfer from outside the subdivision. I. If the subdivider chooses the Hillside Transfer and Protection Option, as has the subdivider for Happy Acres, hillside transfers from a steeper slope category to a lessor slope category are permitted within the subdivision. The subdivider has transferred .25 acres of the .5 acre excess in the 20-30% slope category to compensate for the .25 acres of non-permitted disturbance in the 10- 20% slope category. J. Derived by dividing any (short) acreage, after any internal hillside transfers, by the Disturbance Allowance %. If the subdivider did not desire to preserve the required amount of land in that slope category within the subdivision, and the Town Council approved of a hillside transfer from outside of the subdivision, this is the amount of land within that slope category, or a steeper slope category, that would need to be preserved within the "outside sending area" or the area outside of the subdivision from which the hillside transfer was originating. SECTION 3. That if any provision or any portion of any provision of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or otherwise unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision or portion thereof shall be deemed separate, distinct and independent of the remaining provisions of this Ordinance and shall be severed therefrom without affecting the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Fountain Hills, February 2, 2006. FOR THE TOWN OF F UNTAIN HILLS: ATTESTED TO: • • t,X1f2$ *4ldtt W. J. Nichol Mayor Bevelyn J. B de Town Clerk REVIEW Y: APP VED AS TO FORM: • Jt.)( i4St Timoth G. Pickering, Town nager Andrew J. McGuire, Town Attorney L 628415.1 8