It is the intent of this section to license and regulate the business of soil removal and the mining of land where permitted and to provide for the protection of persons and property and for the preservation of public health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the Township of Ocean and to insure that mining and sod removal operations shall be conducted in such a manner as to create a minimum of annoyance from noise and dust to nearby owners or occupants of property, provide for the safety of persons and further to insure that the mined area shall be suitably and reasonably rehabilitated after mining and soil removal operations have been completed or otherwise terminated.
For the purposes of this section, certain words as used herein shall be defined as follows:
No mining, soil removal or excavating shall be conducted within the Township of Ocean unless a permit and license shall have been obtained under the provisions of this section and unless the right to mine is permitted by the Zoning Ordinance or has been granted by variance or has been established as a valid nonconforming use. A license shall be issued to the person actually performing the mining operation with the consent of the owner of the premises. A license shall not be required in connection with the construction or alteration of a building on such premises and excavation or grading incidental thereto.
Application for a license required by this section shall be made upon forms provided by the township clerk A separate application shall be submitted for each lot on which a mining or soil removal operation is proposed to be conducted and the application shall be signed by the applicant; shall be submitted to the township clerk on or before November 1 of each year for the renewal of a license for the following year, and shall set forth the following information.
a. The name and address of the applicant, if an individual; the name, residence and business address of each partner, if a partnership; the name and principal place of business if a corporation and if a foreign corporation whether the same is authorized to do business in the State of New Jersey.
b. The street address and the block and lot number so if the premises on which the mining or soil removal operation is proposed to be conducted.
c. Five copies of a current plot plan of the premises where the business is to be conducted, prepared by a licensed engineer or land surveyor, showing the entire tract involved, all roads or buildings within 500 feet thereof, the existing elevations of all buildings and structures on the premises, existing and proposed final contours of the premises and adjoining lands, all brooks, streams or bodies of water on the premises or within 200 feet thereof, all existing surface and subsurface water drainage conditions and provisions therefor, all wooded areas, the quantity in cubic yards of the material to be mined, the grades of all abutting streets and lands, and all entrances or exits to the premises together with fences or gates erected or to be erected.
d. The hours during which the mining and soil removal or excavating will be conducted.
e. The location and a description of permanent monuments for property corners and bench marks.
f. A statement describing all equipment to be used directly or indirectly in the mining operation.
g. Routes to be utilized in transporting materials within the Township of Ocean. All routes must be approved by the police department of the Township of Ocean.
h. Proof of certification of a Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan by the Freehold Soil Conservation District.
i A test borings report providing the elevation of the seasonal high water table in each two acre section to be excavated, uniformly located on the property.
j. A plan for rehabilitation of the site.
Each application for the issuance, renewal or transfer of any license and permit shall be accompanied by a fee of one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars to defray the township's administrative costs in connection with the application
All license applications shall be reviewed by the township engineer who shall certify as to whether or not they comply with the requirements of this section and have employed proper engineering design and judgement and if so certified the township council may approve the issuance of a license. All licenses shall expire on December 31 of each year and may be renewed pursuant to the requirements hereof for the issuance of licenses.
No license shall be issued until the applicant shall have posted with the township clerk a performance bond, in the form and with a surety acceptable to the township council, in an amount determined by the township engineer to be sufficient to insure the faithful performance of the work for which the license is to be granted in compliance with the provisions of this section, including all work required for the rehabilitation of the premises.
a. Mining or excavating may be conducted and equipment and vehicles may be operated on the premises only Monday through Friday between the hours of 7.00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and on Saturday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and noon. No mining or excavation shall take place on legal holidays
b. The removal of any topsoil is hereby expressly prohibited. All topsoil on premises being mined or excavated shall be temporarily stored on the premises no closer than 150 feet from any lot line of the premises. After operations have been completed or terminated, the topsoil shall be respread over each section pursuant to levels and contour lines approved by the township engineer and seeded with permanent rye grass and other appropriate cover crops including seedling trees at the rate of 150 per acre the size and species as deemed appropriate by the township planner
c. Operations shall be conducted so that no more than three five acre sections shall be mined or excavated at the same time and one such section shall be properly identified, leveled, cleared of debris, and graded to conform with the contour lines and grades approved by the township engineer and stabilized and planted or seeded with appropriate cover vegetation before commencement of mining on any additional sections on the premises.
