(A) An erosion control plan shall be prepared for all land-disturbing activities subject to this chapter whenever the proposed activity is to be undertaken on a tract comprising more than one acre, if more than one acre is to be uncovered. The plan shall be filed with the city, office of the City Engineer at least 30 days prior to the commencement of the proposed activity. This does not restrict the initiation of land disturbing activities when the plan is approved and the permit is issued in less than 30 days from initial submission.
(B) After approving the plan, if the office of the City Engineer, either upon review of such plan or on inspection of the job site, determines that a significant risk of accelerated erosion or off-site sedimentation exists, the office of the City Engineer will require a revised plan. Pending the preparation of the revised plan, work shall cease or shall continue under conditions outlined by the appropriate authority.
(C) Erosion control plans shall be disapproved unless accompanied by an authorized statement of financial responsibility and documentation of property ownership. This statement shall be signed by the person financially responsible for the land-disturbing activity or his or her attorney in fact. The statement shall include the mailing and street addresses of the principal place of business of the person financially responsible and of the owner of the land or their registered agents. If the person financially responsible is not a resident of North Carolina, a North Carolina agent must be designated in the statement for the purpose of receiving notice of compliance or noncompliance with the plan, the Act, this chapter or rules or orders adopted or issued pursuant to this chapter. If the applicant is not the owner of the land to be disturbed, the draft erosion and sedimentation control plan must include the owner's written consent for the applicant to submit a draft erosion and sedimentation control plan and to conduct the anticipated land-disturbing activity.
(D) If the applicant is not the owner of the land to be disturbed and the anticipated land-disturbing activity involves the construction of utility lines for the provision of water, sewer, gas, telecommunications, or electrical service, the draft erosion and sedimentation control plan may be submitted without the written consent of the owner of the land, so long as the owner of the land has been provided prior notice of the project.
(E) The office of the City Engineer will review each complete plan submitted to it and within 30 days of receipt thereof will notify the person submitting the plan that it has been approved, approved with modifications, or disapproved. The office of the City Engineer shall condition approval of a draft erosion control plan upon the applicant’s compliance with federal and state water quality laws, regulations and rules. Failure to approve, or disapprove, or approve with modifications a complete erosion and sedimentation control plan within 30 days of receipt shall be deemed approval. If the plan is disapproved, the City Engineer shall notify the applicant and, if required, the Director of the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources of the Department of Environmental Quality of such disapproval within ten days thereof. The City Engineer shall advise the applicant and the Director of the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources of the Department of Environmental Quality, if required, in writing as to the specific reasons that the plan was disapproved. The office of City Engineer must approve or disapprove a revised plan within 15 days of receipt, or it is deemed to be approved. If following commencement of a land-disturbing activity pursuant to an approved plan, the office of City Engineer determines that the plan is inadequate to meet the requirements of this chapter, the office of City Engineer may require any revisions as are necessary to comply with this chapter. Failure to approve, approve with modifications or disapprove a revised erosion control plan within 15 days of receipt shall be deemed approval of the plan.
(Ord. No. 00-155, §§ 5-6, passed 12-14-2000)
(F) Any plan submitted for a land-disturbing activity for which an environmental document is required by the North Carolina Environmental Policy Act (G.S. 113A-1 et seq.) shall be deemed incomplete until a complete environmental document is available for review. The city shall promptly notify the person submitting the plan that the 30-day time limit for review of the plan pursuant to subsection (E) of this section shall not begin until a complete environmental document is available for review.
(G) The plan required by this section shall contain architectural or engineering drawings, maps, assumptions, calculations and narrative statements as needed to adequately describe the proposed development of the tract and the measures planned to comply with the requirements of this chapter. Plan content may vary to meet the needs of specific site requirements. Detailed guidelines for plan preparation may be obtained from the office of the City Engineer, on request.
(H) An erosion control plan may be disapproved upon a finding that an applicant, or a parent, subsidiary or other affiliate of the applicant:
(1) Is conducting or has conducted land-disturbing activity without an approved plan, or has received notice of violation of a plan previously approved by the Commission or a local government pursuant to the Act and has not complied with the notice within the time specified in the notice;
(2) Has failed to pay a civil penalty assessed pursuant to the Act or a local ordinance adopted pursuant to the Act by the time the payment is due;
(3) Has been convicted of a misdemeanor pursuant to G.S. 113A-64(b) or any criminal provision of a local ordinance adopted pursuant to the Act;
(4) Has failed to substantially comply with state rules or local ordinances and regulations adopted pursuant to the Act. For purposes of this subsection (H) an applicant’s record may be considered for only the two years prior to the application date; or
(5) If implementation would result in a violation of rules adopted by the Environmental Management Commission to protect riparian buffers along surface waters under G.S. 113A-61(b1).
