BYLAW NO. 1800 - "City of Langford Soil Removal and Deposit Bylaw, 2017, No. 1800" (FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD READINGS)

Staff Report to Council

Date: June 8, 2017
Department: Engineering
Subject: Bylaw 1800 Soil Removal and Deposit Bylaw Update to Council

Background

Bylaw No. 181 a Bylaw to Regulate and Impose Fees for the Removal and Deposition of Soils in the City of Langford (Bylaw No. 181 Soil Removal and Deposit bylaw) was adopted by Council of the day on September 20th, 2004. There have been no amendments to this bylaw in the past 13 years. Over those 13 years the housing market has fluctuated however in the past two years the cost of construction for homes in Langford has steadily risen such that in 2017 housing costs are now much higher than the 2004 housing costs.

The purpose of this report is to seek Council direction with respect to fees in the current soil removal and deposit bylaw.

Commentary

Until very recently staff have been applying a standard fee for soil removal and/or deposit for single family dwellings. As outlined in Schedule A, Class A, Single Family Dwellings are charged 0.1% of the building construction value at the time of issuance of a Building Permit (BP). A roadway damage deposit of $500 is also applied at that same time. The damage deposit is returned entirely if there is no damage to City roads based on soil removal or deposit activities. If any other roadway damage deposits such as for frontage works or driveway installation are already in place staff do not charge a second deposit on top of any existing roadway damage deposits.

The remaining classes B through D of Schedule A in Bylaw No. 181 are typically applied to subdivision works and any work that involves hauling more than 20m3 of soil.

Recently a home builder came in with a building permit for a home valued at approximately $815,000. Building construction value is determined based on the higher estimate of what the builder attributes the cost to be versus a computer program used by our Building Department staff. In this same example the builder needs to import 200m3 of soil to the property to construct the new home. In this example, if the standard fee in the Class A category is applied in accordance to the bylaw it would be:

• $815,000 x 0.1% = $815

The current Class A category has no limit on the volume of soil imported or exported to the property.

Using the same example above, the developer has proposed applying the Class C category which is for soil quantities >100m3 and < 500m3 which results in the following fee:

• An administrative fee of $65 plus
• a fee of $0.50/m3 of soil removed or deposited which in this case is 200m3 x $0.50 = $100
• total fee value of $165

Due to the increasing costs of housing construction staff are suggesting that Council consider standardizing the soil fee for any single family dwelling home that is removing or depositing greater than 100m3 of soil at a flat fee of $250. The value of $250 was selected to represent both staff time working on any matters related to the import or export of soil from a single family dwelling construction site as well as the estimated lowest construction value of a single family dwelling. In discussions with members of the Westshore Developers Association (WSDA) staff and the WSDA have also agreed that the current minimum volume of 20m3 is not practical and the minimum volume of 100m3 is more practical as a reasonable amount of soil imported or exported from a building site. This is especially notable now that much of the development in Langford is on more challenging topography that requires additional grading to accommodate homes.

Staff are also suggesting in the current Classes B through D that the first option in each class that attributes the soil permit fee to the value of the building construction be removed entirely and that only the second option in each of Classes B through D remain. The second option is a flat administration fee plus $0.50/m3 of soil removed or deposited. It should be noted in the example above where the soil permit fee was $165 to deposit 200m3 of soil that even though the permit fee amount is less, there are other costs incurred by the developer/builder once you start hauling greater than 100m3 of soil including the need to provide certified volume estimates and a stormwater management plan. Staff are suggesting that these requirements must remain in place to prevent adverse effects to adjacent lands.

In addition to the above amendments staff reviewed the bylaw and updated it to be relevant to all current legislation both provincially and to our City bylaws. Staff are suggesting the current Bylaw No. 181 therefore be repealed and replaced by a new Bylaw No. 1800 moving forward that has the new fees and proper references.

This report has been circulated to the Westshore Developers Association for review and comment and they are satisfied with the staff suggestions and also support a review in approximately one year.

Financial Implications

Staff are suggesting that any amendments to the fee structure be monitored for approximately one year and that staff bring back the findings of the changes to Council for information and if required reconsideration. Fees are meant to offset staff time to deal with the permit request, the fees should not ideally average out to be less than the cost of the staff time needed to address the permit matters. In the case of a soil removal or deposit permit staff must monitor the property to make sure soil is also not being tracked out onto City roads.

Legal Implications

Staff have obtained a legal opinion on this matter.

