HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD NO 2985EMERGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 2985 NEW SERIES
AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF BAKERSFIELD ADDING SUBSECTION H. TO SECTION
17.10.020, AMENDING SECTIONS 17.64.050 B.2. AND
17.66.020, AND REPEALING SUBSECTION F OF SECTION
17.32.020, RELATING TO PERMITTED USES, CONDITIONAL
USE PERMITS AND DRILLING FOR OIL, GAS AND OTHER
HYDROCARBON SUBSTANCES.
WHEREAS, oil well drilling operations in proximity to
residential areas have disturbed the peace of residents, and the
quiet enjoyment of their residential properties; and
WHEREAS, immediate adoption of noise standards applica-
ble to such operations and establishment of a conditional use
permit process for such operations are necessary and appropriate.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the
City of Bakersfield as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 17.10.020 of the Bakersfield Municipal Code is
hereby amended by adding thereto subsection H. to read as follows:
17.10.020 Uses permitted.
H. Drilling for the production of oil, gas and other
hydrocarbon substances and the installation and maintenance of
necessary buildings, apparatus and appurtenances incident
thereto, provided that all such drilling, installations and oper-
ations are conducted within the state-approved boundaries of the
Kern River or Kern Bluff Oil Fields as shown on Maps 439 and 457
of the Division of Oil and Gas. Activities conducted pursuant to
this subsection shall conform to the requirements and conditions
specified in subsection B.11. of Section 17.66.020 except those
specified in subsection B.11.g. thereof.
SECTION 2.
Section 17.64.050 B.2. of the Bakersfield Municipal Code
is hereby amended to read as follows:
17.64.050 Hearing - Fixing time and place and giving notice.
B.2. By mailing a notice, postage prepaid, to the
applicant, to each member of the board of zoning adjustment, and
to the owners of all property within three hundred feet of the
exterior boundaries of the property involved, using for this pur-
pose the name and address of such owners as shown upon the latest
county assessment roll; notice of hearing upon each application
for a conditional use permit to allow drilling for the production
of oil, gas and other hydrocarbon substances pursuant to subsec-
tion B.11. of Section 17.66.020 shall be mailed to such owners
within one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet of each proposed
well location.
SECTION 3.
Section 17.66.020 of the Bakersfield Municipal Code is
hereby amended to read as follows:
17.66.020 Uses permitted in any zone.
A. The following uses may be permitted in any zone upon
the granting of a conditional use permit by the city council,
utilizing the procedure set forth in Section 17.64.085:
1. Airports or aircraft landing fields.
2. Cemeteries, columbariums, crematories and
mausoleums;
for
ment parks, circuses, carnivals, expositions, fairgrounds,
air theaters, racetracks, recreational and sport centers;
4. Large scale neighborhood housing projects
a minimum gross area of twenty acres.
B. The following uses may be permitted in any zone,
upon the granting of a conditional use permit by the Board of
Zoning Adjustment:
3. Establishments or enterprises designed or used
large assemblages of people or automobiles, including amuse-
open-
having
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1. Churches or other places used exclusively for
religious worship;
2. Educational institutions including schools, ele-
mentary or high;
3. Hospitals, sanitariums, rest homes, maternity
homes and homes for the aged;
4. Libraries, museums and private clubs;
5. Parks, playgrounds and community buildings;
6. Public utility or public service buildings,
structures and uses;
Radio and television transmitters;
Real estate tract offices, golf courses and
country clubs;
9.
10.
other materials;
11.
Day nurseries and nursery schools;
Excavation and removal of rock, sand, gravel and
Drilling for the production of oil, gas and
other hydrocarbon substances and the installation and maintenance
of necessary buildings, apparatus and appurtenances incident
thereto; provided, that all drilling, installations and
operations, shall conform to conditions specified in the permit
therefore, which shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
a. Distance separation requirements for oil or
gas wells are set forth in Section 17.08.200 through 17.08.250.
b. All drilling and producing operations shall
conform to all applicable building, fire and safety regulations.
