23.76.042 Clearing and/or grading building sites with preliminary plat or preliminary short plat approval.
A. The director may issue a clearing and grading permit in conjunction with preliminary plat or preliminary short plat approval for clearing and/or grading of building sites if the following criteria are met:
1. No portion of the building site:
a. Is within 200 feet of a critical area or critical area buffer, as defined in Chapter 20.50 LUC, now or as hereafter amended;
b. Is within the shoreline overlay district, as defined in Part 20.25E LUC, now or as hereafter amended; or
c. Drains by pipe, open ditch, sheetflow, or a combination of these directly to receiving waters. A building site is considered to drain directly to receiving waters when it has a flow path of one-quarter mile or less where there is no intermediary permanent sediment trap or stormwater detention system between the site and receiving waters;
2. The director, based on an evaluation of site and project conditions, determines the proposal adequately protects receiving waters from increased erosion and sedimentation during construction and after the building sites have been cleared and/or graded, and that the proposal complies with all other applicable provisions of the Land Use Code and the Bellevue City Code. The city’s review of the site and the proposed project shall include, but not be limited to, an evaluation of the following:
a. Sufficiency of the CSWPPP required by BCC 23.76.090 to prevent pollutants and silt-laden runoff from leaving the site and prevent impacts to receiving waters, or critical areas and critical area buffers, including:
i. Proposed construction schedule and the proposed erosion and sedimentation control BMPs. The construction schedule and BMPs must be designed and implemented to prevent sediment from leaving the project site and prevent impacts to critical areas or critical area buffers; and
ii. The proposed interim stabilization and maintenance of the cleared and/or graded building site(s) until final development and stabilization of the building site(s);
b. Size of the area and number of building sites to be cleared and/or graded, quantities of proposed cuts and/or fills, and classification of the predominant site soils and their erosion and runoff potential;
3. The director’s approval may be limited to less than all of the proposed building sites, and may be limited to allowing clearing on only a portion of any building site. The director may impose conditions on approval, including but not limited to:
a. Requiring extraordinary BMPs, as described in BCC 23.76.090, now or as hereafter amended;
b. When clearing and grading is suspended or interrupted, the permittee shall stabilize the site using appropriate erosion and sedimentation control BMPs and shall maintain the BMPs, as required pursuant to BCC 23.76.090, now or as hereafter amended; and
c. Additional restrictions and conditions may be imposed after the permit is issued, based on the demonstrated ability of the permittee to control erosion and sedimentation;
4. For work approved under this section, an abatement security device is required per BCC 23.76.140, now or as hereafter amended. The permittee may establish a single abatement security device for the entire project, or separate abatement security devices may be established for the infrastructure construction and for clearing and grading of building sites. If separate abatement security devices are established, the city shall release the abatement security device for infrastructure construction once the infrastructure construction is complete and final approval is granted pursuant to BCC 23.76.180, now or as hereafter amended. The city shall release the abatement security device for clearing and grading of building sites after the building permits for all building sites that were cleared and graded with preliminary plat or preliminary short plat approval have been issued;
5. If approval for clearing or grading of building sites is granted and the city subsequently issues three stop work orders (or fewer as provided in the conditions of the project permit) for insufficient erosion and sedimentation control, the approval will be suspended or revoked for all building sites in the plat or short plat. If the approval is suspended or revoked, the permittee must cease all clearing and grading work on the building sites, stabilize the building sites, and maintain the erosion control BMPs. The director may reinstate a suspended approval within 60 days of suspension upon finding that satisfactory erosion and sedimentation control measures will be maintained by the permittee. If a suspended approval is not reinstated, or the approval is revoked, clearing and grading on building sites is not allowed until the time of building site development.
B. When clearing or grading of building sites is interrupted or suspended for any reason, the permittee shall stabilize the site(s) and maintain the erosion control BMPs consistent with BCC 23.76.090(E) and the clearing and grading development standards, now or as hereafter amended. If the city deems a construction site abandoned, the applicant or permittee shall install permanent erosion and sedimentation control pursuant to BCC 23.76.090(F). (Ord. 6646 § 2, 2022; Ord. 6318 § 17, 2016; Ord. 5906 § 9, 2009; Ord. 5452 § 5, 2003. Formerly 23.76.032.)