For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
Accelerated erosion. Any increase over the rate of natural erosion as a result of land-disturbing activities.
Act. The North Carolina Sedimentation Pollution Control Act of 1973, being G.S. 113A-50 et seq., and all rules and orders adopted pursuant to it.
Active construction. Activities which contribute directly to the building of facilities including land-disturbing activities for roads, parking lots, footings and the like.
Adequate erosion and control measure, structure or device. One which controls the soil material within the land area under responsible control of the person conducting the land-disturbing activity.
Affiliate. A person who directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries’ control, is controlled by or is under common control of another person.
Being conducted. A land-disturbing activity has been initiated and permanent stabilization of the site has not been completed.
Borrow. Fill material which is required for on-site construction and is obtained from other locations.
Buffer zone. The strip of land adjacent to a lake or natural watercourse.
City. City of Greenville.
Coastal counties. The following counties: Beaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Care, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasqotank, Pender, Tyrrell and Washington.
Commission. The North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commission.
Completion of construction or development. No further land-disturbing activity is required on a phase of a project except that which is necessary for establishing a permanent ground cover.
Denuded. The removal of ground cover from, on or above the soil surface.
Department. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Director. The Director of the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources of the Department of Environmental Quality.
Discharge point. That point at which runoff leaves a tract of land.
Drainage easement. A minimum strip of land reserved for conveyance of stormwater generally located along the rear or side lot lines but may cross lots at such points that will not pose a hazard to persons or property.
Energy dissipator. Any structure or a shaped channel section with mechanical armoring placed at the outlet of pipes or conduits to receive and break down the energy from high velocity flow.
Erosion. The wearing away of the land surface by the action of the wind, water, gravity or any combination thereof.
Extraterritorial jurisdiction. That territory surrounding the corporate limits of the city over which the city exercises its planning and zoning authorities as established by action of the City Council on June 26, 1972 and subsequently amended.
Ground cover. Any natural vegetative growth or other material which renders the soil surface stable against accelerated erosion.
High quality water (HQW) zones. For the Coastal Counties, areas within 575 feet of high quality waters; and for the remainder of the state, areas within one mile and draining to HQW's.
High quality waters. Those classified as such in 15A NCAC 02B.0224, which is incorporated herein by reference to include further amendments and additions.
Lake or natural watercourse. Any stream, river, brook, swamp, sound, bay, creek, run, branch, canal, waterway, estuary and any reservoir, lake or pond, natural or impounded, in which sediment may be moved or carried in suspension and which could be damaged by accumulation of sediment.
Land-disturbing activity. Any use of the land by any person in residential, industrial, educational, institutional or commercial development, highway and road construction and maintenance that results in a change in the natural cover or topography and that may cause or contribute to sedimentation.
Land-disturbing permit. The approval document allowing land-disturbing activities to be initiated. A project may be developed in phases with separate permits for each phase.
Local government. Any county, incorporated village, town or city, or any combination of counties, incorporated villages, towns and cities, acting through a joint program pursuant to the provisions of the Act.
Natural erosion. Wearing away of the earth’s surface by water, wind or other natural agents under natural environmental conditions undisturbed by mankind.
Parent. An affiliate that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls another person.
Person. Any individual, partnership, firm, association, joint venture, public or private corporation, trust, estate, commission, board, public or private institution, utility, cooperative, interstate body or other legal entity.
Person conducting land-disturbing activity. Any person who may be held responsible for a violation unless expressly provided otherwise by this chapter, the Act, or any order adopted pursuant to this chapter or the Act.
Person responsible for the violation. As used in this chapter and G.S. 113A-64, means:
(1) The developer or other person who has or holds himself or herself out as having financial or operational control over the land-disturbing activity; or
(2) The landowner or person in possession or control of the land when he or she has directly or indirectly allowed the land-disturbing activity or has benefitted from it, or he or she has failed to comply with any provision of this chapter, the Act or any order adopted pursuant to this chapter or the Act as imposes a duty upon him or her.
Phase of grading. One of two types of grading, rough or fine.
Plan. Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan.
Protective cover. Natural or artificial ground cover of grass, trees, shrubs or mulch sufficient to reduce erosion potential.
Receiving watercourse. A lake, natural watercourse, or other natural or man-made area into which stormwater runoff flows from a land-disturbing activity.
Sediment. Solid particulate matter, both mineral and organic, that has been or is being transported by water, air, gravity or ice from its site of origin.
Sedimentation. The process by which sediment resulting from accelerated erosion has been or is being transported off the site of the land-disturbing activity or into a lake or natural watercourse.
Siltation. Sediment resulting from accelerated erosion which is settlable or removable by properly designed, constricted and maintained control measures; and which has been transported from its point of origin within the site of a land- disturbing activity; and which has been deposited or is in suspension in water.
Special flood hazard area. The land located within the floodplain subject to a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year and subject to the conditions of Title 9, Chapter 6 of the City Code, Flood Damage Prevention.
Storm drainage facilities. The system of inlets, conduits, channels, ditches and appurtenances which serve to collect and convey stormwater through and from a given drainage area.
Stormwater runoff. The direct runoff of water resulting from precipitation in any form.
Ten-year storm. The surface runoff resulting from a rainfall of an intensity expected to be equaled or exceeded, on the average, once in ten years, and of a duration which will produce the maximum peak rate of runoff, for the watershed of interest under average antecedent wetness conditions.
Tract. All contiguous land and bodies of water being disturbed or to be disturbed as a unit, regardless of ownership.
Twenty-five-year storm. The surface runoff resulting from a rainfall of an intensity expected to be equaled or exceeded, on the average, once in 25 years, and of a duration which will produce the maximum peak rate of runoff, from the watershed of interest under average antecedent wetness conditions.
Uncovered. The removal of ground cover from, on or above the soil surface.
Undertaken. The initiating of any activity or phase of activity which results or will result in a change in the ground cover or topography of a tract of land.
Velocity. The average speed of flow through the cross-section of the main channel at the peak flow of the storm of interest. The cross-section of the main channel shall be that area defined by the geometry of the channel plus the area of flow below the flood height defined by vertical lines at the main channel banks. Overload flows are not to be included for the purpose of computing “velocity” of flow.
Wastes. Surplus materials resulting from on-site construction and disposed of at other locations.
Working days. Days exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, state holidays, and federal holidays during which weather conditions or soil conditions permit land-disturbing activity to be undertaken.
(Ord. No. 98-7, passed 1-8-1998; Ord. No. 99-119, § 1, passed 9-9-1999; Ord. No. 23-040, § 1, passed 5-11-2023)