All oil recovery operations, including surface equipment and
fixtures, shall be screened and protected by fencing (either por-
table or permanent) which shall be adequate, as approved by the
building department and the State Division of Oil and Gas, to
prevent the entry of members of the public into the immediate
area where the recovery operations are being performed. The
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fencing shall be adequate and sufficient to protect the general
public from any hazard of the operation and shall be at least six
feet in height. Except as may otherwise be required pursuant to
subsection j. of this subsection, such fencing shall not be
required if no more than fifteen dwelling units are located within
thirteen hundred (1,300) feet of the well, provided that no
dwelling unit is located within five hundred (500) feet of the well.
(1) All vehicles of the permittee in excess
of three tons shall be restricted to the use of public roads spe-
cified by the board. The permittee shall promptly, upon receipt
of notice, repair all damage to the roads caused by his opera-
tions. A route clearance shall be obtained from the public works
manager prior to moving the equipment within the city.
(2) All drilling and production operations
shall be conducted in such a manner as to minimize dust, noise,
vibration, or noxious fumes or odors and shall be in accordance
with good and safe drilling and production practices and in
accordance with applicable government regulations. A dust binder
approved by the building director shall be applied at the drill-
ing (well) site and upon each unpaved access road thereto.
c. Suitable and adequate sanitary toilet and
washing facilities, approved by the Kern County health depart-
ment, shall be installed and maintained in a clean and sanitary
condition at all times.
d. Earthen sumps may be allowed by permits
secured from the building department in conjunction with operations
only under the following conditions:
(1) All earthen sumps shall be fenced with
a chain link fence at least six feet high or provision made and
approved in writing by the building director for full time twenty-four-
hour surveillance during the term of the existence of the sump.
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(2) A chain link gate shall be installed
and be equipped with locks and shall be kept locked at all times
when unattended.
e. Upon the termination of any oil or gas
exploration activity pursuant to a permit issued under this sub-
section, or the abandonment of any existing well or any other
well operating pursuant to a permit issued as provided in this
subsection, the abandoned well, well site, or drilling site shall
be restored to its original condition prior to the commencement
of the exploration or operation of said oil or gas well insofar
as it is practicable to do so and in conformity with the follow-
ing requirements:
(1) The derrick and all appurtenant equip-
ment shall be removed from the drill site.
(2) All tanks, towers and other surface
installations shall be removed from the drill site.
(3) All concrete, pipe, wood and other for-
eign materials shall be removed from the drill site to a depth of
four feet below grade, unless part of a multiwell cellar then
being used in connection with any other well for which a permit
has been issued.
material shall be
(4) All oil, waste oil, refuse or waste
removed from the drill site. All sumps and
other holes and depressions created by permittee's operations
shall be filled and compacted with native earth.
The failure of permittee to comply with the pro-
visions of this section relating to abandonment within a period
of thirty days following the termination of any oil or gas explo-
ration activity or the abandonment of any existing well shall be
called to the attention of the permittee by a registered letter
addressed to permittee at the permittee's address as shown on the
permit application. If, at the end of thirty days after mailing
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of such letter no steps have been taken to comply with said pro-
visions of this section, the building department shall proceed to
effect the abandonment procedure itself. Permittee shall be lia-
ble for all costs incurred by the City, including costs in excess
of those covered by the surety bond specified below, and no addi-
tional permit shall be issued a permittee until payment of all
such costs has been made.
f. No permit shall be issued unless and until
the permittee has posted a surety bond from an approved corporate
surety for the cleanup of the oil or gas drilling or recovery
operation after its termination in the amount of two thousand
five hundred dollars for each single well or twelve thousand five
hundred dollars for each oil or gas drilling or recovery opera-
tion composed of more than five wells. A building permit shall
be secured for any permanent structure to be used in connection
with the production of oil and constructed on the drilling site,
which structure shall conform to the city building code.