Options

That Council:

1. Receive this report on Bylaw No. 181 a Bylaw to Regulate and Impose Fees for the Removal and Deposition of Soils in the City of Langford and give new Bylaw No. 1800 City of Langford Soil Removal and Deposit Bylaw first three readings;

OR

2. Do nothing at this time with respect to Bylaw No. 181

Respectfully submitted,

Submitted by:
Michelle Mahovlich, P.Eng. P.Geo. Director of Engineering

Concurrence:
Lorne Fletcher, Manager of Community Safety and Municipal Enforcement

Concurrence:
Mike Leskiw, Parks and Recreation Manager

Concurrence:
George Henshall, Deputy Director of Engineering

Concurrence:
Leah Stohmann, MCIP, RPP, Deputy Director of Planning

Concurrence:
Steve Ternent, Director of Finance

Concurrence:
Braden Hutchins, Director of Corporate Services

Concurrence:
Darren Kiedyk, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer

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CITY OF LANGFORD

BYLAW NO. 1800

A BYLAW TO REGULATE AND IMPOSE FEES FOR THE REMOVAL AND DEPOSITION OF SOILS IN THE CITY OF LANGFORD

WHEREAS pursuant to Section 8 of the Community Charter, the Council may by bylaw regulate soil deposition on and removal from any land in the City.

NOW THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Langford, in open meeting assembled, enacts as follows:

1. TITLE

This bylaw may be cited for all purposes as the "City of Langford Soil Removal And Deposit Bylaw, 2017, No. 1800".

2. DEFINITIONS

"City Engineer" means the person appointed to that position by the Council of the City and shall include an appointed representative;

“Commercial Soil Enterprise” means any business licensed to operate in the City and engaged in the storage and production of soils for retail sales;

“City" means the City of Langford;

“Highway” includes a street, road, lane, bridge, viaduct and any other way open to the use of the public, but does not include a right-of-way on private property;

"Soil" means topsoil, silt, clay, sand, gravel, rock, peat or other substance of which natural land is composed.

“Soil permit” means a permit issued pursuant to this Bylaw, authorizing a person to remove soil from land or deposit soil on land, or both.

3. REGULATIONS

a. Subject to the exemptions set out in section 4 of this Bylaw, no person shall remove soil from or deposit soil on any land within the City except as may be authorized by a valid and subsisting soil permit.

b. For clarity, the approval of a subdivision or issuance of a development permit or building permit shall not be construed as or amount to any form of permission or remove or deposit soil.

c. Permitted soil removal and deposit activities may occur between the hours of 7:00 am and 7:00 pm from Monday to Friday, except statutory holidays, and at no other time.

d. No soil permit shall be issued in respect of, nor shall any person remove soil from or deposit soil on, any land in a development permit area designated in the Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 1200 until the City has issued a development permit authorizing the alteration of the land.

e. No person shall deposit or remove soil so as to: i. Endanger utilities, municipal works, surrounding or neighbouring land or the support thereof, or create or result in any hazard; ii. Make impracticable the future subdivision or development of surrounding or neighbouring land; iii. Foul, obstruct or impede the flow of any stream, creek, waterway, watercourse, waterworks, ditch, drain or sewer in the City, whether or not situated on private property; iv. Contravene the Agricultural Land Commission Act or any other provincial law or regulations pertaining to natural waterways and rivers or agricultural land reserves.

f. Every area of excavation or soils to be deposited shall be covered with not less than four inches of topsoil, graded and sown with grass or other protective vegetation cover, unless the excavation or soils to be deposited has occurred in the course of building construction and is to be covered by a building or structure authorized by an issued building permit, or landscaped in accordance with an issued building or development permit, or the City Engineer determines that the placement of topsoil and planting of vegetation is not required to control water or wind erosion.

4. EXEMPTIONS

a. A soil permit is not required for the deposit or removal, in one calendar year, of a total of less than 100 cubic metres of soil on or from a single parcel of land.

b. A soil permit is not required for the deposit of up to 300mm, measured from the finished grade, of soil required for road and walkway construction, or for the deposit of up to 200 mm of soil required for pipe bedding and landscaping.