d. No mining or excavating shall be permitted at any point nearer than 150 feet from any lot lines of the premises and no excavating shall be permitted up to such point below a slope of three feet horizontal to one foot vertical. The 150 feet limitation herein may be waived by the township engineer if necessary to conform to the elevation of the adjoining lot
e. No excavations shall be permitted below the elevation of any adjoining roads
f. The licensee shall not cause soil erosion, drainage or sewerage problems or other conditions detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare.
g. Transportation of all materials off premises shall be conducted in such a manner as to prevent the flowing of dust or the spilling of gravel, soil or any other material from the vehicles
h. There shall be erected a snow fence or equal, at least four feet high around any open excavation which exceeds a depth of ten feet from pre-mining elevation.
i No excavation shall be permitted to with in eight(8)feet vertically of the seasonal high water table.
j. Appropriate measures shall be employed so as to prevent the dissemination of dust into the atmosphere or beyond the perimeter of the property.
k. No graded or backfill area shall be permitted to collect stagnant water.
l. All natural vegetation within 150 feet of all lot lines shall not be removed.
m. Noise shall be controlled in accordance with the requirements of N.J.A.C. 7:29-1, et seq.
n. No material mined or excavated shall be stockpiled at any point nearer than 150 feet to the lot line of the premises
o No excavation shall be located nearer than 500 feet to any school, church, recreational facility or other public building or private or public hospitals or nursing homes or any residential building measured by a straight line between such buildings and the nearest point of excavation.
p. Every license shall maintain appropriate public liability insurance against liability arising from any such operations or activities incidental thereto during the period of said operations.
q. No nonconforming mining or soil removal use shall continue or resume if, in the opinion of the board of adjustment, there is evidence that the conduct of the mining or soil removal operations has been abandoned; or when the characteristic equipment and furnishings have been removed from the premises and have not been replaced by similar equipment within such period of time as, in the judgment of the board of adjustment, shall evidence an intention not to resume said mining operations.
a. Prior to the approval of any application for the issuance, renewal or transfer of any mining license, a plan for rehabilitation shall be submitted and approved by the township engineer for each current or proposed section to be excavated The plan shall show both existing and proposed final contours
b. Each section shall be rehabilitated as specified in subsection 9-28, b and c hereof.
c. The rehabilitation of each section shall be completed within 90 days after the excavation within the section has been completed or a predetermined specified time due to weather conditions
After ten days' notice and an opportunity to be heard the township council may suspend or revoke any license is sued under the section if it finds a pattern of repeated violations or that the licensee is in violation of any material term or provision hereof or any application statute or regulation of the State of New Jersey in such a manner as to result in substantial detriment to the health, safety or welfare of the inhabitants of the Township of Ocean
a. Application forms for renewal or transfer of licenses shall be obtained from the township clerk All applications for renewal or transfer of licenses shall conform to the requirements of subsection 9-1.4 hereof for the issuance of licenses.
b. Completed applications shall be personally delivered, or delivered by registered or certified mail to the township clerk, and shall be accompanied by a fee of one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars at least 60 days prior to the date requested for renewal or transfer. Transfers of licenses shall be prohibited except to subsequent purchasers of the premises.
c. No renewal or transfer of a license shall be approved until any and all unpaid taxes, assessments or other municipal charges or liens are paid in full
d. No renewal or transfer of any license shall be approved if, upon inspection of the subject property by the township engineer or his designated representative, violations of this section are found to exist.
e. After receipt of the written application for transfer or renewal from the township clerk together with the site inspection report of the township) engineer or his designated representative, the township council may, by resolution, authorize the renewal or transfer of the mining license; deny the renewal or transfer of the mining license as the result of violations of this section; or, authorize the renewal or transfer of the license subject to the correction of any such violations.
f Subsequent to the adoption of are solution approving the transfer of any mining license, the license shall be presented by the holder or transferee thereof to the township clerk for proper endorsement
This section shall be enforced by the township engineer or his designated representative, who shall investigate any violation of this section coming to their attention, whether by complaint or arising from their own personal knowledge. If a violation is found to exist, the township engineer or his designated representative shall serve a written notice by certified mail or personal service upon the owner or other party in charge of the licensed premises, which notice shall require said violation to be abated Within a period of 30 days from the date of service thereof or within such lesser period of time as the township engineer or his designated representative shall deem reasonable in cases where the danger to the public health, safety and welfare requires more immediate abatement. If violation is not abated within the time specified, the township engineer or his designated representative shall issue a summons in municipal court for said violation, and notify the township council thereof.
