§ 109-490. Permit requirements.

(a)

Land-disturbing permit required. No person shall conduct any land-disturbing activity within the jurisdictional boundaries of the City without first obtaining a permit from the City Community Development Department to perform such activity and providing a copy of notice of intent submitted to EPD if applicable.

(b)

Application submittal. The application for a permit shall be submitted to the City Community Development Department and must include the applicant's erosion, sedimentation and pollution control plan with supporting data, as necessary. Said plans shall include, as a minimum, the data specified in section 109-491. Erosion, sedimentation and pollution control plans, together with supporting data, must demonstrate affirmatively that the land-disturbing activity proposed will be carried out in such a manner that the provisions of sections 109-470 and 109-471 of this ordinance will be met. Applications for a permit will not be accepted unless accompanied by four copies of the applicant's erosion, sedimentation and pollution control plans. All applications shall contain a certification stating that the plan preparer or the designee thereof visited the site prior to creation of the plan in accordance with EPD rule 391-3-7-.10.

(c)

Fees.

(1)

A land-disturbing permit fee, in an amount as established by a separate resolution by the Mayor and Council, shall be charged for each acre or fraction thereof in the project area.

(2)

In addition to the land-disturbing permit fee, fees shall be assessed pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-5.23(a)(5), provided that such fees shall not exceed $80.00 per acre of land-disturbing activity, and these fees shall be calculated and paid by the primary permittee as defined in the state general permit for each acre of land-disturbing activity included in the planned development or each phase of development. All applicable fees shall be paid prior to issuance of the land disturbance permit. In a jurisdiction that is certified pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-7-8(a), half of such fees levied shall be submitted to the Georgia EPD; except that any and all fees due from an entity that is required to give notice pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-7-17(9) or O.C.G.A. § 12-7-18(10) shall be submitted in full to the Georgia EPD regardless of the existence of a local issuing authority in the jurisdiction.

(d)

Review by the District. Immediately upon receipt of an application and plan for a permit, the Local Issuing Authority shall refer the application and plan to the District for its review and approval or disapproval concerning the adequacy of the erosion, sedimentation and pollution control plan. The District shall approve or disapprove a plan within 35 days of receipt. Failure of the District to act within 35 days shall be considered an approval of the pending plan. The results of the District review shall be forwarded to the Local Issuing Authority. No permit will be issued unless the plan has been approved by the District, and any variances required by subsections 109-471(15) and 109-471(16) have been obtained, all fees have been paid, and bonding, if required as per subsection 109-490(j), have been obtained. Such review will not be required if the Local Issuing Authority and the District have entered into an agreement which allows the Local Issuing Authority to conduct such review and approval of the plan without referring the application and plan to the District. The Local Issuing Authority with plan review authority shall approve or disapprove a revised plan submittal within 35 days of receipt. Failure of the local issuing Authority with plan review authority to act within 35 days shall be considered an approval of the revised plan submittal.

(e)

Permits shall be issued or denied as soon as practicable but in any event not later than 45 days after receipt by the local issuing authority of a completed application, providing variances and bonding are obtained, where necessary and all applicable fees have been paid prior to permit issuance. The permit shall include conditions under which the activity may be undertaken.

(f)

Any land-disturbing activities by a local issuing authority shall be subject to the same requirements of this article, and any other ordinances relating to land development, as are applied to private persons and the division shall enforce such requirements upon the local issuing authority.

(g)

[Phased development.] If the tract is to be developed in phases, then a separate permit shall be required for each phase.

(h)

Permit suspension, revocation, or modification. The land-disturbing permit may be suspended, revoked, or modified by the local issuing authority, as to all or any portion of the land affected by the plan, upon finding that the holder or the holder's successor in the title is not in compliance with the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan or that the holder or the holder's successor in title is in violation of this article. A holder of a land-disturbing permit shall notify any successor in title to the holder as to all or any portion of the land affected by the approved plan of the conditions contained in the permit.

(i)

If a permit applicant has had two or more violations of previous permits, this article section, or the Erosion and Sedimentation Act, as amended, within three years prior to the date of filing the application under consideration, the local issuing authority may deny the permit application, in light of O.C.G.A. § 12-7-7 (f)(1).

(j)

The local issuing authority may require the permit applicant to post a bond in the form of government security, cash, irrevocable letter of credit, or any combination thereof up to, but not exceeding, $3,000.00 per acre or fraction thereof of the proposed land-disturbing activity, prior to issuing the permit. If the applicant does not comply with this section or with the conditions of the permit after issuance, the local issuing authority may call the bond or any part thereof to be forfeited and may use the proceeds to hire a contractor to stabilize the site of the land-disturbing activity and bring it into compliance.

(Ord. No. 11-2010, pt. I, 7-7-2010; Ord. No. 02-2012, pt. I, 1-3-2012)