5. PERMITS

a. An application for a soil permit shall be submitted to the City Engineer and shall be accompanied by: i. A permit fee in the amount calculated in accordance with Schedule A; ii. The appropriate highway damage deposit in accordance with Schedule A if an equal or greater highway damage deposit has not been paid in conjunction with a building permit or subdivision application; iii. The civic address and legal description of the property; iv. The start date and expected duration of the soil removal or deposit activities; v. The location of all watercourses, waterworks, wells, ditches, drains, sewers, septic fields, catchbasins, culverts, manholes, rights-of-way, legal and geodetic survey monuments and markers, public utilities and public works on or within 30 m of the boundaries of the land, and the measures proposed to protect them; vi. The proposed routes to be taken by vehicles transporting soil to or from the land; vii. Copies of all certificates, permits and approvals as may be required by the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection under the Water Act or the Environmental Management Act, or by any other authority having jurisdiction over the proposed deposit or removal of soil, including completed site profile forms, with the required information about the past and present uses of the site, if the land has been used for industrial or commercial activities; viii. The origin or destination of the soil;

b. With the exception of Single Family Dwellings with less than 300m3 of soil, the following additional items are required: i. A certification by a Professional Engineer to the satisfaction of the City Engineer, as to the quantities of soil to be removed or deposited and the methodology of the proposed soil removal or deposition; ii. A contour plan or plans prepared under the direction of the Professional Engineer in sufficient detail to show the present state of the land, the extent of soil removal or deposition contemplated, and the proposed surface and topography of the land after the soil removal or deposition has been completed. iii. Certification by a British Columbia Land Surveyor, if in the opinion of the City Engineer, the extent of works require accurate topographic information, or to establish property lines; iv. A storm water management plan in accordance with Bylaw No. 1000, which shall include erosion and silt control measures; and v. A dust control plan.

c. A Geotechnical Engineer’s certification of the stability of any permanent slopes greater than 30%, and soils deposited greater than 1,200 mm in depth.

d. Every soil permit shall expire on the date that is the number of days from the start date indicated on the permit and based on Schedule “A”. The City Engineer may approve up to four 90-day extensions of a permit that has not expired, on payment of the soil permit fee specified in Schedule A for each extension.

e. The holder of a soil permit shall repair damage to municipal works and to other property affected by the soil deposition or removal, and comply with Traffic Bylaw No. 33 and all other relevant bylaws.

f. The holder of a soil permit shall sweep clean all highways affected by the soil or deposit activity at the end of each working day, to the satisfaction of the City Engineer. No person shall flush highway surfaces.

6. SITE ACCESS AND SECURITY

a. Access to any area from which soil is being removed or on which soil is being placed must be controlled at all times by a gate or other suitable device, to prevent unauthorized dumping, and the excavation or deposit site must be free of hazard and maintained hazard-free at all times.

b. If, at any stage of a soil removal or deposit operation, it appears that work authorized by the permit is likely to endanger any utilities, bridges, drains, public property, streets, easements or lanes, or is likely to create conditions which would endanger the health or safety of persons or property, the permit may be revoked by the City Engineer or the permittee may be required, as a condition to the continuance of the work, to take adequate precautions to prevent such danger.

7. INDEMNIFICATION

The holder of the permit shall at all times bear full responsibility for any accident which may occur or damage which may be done to any person or property whatsoever caused directly or indirectly by the work authorized by the permit, and shall save harmless and keep indemnified the City from all claims and demands whatsoever in respect of the work.

8. ENFORCEMENT

a. The City Engineer, the Bylaw Enforcement Officer and all City employees under their direction may at all reasonable hours enter upon any land or premises in the City to determine if the provisions of this bylaw are being complied with. No person shall obstruct such entry.

b. Upon written notice being given to a permit holder by the City Engineer or the Bylaw Enforcement Officer of a breach of this bylaw or the terms of a permit issued under this bylaw, all deposit or removal of soil shall cease until the breach is remedied.

c. If soil is deposited on land or removed from land without a required permit, the owner of the land shall comply with this bylaw or remove or replace the soil, within seven days notice to do so from the City Engineer or Bylaw Enforcement Officer. On default by the owner, the soil may be removed or replaced by the City at the expense of the owner of the land and the costs shall be recovered in the same manner as municipal taxes.

d. The City Engineer may suspend or revoke a soil permit if the permit holder violates any of the provisions of this bylaw or the terms of the permit.

9. PENALTY

Any person who violates any provision of this bylaw or fails to comply with any permit issued under this bylaw commits an offense punishable on summary conviction and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000.

A. REPEAL

City of Langford Soil Removal and Deposit Bylaw No.181 is repealed.

READ A FIRST time this
day of , 2017.

READ A SECOND time this
day of , 2017.

READ A THIRD time this
day of , 2017.

ADOPTED this
day of , 2017.

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MAYOR

CLERK-ADMINISTRATOR

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SCHEDULE A

• A highway damage deposit is not required for a soil permit if a highway damage deposit has already been paid in conjunction with a building permit or subdivision approval application for the property.