§ 15.28.040. Permit exemptions.

Written permit exemptions shall be issued by the City Engineer. The following shall be exempt from the permit requirements of this chapter, provided that the exemptions set forth below may not apply in situations where properties include environmentally sensitive areas. An exemption from a clearing and grading permit does not exempt the person doing the work from meeting all applicable federal, state, and local codes, standards, guidelines, regulations, and permit requirements:

A.

Land clearing, grading, filling, sandbagging, diking, ditching, or similar work during or after periods of extreme weather or other emergency conditions which have created situations such as flooding or high fire danger that present an immediate danger to life or property;

B.

Land clearing necessitated by order of the City Council related to the abatement of a public nuisance, where the work is administered by the City;

C.

Work performed under the direction of the City Engineer within a public right-of-way or upon an easement, for the purpose of installing and maintaining water, stormwater, sanitary sewer, power, cable, or communication lines;

D.

Cemetery graves;

E.

Land disturbance that is less than 7,000 square feet, except those sites meeting any of the conditions listed in section 15.28.030, or where an adjacent area containing disturbed areas under the same ownership or chain of ownership has been similarly exempted so that the combined area is 7,000 square feet or more and final site stabilization is not complete;

F.

If a building permit is issued, no additional clearing, grading, or filling permit or associated fee will be required. However, the standards established in the City's Urban Services Standards and Guidelines manual and by City ordinance shall be applied as a condition of said building permit;

G.

Forest practices regulated under RCW 76.09 (Activities involving conversion of land to uses other than commercial timber production are subject to clearing and grading regulations.);

H.

Refuse disposal sites controlled by other regulations;

I.

Mining, quarrying, excavation, processing, or stockpiling of rock, sand, gravel, aggregate, or clay where established and provided by law provided such operations do not affect the lateral support of or increase the stresses in or pressure upon any adjacent or contiguous property;

J.

Agricultural crop management of existing and ongoing farmed areas as defined per RCW 84.34.020;

K.

Routine landscape maintenance of existing landscaped areas on developed lots;

L.

Routine drainage maintenance of existing, constructed stormwater drainage facilities located outside of an environmentally sensitive or other protected area, including, but not limited to, detention/retention ponds, wet ponds, sediment ponds, constructed drainage swales, water quality treatment facilities, such as filtration systems and regional storm facilities that are necessary to preserve the water quality treatment and flow control functions of the facility. This exemption does not apply to any expansion or modification to existing excavated and constructed stormwater drainage facilities;

M.

Roadway repairs and overlays within a public street right-of-way for the purpose of maintaining the pavement, curbing, or sidewalk of existing paved roadways.

(Ord. 3570 § 1, 12/20/2016; Ord. 3367 § 3, 8/15/2009; Ord. 3179 § 5 (part), 12/17/2004; Ord. 3071, § 3 (part), 12/15/2000; Ord. 2734, § 1, 1/15/1993)