(6) In the event that an erosion and sedimentation control plan or a transfer of a plan is disapproved by the city pursuant to subsection (H) of this section, the city shall so notify the Director of the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources within 10 days of the disapproval. The city shall advise the applicant or the proposed transferee and the Director in writing as to the specific reasons that the plan was disapproved. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 9-8-18(A), the applicant may appeal the city's disapproval of the plan directly to the Commission.
(Ord. No. 06-50, §§ 6-8, passed 6-8-2006)
(I) Applications for amendment of an erosion control plan in written and/or graphic form may be made at any time under the same conditions as the original application. Until such time as the amendment is approved by the office of City Engineer, the land-disturbing activity shall not proceed except in accordance with the erosion control plan as originally approved.
(J) Any person engaged in land-disturbing activity who fails to file a sedimentation and erosion control plan and obtain a land-disturbing permit in accordance with this chapter, or who conducts a land-disturbing activity except in accordance with provisions of an approved plan, shall be deemed in violation of this chapter.
(Ord. No. 99-119, § 15, passed 9-9-1999)
(K) An approved land-disturbing permit and/or erosion control plan shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of approval.
(Ord. No. 99-119, § 16, passed 9-9-1999)
(L) A copy of the erosion control plan for any land-disturbing activity that involves the utilization of ditches for the purpose of dewatering or lowering the water table must be forwarded to the Director of the Division of Water Resources.
(Ord. No. 00-155, § 7, passed 12-14-2000)
(M) No person may initiate a land-disturbing activity until notifying the office of the City Engineer of the date that the land-disturbing activity will begin.
(Ord. No. 00-155, § 7, passed 12-14-2000)
(N) A plan issued under this article shall be prominently displayed until all construction is complete, all permanent sedimentation and erosion control measures are installed and the site has been stabilized. A copy of the approved plan should be kept on file at the job site.
(Ord. No. 06-50, § 9, passed 6-8-2006)
(O) The City Engineer shall only approve a plan upon determining that it complies with all applicable state and local regulations for erosion and sedimentation control. Approval assumes the applicant’s compliance with the federal and state water quality laws, regulations and rules. The City Engineer shall condition approval of plans upon the applicant’s compliance with federal and state water quality laws, regulations and rules. The City Engineer may establish an expiration date, not to exceed three years, for plans approved under this chapter.
(P) The City Engineer may transfer an erosion and sedimentation control plan approved pursuant to this section without the consent of the plan holder to a successor-owner of the property on which the permitted activity is occurring or will occur as provided in this subsection.
(1) The City Engineer may transfer a plan if all of the following conditions are met:
(a) The successor-owner of the property submits to the local government a written request for the transfer of the plan and an authorized statement of financial responsibility and documentation of property ownership.
(b) The City Engineer finds all of the following:
1. The plan holder is one of the following:
i. A natural person who is deceased.
ii. A partnership, limited liability corporation, corporation, or any other business association that has been dissolved.
iii. A person who has been lawfully and finally divested of title to the property on which the permitted activity is occurring or will occur.
iv. A person who has sold the property on which the permitted activity is occurring or will occur.
2. The successor-owner holds title to the property on which the permitted activity is occurring or will occur.
3. The successor-owner is the sole claimant of the right to engage in the permitted activity.
4. There will be no substantial change in the permitted activity.
(2) The plan holder shall comply with all terms and conditions of the plan until such time as the plan is transferred.
(3) The successor-owner shall comply with all terms and conditions of the plan once the plan has been transferred.
(4) Notwithstanding changes to law made after the original issuance of the plan, the City Engineer may not impose new or different terms and conditions in the plan without the prior express consent of the successor-owner. Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the City Engineer from requiring a revised plan pursuant to G.S. 113A54.1(b).
(Ord. No. 98-7, passed 1-8-1998; Ord. No. 06-50, § 9, passed 6-8-2006; Ord. No. 23-040, § 1, passed 5-11-2023)