Clifton, NJ Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Clifton Code Section 387-1 requires anyone excavating or removing soil for sale, or for use somewhere other than the premises it came from, to first get Council permission and a permit, unless the removal is incidental to constructing or altering a building on that same property. Section 387-2 requires a sworn application to the City Clerk with a metes-and-bounds description of the land and a surveyor-certified map showing existing and proposed contour lines. Section 387-3 sets the permit fee on a sliding scale by parcel size: $25 under a quarter acre, $50 up to a half acre, $100 up to one acre, $500 up to five acres, and $1,000 for five acres or more.

The application goes to the Planning Board for a recommendation within 30 days under Section 387-5, and Section 387-6 requires the Council, before granting a hearing and deciding the application, to weigh public health, safety and general welfare with particular attention to soil erosion by water and wind, drainage, soil fertility, lateral support and slopes of abutting streets and lands, land value and uses, and preservation of trees and shrubbery. A permit issues only if the Council finds the removal will not create sharp declivities, pits, depressions, erosion, fertility loss, depressed land values or drainage and sewerage problems; it is valid six months, extendable once for another six.

Section 387-8 forbids removing the top six inches of arable soil, which must be set aside and respread when the rest of the soil is gone, and Section 387-9 requires a bond to guarantee the work is finished properly.