§ 7.5-4. Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following words and terms shall have the meaning ascribed thereto:
Administrator: The representative of the governing body who has been appointed to serve as the agent of the governing body in administering this chapter.
The director of codes compliance or designee is hereby designated as administrator of this chapter.
Agreement in lieu of a plan: A contract between the plan approving authority and the owner which specifies conservation measures which must be implemented in the construction of a single-family residence; this agreement may be executed by the plan approving authority in lieu of a formal site plan.
Applicant: Any person submitting an erosion and sediment control plan for approval and requesting the issuance of a permit, when required, authorizing land-disturbing activities to commence.
Board: The Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board.
Certified inspector: An employee or agent of a program authority who (i) holds a certificate of competence from the board in the area of project inspection or (ii) is enrolled in the board's training program for project inspection and successfully completes such program within one (1) year after enrollment.
Certified plan reviewer: An employee or agent of a program authority who (i) holds a certificate of competence from the board in the area of plan review; (ii) is enrolled in the board's training program for plan review and successfully completes such program within one (1) year after enrollment; or (iii) is licensed as a professional engineer, architect, certified landscape architect or land surveyor pursuant to Article I (Section 54.1-400 et. seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended.
Certified program administrator: An employee or agent of a program authority who (i) holds a certificate of competence from the board in the area of program administration; or (ii) is enrolled in the board's training program for program administration and successfully completes such a program within one (1) year after enrollment.
Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area: Any land designated by the governing body pursuant to Part III of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Designation and Management Regulations and Section 10.1-2107 of the act. A Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area shall consist of a resource protection area and a resource management area.
(a)
Resource management area: That component of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area that is not classified as the resource protection area.
(b)
Resource protection area: That component of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area comprised of lands at or near the shoreline that have an intrinsic water quality value due to the ecological and biological processes they perform or are sensitive to impacts which may result in significant degradation to the quality of state waters.
(c)
Buffer area: An area of natural or established vegetation managed to protect other components of a resource protection area and state waters from significant degradation due to land disturbances.
Clearing: Any activity which removes the vegetative ground cover including, but not limited to, the vegetative removal, root mat removal and/or topsoil removal.
County: The County of Gloucester.
Department: The department of conservation and recreation.
Development: A tract of land developed or to be developed as a single unit under single ownership or unified control which is to be used for any business or industrial purpose or is to contain three (3) or more residential dwelling units.
Director: The director of the department.
District or soil and water conservation district: The Tidewater Soil and Water Conservation District, a political subdivision of the commonwealth organized in accordance with Title 21, Chapter 1, of the Virginia Code, 1950, as amended.
Erosion impact area: An area of land not associated with a current land-disturbing activity but subject to persistent soil erosion resulting in the delivery of sediment onto neighboring properties or into state waters. This definition shall not apply to any lot or parcel of land of ten thousand (10,000) square feet or less used for residential purposes or to shorelines where the erosion results from wave action or other coastal processes.
Erosion and sedimentation control plan: A document containing materials which describe proposed measures to be taken for the purpose of conserving soil and water resources of a unit or group of units of land. It may include appropriate maps, and appropriate soil and water plan inventory and management information with needed interpretations, and a record of decisions contributing to conservation treatment. The plan shall contain all major conservation decisions to assure that the entire unit or units of land will be so treated to achieve the conservation objectives set forth in this chapter.
Excavating: Any digging, scooping or other methods of removing earth materials.
Filling: Any depositing or stockpiling of earth materials.
Governing body: The Board of Supervisors of Gloucester County, Virginia.
Grading: Any excavating or filling of earth materials or any combination thereof, including the land in its excavated or filled condition.
Land-disturbing activity: Any land change which may result in soil erosion from water or wind and the movement of sediments into state waters or onto lands in the commonwealth, including, but not limited to, clearing, grading, excavating, transporting and filling of land, except that the term shall not include:
(a)
Minor land-disturbing activities such as home gardens and individual home landscaping, repairs, and maintenance work;
(b)
Individual service connections;
(c)
Installation, maintenance or repair of any underground public utility lines when such activity occurs on an existing hard surfaced road, street, or sidewalk provided the land-disturbing activity is confined to the area of the road, street, or sidewalk which is hard surfaced;
(d)
Surface or deep mining;
(e)
Exploration or drilling for oil and/or gas including the well site, roads, feeder lines, and off-site disposal areas;
(f)
Tilling, planting, or harvesting of agricultural, horticultural, or forest crops or livestock feedlot operations; including engineering operations and agriculture engineering operations as follows: construction of terraces, terrace outlets, check dams, desilting basins, dikes, ponds, not required to comply with the dam safety act Article 2 (Section 10.1-604, et. seq.), ditches, strip cropping, lister furrowing, contour cultivating, contour furrowing, land drainage and land irrigations; however, this exception shall not apply to harvesting of forest crops unless the area on which harvesting occurs is reforested artificially or naturally in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 11 (10.1-1100, et seq.) of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended or is converted to a bona fide agricultural or improved pasture as described in subsection B of section 10.1-1163 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended.
