Legal Documents of Gatlinburg

Enforcement authority. The City of Gatlinburg Public Works Department, through their inspectors or other agents shall have the authority to issue notices of violation and issue and enforce orders.

Enforcement procedures follow a standardized progression of events that are collectively known as a force continuum to be applied by the City of Gatlinburg Public Works inspector and all other authorized agents. Each enforcement action should be based on its own merits/consideration, thus any and all steps of this continuum may be bypassed based on the discretion of the inspector, designated employee(s); egregiousness of violation; amount of discharge; damage to public and/or private property; number of previous violations; and any other pertinent circumstances, etc.

The establishment of this continuum shall include but not be limited to:

1. Site inspection;
2. Verbal or written notice of inspection findings and corrective actions suggested;
3. Follow up inspection;
4. Notice of violation or compliance order;
5. Cease and desist order or stop work order;
6. Civil penalty;
7. Suspension or revocation of permit.

1. Notice of violation/compliance order. Whenever the inspector determines any permittee or any other person or entity discharging stormwater has violated or is violating this ordinance or a permit or order hereunder, the inspector or other agents may serve upon such person written notice of the violation. The notice of violation should detail the overall site condition along with specific details of each violation ( e.g. silt fence failure, check dam needing maintenance, failure of other BMPs, etc.). This notice of violation shall contain such requirements as might be reasonably necessary and appropriate to address the noncompliance, including the construction of appropriate structures, installation of devices, self-monitoring, and management practices. The notice may also direct that, following a specific time period, adequate structures, devices, be installed or procedures implemented and properly operated. Within ten (10) days of this notice, a plan for the satisfactory correction and prevention thereof, to include specific required actions, shall be submitted to the City of Gatlinburg Public Works Department. Submission of this plan in no way relieves the discharger of liability for any violations occurring before or after receipt of the notice of violation.
2. Cease and desist orders/stop work order. When the City of Gatlinburg Public Works Department finds that any person has violated or continues to violate this ordinance or any permit or order issued hereunder, the City of Gatlinburg Public Works Department may issue an order to cease and desist all such violations and direct those persons in noncompliance to:
   1. Comply forthwith; or
   2. Take such appropriate remedial or preventive action as may be needed to properly address a continuing or threatened violation, including halting operations and terminating the discharge.
   3. Conflicting standards. Whenever there is a conflict between any standard contained in this ordinance and the TDEC manuals adopted by the municipality under this ordinance, the strictest standard shall prevail.
3. Referrals to TDEC for enforcement. Where the city has used "progressive enforcement" to achieve compliance with this ordinance, and in the judgment of the authority has not been successful, the authority may refer the violation to TDEC for enforcement. For the purposes of this provision, "progressive enforcement" shall mean two (2) follow-up inspections and two (2) warning letters. In addition, enforcement referrals to TDEC must include, at a minimum, the following:
   1. Construction project or industrial facility location;
   2. Name of the operator or owner;
   3. Estimated construction project size or type of industrial activity (including SIC code, if known);
   4. Records of communications with the owner or operator regarding the violation, including at least two (2) follow-up inspections, two (2) warning letters or notices of violation, and any response from the owner or operator.
4. Where there are outstanding or unpaid civil penalties, pending civil penalty appeals, and/or appeals in any governing body pursuant to the provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated, title 27, chapter 8, the permit holder nor his/her representative(s) may receive any additional land disturbance permit until such time as all civil penalties have been paid in full and all matters have been adjudicated. (as added by Ord. #2331, June 2005, and replaced by Ord. #2387, June 2008, and Ord. #2467, Sept. 2013)