[Added 6-2-2015 by Ord. No. 15-17]
A. 
Required. No person shall fill upon any lot, tract or parcel of land unless he shall first obtain a filling permit pursuant to Subsection B hereof and post the same upon the premises in the manner provided for the posting of a building permit as set forth in the City's Code.
B. 
Application.
(1) 
Procedures. A filling permit shall be issued by the Public Works Director/City Engineer, upon application being duly made and filed with him, upon payment of a permit fee as set forth below. Such application shall be signed by the owner of the premises involved, together with the person applying for the permit if he be other than the owner; shall contain the location of the premises and an accurate description of the same and an estimate of the number of cubic yards necessary to fill such land to approximately the grade of the terrain bounding the area to be filled. The permit shall run for a period of one year and be subject to renewal each successive year upon reapplication. The permit may be revoked by the Common Council, upon notice to the permittee and hearing, if the permittee is depositing or permitting or causing to be deposited materials on such premises other than solid fill or has failed to or refused to comply with any of the regulations set forth herein or any of the rules, regulations and orders of the Inspector herein.
[Amended 7-5-2022 by Ord. No. 22-63]
(2) 
Hearing. Such hearing shall be conducted in the manner provided in § 227.15, Wis. Stats.
(3) 
Permit fees shall be as set by the Common Council and provided under separate fee schedule.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
C. 
Estimate. If it appears from the application for such filling permit that the amount of fill reasonably required to alter the contour of the subject filling site to the approximate grade of the terrain bounding the area to be filled shall exceed 500 cubic yards, the provisions of Subsection B shall become applicable and govern the issuance of such filling permit. If there is any disagreement over the estimate of the number of cubic yards required, the estimate of the Inspector shall be controlling.
Whenever the amount of fill required shall exceed 500 cubic yards or the area exceed 1/2 acre, the applicant shall submit a topographic and contour map at a scale of not over 100 feet to the inch with two-foot contour intervals, using City datum. Such map shall show the proposed fill area, the proposed final contours, drainage patterns and special drainage devices, if necessary, and all other pertinent information as may be required to clearly indicate the orderly development of the fill area. Provided, however, that in the case of the excavation or the filling in of a building site, where a building permit has been issued for the erection of a new building or structure, the alteration or addition thereto, and the proposed final grades of such excavation and grading are included in the plat plans as submitted and approved by the Building Inspector, and the total amount of filling required does not exceed 500 cubic yards, a filling permit shall not be required.
For the purpose of this article, the following words and phrases are defined and shall be construed to mean, unless the context in which they are used clearly indicates an intent to the contrary, as follows:
FILL
The act of placing, setting down or depositing solid fill on land for the purpose of, or which has the resultant effect of, changing the existing contour of or raising the elevation of such land or any part thereof.
FILLING
See "fill."
FILLING PERMIT
Required to engage in the act of filling on a specified parcel of land.
FILL, SOLID
Earth, clay, soil, ground, stones, rocks and broken concrete, if the same does not exceed 18 inches in diameter; cinders (consisting of the residue from the combustion of coal and not less than 1/8 inch in diameter); or any mixture or combination of the foregoing.
INSPECTOR
The Building Inspector and/or Public Works Director/City Engineer.
[Amended 10-4-2016 by Ord. No. 16-18; 7-5-2022 by Ord. No. 22-63]
MATERIALS, FLAMMABLE AND COMBUSTIBLE
Includes oils and oil lights, sweepings from garage floors, barrels, boxes or other containers containing oil or other similar liquids, rags, clothes, paper, shavings, paper or cardboard boxes or cartons, grease, paints, varnish or other similar substances, any of which are likely to be readily flammable or combustible.
PERSON
Includes any natural person, firm, corporation or partnership.
A. 
Every person who shall fill upon any lot, tract or parcel of land shall fill such land as evenly as possible and, at the end of such filling, shall level and grade such fill and see to it that the top thereof shall be of soil, free from broken concrete and relatively free from gravel, and that the upper four inches thereof shall be of soil suitable for growing grass. He shall keep the surface of such filling free from dust at all times during the filling operations and thereafter.
B. 
Landfilling shall be operated and maintained in a sanitary manner, rodent-free, with no emission of dust or dirt beyond its boundary lines.
C. 
All materials delivered to the landfill site shall be deposited in a manner to prevent erosion into any watercourses, roadside ditches or onto adjoining properties.
D. 
All fill operations shall be confined to the hours of 7:00 a.m. to sunset daily, Monday through Saturday, unless otherwise shown or permitted on the application. No such activity shall be permitted on Sundays.
E. 
No permittee hereunder shall operate equipment or otherwise cause noise which interferes with nearby property owners in the peaceable enjoyment of their properties. The permittee shall maintain roadways to and across the site in a smooth condition to minimize noise of delivery vehicles.
F. 
Roadways to and across the landfill site shall be treated to prevent dust nuisances.
G. 
No natural drainageways or swales shall be blocked, and fill shall be placed in a manner to prevent formation of water nuisances or insect-breeding ponds.
H. 
Should any fill material erode into any watercourse or onto any adjoining property, the permittee shall remove such material at his expense upon the order of the Public Works Director/City Engineer.
[Amended 7-5-2022 by Ord. No. 22-63]
I. 
Fencing or suitable visual screen, as approved by the Inspector, due to complaints or where deemed necessary to avoid visual impairment, shall be provided on all sides of the site unless waived by the Common Council on application.
J. 