(g)
Repair or rebuilding of the tracks, right-of-way, bridges, communication facilities, and other related structures and facilities of a railroad company;
(h)
Disturbed land areas of less than two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet in size.
(i)
Installation of fence and sign posts or telephone and electric poles and other kinds of posts or poles;
(j)
Shoreline erosion control projects on tidal waters when all of the land-disturbing activities are within the regulatory authority of and approved by local wetlands boards, the Marine Resources Commission or the United States Army Corps of Engineers; however, any associated land that is disturbed outside of this exempted area shall remain subject to this article and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
(k)
Emergency work to protect life, limb, or property and emergency repairs; however, if the land-disturbing activity would have required an approved erosion and sediment control plan, if the activity were not an emergency, then the land area disturbed shall be shaped and stabilized in accordance with the requirements of the plan-approving authority.
PLEASE NOTE: Septic tank lines or drainage fields which lie in Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area are not exempt.
Land-disturbing permit: A permit issued by the County of Gloucester for clearing, filling, excavating, grading, or transporting, or any combination thereof.
Local erosion and sediment control program or local control program: The policies and provisions of the Gloucester County Erosion and Sediment Control Ordinance including the methods and procedures employed by Gloucester County to regulate land-disturbing activities and thereby implement, administer, and enforce such policies and provisions of such ordinance and of the Virginia Erosions and Sediment Control Handbook, which is hereby adopted as an integral part of this chapter. Furthermore, all the related erosion and sediment control provisions of The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Designation and Management Regulations are hereby adopted as an integral part of this chapter.
Owner: The owner or owners of the freehold of the premises or lesser estate therein, a mortgagee or vendee in possession, assignee of rents, receiver, executor, trustee, lessee, or other person, firm, or corporation in control of a property.
Permit-holder: The person to whom the permit authorizing land-disturbing activities is issued or the person who certifies that the approved erosion and sediment control plan will be followed.
Person: Any individual, partnership, firm, association, joint venture, public or private corporation, trust, estate, commission, board, public or private institution, utility, cooperative, county, city, town, or other political subdivision of the commonwealth, any interstate body, or any other legal entity.
Plan approving authority: The department of codes compliance is the plan approving authority for determining the adequacy of a conservation plan submitted for land-disturbing activities on a unit or units of lands and for approving such plan if the plan is determined to be adequate.
The administrator is designated as the plan approving authority and is responsible for the administration of the erosion and sediment control ordinance.
Responsible land disturber: Means an individual from the project or development team, who will be in charge of and responsible for carrying out a land-disturbing activity covered by an approved plan or agreement in lieu of a plan, who (i) holds a responsible land disturber certificate of competence, (ii) holds a current certificate of competence from the board in the areas of combined administration, program administration, inspection, or plan review, (iii) holds a current contractor certificate of competence for erosion and sediment control, or (iv) is licensed in Virginia as a professional engineer, architect, certified landscape architect or land surveyor pursuant to Article 1 (Section 54.1-400 et. seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 54.1.
State waters: All waters on the surface and under the ground wholly or partially within or bordering the commonwealth or within its jurisdiction.
Subdivision: Any subdivision of land as defined in the Gloucester County Subdivision Ordinance.
Transporting: Any moving of earth materials from one place to another, other than such movement incidental to grading, when such movement results in destroying the vegetative ground cover either by tracking or the build-up of earth materials to the extent that erosion and sedimentation will result from the soil or earth materials over which such transporting occurs.
(Ord. of 12-7-93; Ord. of 10-1-2002; Ord. of 8-5-2003)
(Ord. of 12-7-93; Ord. of 10-1-2002; Ord. of 8-5-2003)