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Home My WebLink AboutORD 1368 - ORD Relating to Drainage & Grade Raising ,. JlI!I;]]IIIIIlJIIDIIJIJI!!IlJIIII .J I. :.JIIIIII,llUU:llnlll" lLW..l11 r~ll. : I ! I!.L-LJ I -, 182 ,ORDINANCE NUMBER 1368 u AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO DRAINAGE AND GRADE RAISING; AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS; CONTAINING FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SUBJECT; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS: Section 1. Subsection (b) of Section 6-3 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of West University Place, Texas is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows: lI(b) Site Drainage (1) It shall be unlawful for any person who owns or controls any land within the City, or who performs any work upon such land that affects the elevation of the surface of the land, to cause or allow a si~nificant part of the surface of the land to be significantly raised, unless such raising is authorized by a permit issued by the building official. As used in this section, IIsignificant part" means one or more separate areas aggregating 200 square feet or more in any given JI:' 12-month period, and IIsignificantly raisedll means to be raised to a level that is two inches or more above the level of the area or areas as of April 9, 1990. The building official shall not issue a permit for such a grade raising project unless the area raised is completely surrounded by a retaining wall designed and constructed so that it will retain the soil and any structures in the raised area, and it must also include permanent facilities that produce adequate site drainage for the entire area raised. However, a retaining wall is neither required nor allowed: (i) along the front setback line, (ii) in the front setback area, (iii) along the side street line or (iv) in the side setback area adjacent to a side street line. The issuance of such a permit does not authorize the permittee to violate any other personls right to allow water to drain onto or across the permittee's land, but instead, it shall remain the responsibility of the permittee to receive such waters to the extent required by the Texas Water Code or other applicable regulations. The building official is not required to adjudicate or enforce any such rights of other persons. (2) It shall be the duty of each person who owns or controls a building site where major development occurs, or who contracts to perform a significant part of the work for such major development, to do all of the following: (i) provide and maintain temporary site drainage measures which produce adequate site drainage for the entire building site, and (ii) provide and maintain permanent facilities I,~ (including any necessary grading) which are designed to produce, and which actually produce, adequate site drainage for the entire building site. Ordinance Number 1368 , 183 D (3) All permit applications for grade ralslng or major development must descri.beclearly any temporary measures and the permanent facilities required by this section. The temporary measures may incorporate all or part of the permanent facilities. The building official may require that the permit application include an engineering analysis of the the existing and proposed drainage facilities and temporary measures in order to assist in determining if they produce adequate site drainage. (4) IIAdequate Site drainagell means drainage sufficient to: (i) capture substantially all of the rainwater that would fall over a given area as a result of a rainfall of one inch in one hour and (ii) to cause the rainwater to be absorbed in that area or conveyed to a street or other lawfully available recieving place for rainwater without escaping onto any other building site and without washing soil or debris onto any other building site. The permanent facilties required by this subsection for a whole building site shall not be deemed to produce adequate site drainage unless they include, at a minimum, a drain pipe or other facility with a conveyance cross section of at least 12 square inches, or larger if the size and configuration of the building site so requires. [ (5) The temporary site drainage measures required by this subsection must be put into effect no later than the time when the foundation for the major development has been poured or otherwise affixed. The temporary measures must remain in effect until the permanent facilities are installed and are operating as designed. The permanent facilities must be installed and operating as designed before the earlier of the following: (i) the date the major development is completed, or (ii) the 180th day following the date that such development begins.1I Section 2~ Subsection (a) of Section 6-3 of the Code of Ordinances of the City, of West University Place, Texas is hereby amended by add i ng thereto the fo 11 owi ng new defi ni t ion: IIMajor development" means the construction ofa new principal building or additions to an existing principal building which increase its gross floor area to 150% or more of i.ts gross floor area on April 9, 1990. n Section 3. ,This ordinance applies to all grade raising work, and major developments where work is commenced on or after the effective date of this ordinance, except as provided in this section. This ordinance shall not apply to any IItransitional projectll described below if all of the applicants for the permit for such project sign a written instrument stating: (;}the applicants are aware that this ordinance is designed to pfevent drainage problems and (ii) the applicants nevertheless desire to proceed without complying with this ordinance. A IItransitional project" is a project involving major development that ,1~';,I,j''''.,t,1 '-'i'll .,.11,11111 II' ' j- .-"-..1 "...;.-.t,~,..."tfll!l11'IUlllt!'''1I :i--- -r i I: IlI]rnwr:lIIillIiIrn:mnm!DIiT-~ . "_JlID]IllIIlIIIIJIlII~liIu..llIl" "I. II! L J 1I"llIlIllllaiU~IL;;;IH\li ,I .J, -1", _ Jlllll1lll1l I ,11_ I", I I II :," t l' 'J 1!.L.l_:.U I Ordinance Number 1368 is contracted for, designed and substantially cleared through the City's IIplan checkingll process prior to the effective date of this ordinance, provided that a completed building permit application is filed for such major development, without a substantial change in plans, on or before the sixtieth day following such effective date. The ordinances of the City in effect prior to the effective date of this ordinance shall continue to apply to all such transitional project's and to a 11 offenses otcurri ng pri or to the effecti ve date of this ordinance, and for this reason such prior ordinances are continued in effect. Section 4. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of the conflict only. Section 5. If any word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section or other part of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall ever be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this ordinance and the application of such word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section or other part of this ordinance to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. Section 6. The City Council officially finds, determines and declares that a sufficient written notice of the date, hour, place and subject of each meeting at which this ordinance was discussed, considered or acted upon was given in the manner required by the Open Meetings Law, TEX. REV. CIV. STAT. ANN. art. 6252-17, as amended, and that each such meeting has been open to the public as required by law at all times during such discussion, consideration and action. The City Council ratifies, approves and confirms such notices and the contents and posting thereof. Section 7. The public importance of this measure and the requirements of the law create an emergency and an urgent public necessity requiring that this Ordinance be passed and take effect as an emergency measure, and a state of emergency is hereby declared, and this Ordinance is accordingly passed as an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force on the tenth day following its publication, as prescribed by the City Charter. 184 -l ~ ~1 I I I '---' . I I ' , I I I '----..J Ordinance Number 1368 PASSED AND APPROVED ON FIRST AND FINAL READING this day of April , 1990. Voting Aye: Voting No: Absent: ATTEST: Audrey Nichols City Secretary (SEAL) - Signed: 9th Laura C. Higley, Mayor -~ Approved as to Form: James L. Dougherty, Jr. City Attorney 1~11""""'''~!J!I!",.;!lm~.!U!~-.. 185