Refineries, dehydration plants, absorption plants, tank farms and
other uses not necessary to the production, cleaning and shipping
of oil at the well head shall not be considered authorized by any
permit issued pursuant to this subsection.
g. On-site operations in preparation for drill-
ing shall be commenced within ninety days from the effective date
of the permit or within such additional period as the board may,
for good cause, allow, and thereafter shall be prosecuted dili-
gently to completion or else abandoned. If a producing well is
not secured within one year of the date of the permit, the well
shall be abandoned. Upon application of the permittee, the
board, for good cause, may allow additional time for the comple-
tion of the well. Upon expiration of the permit or the abandon-
ment of any well or other facility, the premises shall be
restored by the applicant to the conditions existing prior to the
issuance of the permit, as nearly as practicable to do so.
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h. Each permit shall contain the following
waiver agreement:
In case any portion of any property within
the City of Bakersfield under lease by permit-
tee for oil and gas or gas exploration and
development purposes is within one hundred
feet of the centerline of any public street
and additional right-of-way is required for
the reconstruction of any such street, the
permittee agrees on behalf of himself, the
lessee or successors in interest, that all
rights as to surface and upper one hundred
feet of the subsurface as measured vertically
downward from the surface of such required
portion shall be waived upon demand by the
proper city, County, or State Department.
The waiver of rights shall not be required until
after an agreement to convey to the city, county or state has
been secured by the owner, including permittee (if permittee is
the owner) by such public agency, or said property has been
acquired by condemnation by the public agency.
The waiver provided for in this subdivision
shall not be construed so as to preclude permittee from demanding
and receiving compensation for market value of facilities or
improvements that may at the time be located on or in said sur-
face or subsurface.
i. Any person holding a permit issued pursuant
to this subsection shall provide the city building department
with a copy of all notices given to the Division of Oil and Gas
of the state at the same time the notices are supplied to the
division.
j. All drilling sites shall be fenced or land-
scaped as prescribed by the board if determined necessary or
desirable by that board in order to protect the public health,
safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare.
k. No signs, other than directional and warning
signs and those required for identification of the well, shall be
constructed, erected, maintained or placed on the premises of any
drilling site or any part thereof except those required by law or
ordinance to be displayed in connection with the drilling or
maintenance of the well.
1. No drilling or production equipment or
appurtenances accessory thereto shall be outside of the drilling
site as described in the application for permit. All wells pass-
ing through or bottomed under R-l, R-2, R-3, R-4, C-O and C-1
zones shall be below a depth of five hundred feet.
m. All operations under the permit shall con-
form in all respects to the regulations and requirements of the
California State Regional Water Quality Control Board and all
other applicable regulations. The water supply of the city shall
not be depleted, polluted or contaminated by any operations of the
applicant or his successors in interest.
n. All installations of whatever kind or nature
and establishment thereof shall comply with all regulations of
the city and of the State Division of Oil and Gas.
o. All drilling and production equipment shall
be constructed and operated so as not to constitute a public nui-
sance and the site or structures thereon shall not become dilapi-
dated, unsightly or unsafe. Proven technological improvements in
methods of drilling and production shall be adopted as they, from
time to time, become available if capable of reducing factors of
nuisance or annoyance.
p. At all times, city officials shall be per-
mitted to review and inspect drilling site operations and dis-
posal of waste. Records of the permittee shall be open to
inspection by the building director, the planning director, the
public works manager, the city attorney, and the city manager of
the City.
q. No drilling, producing, or other operations
(including work-over operations) shall produce noise at any resi-
dential property line in excess of the following standards, with
respect to these basic reference levels:
BASIC REFERENCE LEVELS
Time Period
Noise Level
7:00 a.m. 10:00 p.m. 55 dB(A)
10:00 p.m. 7:00 a.m. 50 dB(A)
STANDARDS
(1) The applicable basic reference level for a cumula-
tive period of more than thirty (30) minutes in any hour, or
(2) The applicable basic reference level plus five (5)
dB(A) for a cumulative period of more than fifteen (15) minutes
in any hour, or
(3) The applicable basic reference level plus ten (10)
dB(A) for a cumulative period of more than five (5) minutes in
any hour, or
(4) The applicable basic reference level plus fifteen
(15) dB(A) for a cumulative period of more than one (1) minutes
in any hour, or
(5) The applicable basic reference level plus twenty
(20) dB(A) for any period of time.