No permittee hereunder, nor the owner of the property, shall deny the Public Works Director/City Engineer, Building Inspector, police officer or other authorized officer or employee of the City the right of entry on his property during normal business hours for the purpose of inspection thereof or for the purpose of enforcing or carrying out the provisions of this article.
[Amended 7-5-2022 by Ord. No. 22-63]
K. 
No permittee shall fail to obey a stop order or revocation order issued by the Public Works Director/City Engineer, Building Inspector or authorized City officer for a violation of this section. The permittee may appeal such stop order or revocation order to the Common Council, such appeal to be filed in writing with the City Clerk within five days of the service thereof. If no appeal is taken within such time, the order shall be final. Such appeal shall be heard at the next regular meeting of the Common Council in public, at which time the permittee may be represented by counsel. The Common Council may affirm, reverse or modify the order appealed from and shall do so within five days of the hearing. The permittee shall not operate under his permit until the appeal is decided.
[Amended 7-5-2022 by Ord. No. 22-63]
L. 
If any person fails to complete or correct his landfill operation in accordance with the terms of his permit and the provisions of this article, the Public Works Director/City Engineer shall notify the permittee that the Common Council will hold a public hearing on his recommendation that the City complete or correct such work, either by City staff or contract, and assess the reasonable cost thereof against the property on which located. Notice shall be given by personal service or certified mail at least seven days prior to the hearing. The permittee shall have the right to be heard and to be represented by counsel. The Common Council, by resolution, may order the work completed or corrected and levy a special assessment for the reasonable cost thereof, which shall be a lien on the property, collected as other special assessments. The permittee may appeal to the circuit court within 20 days after a copy of the final resolution is served upon him, by personal service or certified mail. If no appeal is taken within such time, the assessment shall be final.
[Amended 7-5-2022 by Ord. No. 22-63]
M. 
The Common Council may, in an individual case, upon recommendation by the Inspector, as a condition to issuance of a filling permit or at any time as a condition for the continuance of such permit, require compliance by the permittee with any or all of the regulations set forth in Subsection B hereof.
A. 
The Building Inspector shall have such power, authority and duties concerning the inspection, supervision and control of fill or filling within the City as hereinafter more particularly set forth.
B. 
Such Inspector shall have complete charge and supervision over the regulation and operation of filling. He shall have, at all times, full power and authority to require complete compliance with this section and all other rules, regulations and orders of the City for the regulation of filling and the enforcement of this section.
C. 
Should the Inspector find that any person engaged in filling is failing to conform to the provisions of this section or other rules, regulations or orders, he may require that the person filling discontinue operations forthwith and until such time as conformance to this article, rules, regulations or orders is made. Should the operator, his servants, agents or employees, or any other person bring upon any such land materials which are prohibited by the terms and provisions of this article, the Inspector shall refuse to permit such materials to be unloaded. He shall, if any portion or all of such materials have been unloaded, cause the operator or person bringing such materials upon the land, to reload same and remove them from the premises.
D. 
Such Inspector shall be the representative of the City at any filling site within the City. He may require the ceasing of filling operations and the discontinuing of operations until such time as there may be proper compliance with this article and such other rules, regulations and orders as may be necessary in the control, supervision and regulation of filling lands.
The owner, lessee or any other person having possession and control over any filling operation, be it public or private, under the terms of this article shall be responsible for the actions of his agents, servants or employees to the same extent as though they were the acts of such principal; and such owner, lessee or other person shall be subject to arrest for violation of the provisions of this article by any of his agents, servants or employees; any penalty imposed under the terms of this article may be imposed upon the principal and/or the agents, servants or employees, or either or both of them.
The depositing on any land of flammable and/or combustible materials and the depositing of fly ash, foundry refuse and other similar materials of such texture or material that they will be capable of being airborne, and the permitting of such depositing, shall be and is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and is prohibited.
The Common Council may, however, in any emergency to be determined by it involving the abatement of a nuisance or in the protection of the public health, welfare or safety, permit the dumping of suitable materials, even though prohibited by the terms of this article; provided that, in each instance, application therefor shall be made in writing to the Common Council; it shall determine the type of materials to be dumped, the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the permit, the justification therefor and the manner in which such operations may be performed. Any permit issued pursuant to such approval shall be in the nature of a special permit, separate and apart from other permit issued to the applicant and from any permit for the operation of a dump or fill operation upon the same premises; shall specifically indicate the type of materials to be dumped, the manner in which the same are to be dumped and shall contain such other specifications and requirements as the Common Council may determine to be necessary and desirable.
A. 
The following activities shall be exempted from the provisions of this article: filling for landscaping, gardening or filling required for construction of accessory structures and uses up to a maximum of 20 cubic yards in any twelve-month period.
B. 
Fill required as a result of City Public Works Commission, Water Department or similar project activity may be exempt from the requirements of this article. The decision to exempt such activity shall be at the discretion of the Public Works Director/City Engineer.
[Amended 7-5-2022 by Ord. No. 22-63]
It is specifically determined by the Common Council that it is the intent and purpose of this article to regulate filling operations within the City limits on a basis whereby such operation may be readily controlled, supervised and regulated for the protection of public health, welfare and safety.
Any person or municipality violating the provisions of this article shall be liable for any or all damages or expenses sustained or incurred by the City by reason of any fire occurring in any such public or private dumping ground or other place within the City caused by any dumping referred to in this article, together with any expenses which the City may incur in enforcing any of the terms or provisions of this article. The penalty for violating the terms of this article shall be as set forth in § 1-4 of this Code.