Clearing and Grading | Environment & Sustainability
in the R- zones clearing and grading may not occur until a building permit has been issued. Regardless of the exceptions any clearing and grading activity involving more than 1,000 square feet of land disturbance and/or 5 cubic yards of material shall require a permit . Land disturbance includes the removal of forest understory and native vegetation. In critical drainage areas the threshold for a permit shall be 200 square feet of land disturbance or the additional or removal of 2 cubic yards of material. For development or clearing and grading activity located within critical areas and associated regulatory buffers as defined by SDC 21.03.020, no person shall do any clearing or grading without first having obtained a clearing and grading permit, unless exempted below. For development or clearing and grading activity located outside of critical areas and associated regulatory buffers as defined by SDC 21.03.020, no person shall do any clearing or grading without first having obtained a clearing and grading permit except for the following, if associated with an approved land use: 1. An on-site excavation or fill for basements and footings of a building, retaining wall, parking lot, or other structure authorized by a valid building permit. This shall not exempt any fill made with the material from such excavation nor exempt any excavation having an unsupported height greater than four feet after the completion of such structure; 2. Maintenance of existing driveways or private access roads, including in critical areas and buffers, within their existing road prisms; provided, that the performance and restoration requirements of this chapter are met and best management practices are utilized to protect water quality;
3. Any grading within a publicly owned road right-of-way;
4. Clearing or grading by a public agency for the following routine maintenance activities: a. Roadside ditch cleaning, provided the ditch does not contain salmonids;
b. Pavement maintenance;
c. Normal grading of gravel shoulders;
d. Maintenance of culverts;
e. Maintenance of flood control or other approved surface water management facilities;
f. Routine clearing within road right-of-way;
5. Cemetery graves;
6. Any clearing or grading that has been approved by the director as part of a commercial site development permit and for which a financial guarantee has been posted; 7. The following activities are exempt from the clearing requirements of this chapter and no permit shall be required: a. Normal and routine maintenance of existing lawns and landscaping, including up to 50 cubic yards of top soil, mulch, or bark materials added to existing landscaped areas; b. Normal and routine horticultural activities associated with commercial orchards, nurseries, or Christmas tree farms subject to the limitations on the use of pesticides
Effective | January 1, 2022
Title 21: Sammamish Development Code | 179
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