(6) Each of the noise limits specified above shall be
reduced by five (5) dB(A) for impact or predominant tone noise or
for noises consisting of speech such as would be generated by a
paging system.
(7) In the event that the ambient noise level on the
residential properties exceeds any of the first four noise limit
categories above, the cumulative period applicable to the cate-
gory shall be increased to reflect the ambient noise level. In
the event that the ambient noise level exceeds the fifth noise
limit category, the maximum allowable noise level under that cate-
gory shall be increased to reflect the maximum ambient noise
level.
r. The board may condition such permit upon the
permittee maintaining decibel monitoring and recording devices at
locations designated by the board, with access to such devices by
designated city personnel or agents fully accommodated, to insure
compliance with the noise limitations set forth in subsection q.
above. Alternatively, the board may specify as a condition that
the permittee pay costs of acoustical analysis of the permittee's
operations and remedial actions thereby identified.
s. The board may require that, during drilling
operations and subsequent to each well being cased, trucks
shall be allowed access to the drilling site, heavy equipment
shall be used at such site, and pipe shall be handled at such
site only between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. (In cases of
emergency operations or upon direction by the Division of Oil and
Gas, such restrictions shall not apply.)
t. The restrictions of subsections q. and s.,
above, shall not apply during such period of time, not to exceed
72 hours, as completion operations (casing of the well) are con-
ducted, provided the permittee has provided not less than 48
hours' advance notice of such operations by delivery to each
dwelling unit within fifteen hundred (1,500) feet of the well
site of a notice of such operations. Such notice shall describe
the times such operations are expected to commence and terminate
and shall advise residents that the noise and hours of operation
restrictions otherwise applicable will not be in effect during
such period.
SECTION 4.
Subsection F. of Section 17.32.020 of the Bakersfield
Municipal Code is hereby repealed in its entirety.
SECTION 5.
The ordinance is an emergency ordinance for the immedi-
ate preservation of the public health, peace, property, safety
and general welfare and shall be effective immediately upon pas-
sage of this ordinance.
.......... o0o ..........
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I HEREBY CERTIFY that the
was passed and adopted by the Council of
at a regular meeting thereof held on the
198--5, by the following vote:
foregoing Emergency Ordinance
the City of Bakersfield
26th day of June
CITY CLERK and Ex 0fficio Clerk of the
Council of the City of Bakersfield
APPROVED this 26th day of June ,
MAYOR of the City ~f Bakersfield
1985
APPROVED as to form:
Y ATTQK~NEY of the City of Bakersfield
AJS/bl 11
O.OIL
Affi aa ! of r tnan es
STATE OF CALIFORNIA t ss. County of Kern *
CAROL WILLIAMS, Being duly sworn, deposes and says:
Titat she is the duly appointed, acting and qualified City Clerk of the City of Bakersfield; and
that on June 27 _, 1985 , she posted on the Bulletin Board
at the City Hall, a full, true and correct copy of an ordinance passed by the Council of said City
at a meeting thereof duly held on June 26 , 1985 , which ordinance
was numbered 2985 New Series, and entitled:
AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF BAKERSFIELD ADDING SUBSECTION H. TO
SECTION 17.10.020, AMENDING SECTIONS 17.64.050
B.2. AND 17.66.020, AND REPEALING SUBSECTION F
OF SECTION 17.32.020, RELATING TO PERMITTED
USES, CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS AND DRILLING
FOR OIL, GAS AND OTHER HYDROCARBON SUBSTANCES.
City Clerk
Subscribed and sworn to before me this
~7.~t?- day of .... JUE-e ....... ,19.~..~