No permit shall be issued under the provisions of this section unless and until the applicant has deposited with the township a fee to be deposited in an escrow account computed at the rate of ten ($.10) cents per cubic yard multiplied by the estimated number of yards to be removed within the license period. The sum deposited herewith shall be an escrow account against which legal and engineering costs of the township associated with this application will be billed for the purpose of reimbursing the township for direct fees, costs, charges and expenses of professional consultants retained by the township.
The owner of the premises or the person in charge of the soil removal or mining operation where permission has been duly granted shall not take away the top layer of arable soil for a depth of six inches but such top layer or arable sod to the depth of six inches shall be set aside for retention on the premises and shall be replaced over the premises when the last of the soil has been removed pursuant to levels and contour lines as approved by the township engineer.
Any person who violates any provision of this section or who otherwise fails to fully comply with any of the requirements of this section shall for each such violation or offense be subject to a fine of not more than five hundred ($500.00) dollars or imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both. Each day that a violation or offense continues shall constitute a separate violation hereof
The purpose of this chapter into prevent indiscriminate, uncontrolled, and excessive destruction, removal, and clear cutting of trees upon lots and tracts of land within the Township of Ocean in order to maintain the aesthetic character of the Township of Ocean, prevent erosion, control action that will substantially change drainage patterns, and restrict actions that will cause a hazard to persons or property.
1) PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY . Any street or road shown upon a map or plan filed in the Monmouth County Clerk's office or on the Official Map of the Township of Ocean.
2) SITE . Any lot, tract, parcel or parcels of land within the township.
3) TREE . Any plant with a single trunk at a height of 1 foot above the root crown and having a mature height of greater than 3D'.
4) UNDISTURBED AREA . An area in which trees shrubs, and understory will not be disturbed by tilling, cutting yr by any other means
5) TREE REMOVAL PERMIT . A certificate issued by the Construction Official of the Township to permit removal of trees as defined in this section.
6) CLEAR CUTTING . The removal of all standing trees on a site or a specific portion of a site.
No person shall remove, or cause to be removed, an existing tree with a diameter of six inches or greater, measured at a height of 1 foot above the root crown, upon any lands within the Township of Ocean except as follows:
1) The removal of tress that are to be removed as the direct result of a Development Application that has been approved by the Township of Ocean Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment;
2) Any trees cut or removed in accordance-with a "management plan" developed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Forestry, filed with the Construction Official of the township;
3) Trees directed to be removed by municipal, county, state or federal authority;
4) Trees that are to be removed as the result of the issuance of a Tree Removal Permit.
A Tree Removal Permit shall be required and issued for the removal of any tree as follows:
1) Any tree growing on or over a public right-or-way or public land that, as determined by a N.J. Certified Tree Expert or a competent public authority (police, construction official, Township Engineer, etc.), is dead, dying, or has resulted in the heaving of sidewalks to the point where removing the roots and replacing the sidewalk would severely damage or kill the tree.
2) Trees required to be removed subject to a construction permit as issued by the construction official for construction of new residences, additions to residences, or the construction of swimming pools or other accessory buildings or structures that are not the subject of Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment application approvals. Such trees shall clearly be shown on the construction plans and identified by size (diameter t' above the root crown), and the removal of same shall, in the opinion of the construction official or his designee, clearly be necessary for the construction of the subject building or structure.
3) Trees that are: dead; severely damaged by natural causes or accident to the point that the natural habit of the tree can not be restored as determined by a N.J. Certified Tree Expert or a competent public authority (police, construction official, Township Engineer, etc.); trees that era severely diseased and require removal as certified by an N.J. Certified Tree Expert; or trees that pose an imminent public safety hazard as determined by a N.J. Certified Tree Expert or a competent public authority (police, construction official, Township Engineer, etc.).
4) Individual residential lots that remove no more than 3 trees per 12 month period. Trees removed as a result of 1 thru 3 above shall not b counted towards these 3 trees.
