For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms and phrases shall have these definitions:
AREA OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN. An area identified by the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission as environmentally fragile and economically important where uncontrolled or incompatible development could result in irreversible damage.
BUILT-UPON AREA. That portion of an individual development project that is covered by impervious or partially impervious cover including buildings, pavement, compacted soil (including coquina and marl), recreation facilities, gravel roads and parking areas, and the like. Uncovered wood-slatted decks and the water area of a swimming pool are not considered to be built-upon area.
CAMA. The Coastal Area Management Act which was adopted by North Carolina in 1974. The Act established a comprehensive regional resource management program for the state's twenty county coastal area. The management program that has evolved since 1974 in North Carolina has land use planning, regulatory, land acquisition, and policy development components.
CAMA MAJOR DEVELOPMENT PERMIT. The permit required by the Coastal Resources Commission for developments that infringe on Areas of Environmental Concern.
CAMA MINIMUM DEVELOPMENT PERMIT. The permit required by the Coastal Resource Commission for developments not meeting the conditions required for a major permit. Minor permits are administered by the town under authority granted by the Coastal Area Management Act using standards adopted by the Coastal Resource Commission.
COASTAL WETLAND. Any salt marsh or other marsh subject to regular or occasional flooding by tides, including wind tides (whether or not the tide waters reach the marshland areas through natural or artificial watercourses), provided this shall not include hurricane or tropical storm tides. Coastal wetlands contain some, but not necessarily all, often indigenous wetland plant species. Included in this definition of coastal wetlands is "such contiguous land as the Secretary of DENR reasonably deems necessary to affect any such order in carrying out the purposes [of the regulations]." ((3.5. 113-230(a)).
DEVELOPMENT. Any land disturbing activity which increases the amount of built-upon area or which otherwise decreases the infiltration of precipitation into the soil. A "future development" means any land which is utilized for a land-disturbing activity after the effective date of this chapter.
DRAINAGE STRUCTURE. Any natural or manmade terrain condition which manages or directs the flow of surface or subsurface water. Examples are open or covered drainage ditches, retention ponds, grass swales and catch basins.
EROSION. The wearing away of land surface by the action of wind, water, gravity, or any combination thereof.
EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PLAN. A written plan, including drawings or other graphic representations, for the control of soil erosion and sedimentation resulting from a land disturbing activity.
ESTUARINE SHORELINE. A non-ocean shoreline connected to the estuarine water which are especially vulnerable to erosion, flooding, and other adverse effects of wind and water. Estuarine shorelines extend from the mean high water level (in areas of tidal influence) or normal water level (in areas without tidal influence) along the estuaries, sounds, bays, and brackish waters for a distance of 75 feet landward unless otherwise set by the Coastal Resources Commission.
ESTUARINE WATERS. All the water of the Atlantic Ocean within the boundary of North Carolina and all the waters of the bays, sounds, rivers, and tributaries thereto seaward of the dividing line between coastal fishing waters, as set forth in the most recent official published agreement adopted by the Wildlife Resources Commission and the Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources.
EXISTING DEVELOPMENT. Any land which has been utilized for a land-disturbing activity as of the effective date of this chapter.
FILL MATERIAL. Any substance or substances that when placed under or on the ground alters the topography of the land in any way. See Land Disturbing Activity below for a related definition.
INFILTRATION SYSTEM. A stormwater treatment system designed to allow runoff to pass or move (infiltrate) into the soil.
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.
This includes placing fill materials on a lot to raise the lot above adjacent property or roadways (i.e., mounding).
NCAC. North Carolina Administrative Code.
NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL RESOURCES COMMISSION. The state policymaking organization - with responsibility for the coastal region.
OCEAN HAZARD AREA. An area where there exists a substantial possibility of excessive erosion and shoreline fluctuation. The seaward limit of this boundary is the mean low water line.
REDEVELOPMENT. Any rebuilding activity which has no net increase in built-upon area or which provides equal or greater stormwater controls than the previous development.
RETAINING WALL. A vertical wall, constructed of pressure treated lumber or other approved building materials with a height above adjacent grades no greater than 30 inches. The purpose of the wall is to assist in the control of stormwater run-off onto adjacent property as a result of (for example) fill soil requirements determined by the County Health Department for the installation of a septic system.
SA WATERS. Tidal salt waters of the highest quality which are suitable for commercial shell fishing, swimming, and all other tidal saltwater uses. The chloride concentration of SA waters must be at least 500 parts per million.
SEDIMENTATION. The deposition of solid material, both mineral and organic, that has been transported from its site of origin by air or water.
SEDIMENTATION/EROSION CONTROL PLAN. A plan required by the Division of Land Resources in which developers must describe the sedimentation and erosion control devices they will use for land disturbing activities that are one acre or greater.
STATE BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs). Guidelines published by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Division of Water Quality (DWQ) for design, operation and maintenance, and inspections of engineered solutions to stormwater runoff. These guidelines supplement the stormwater management rules adopted by the State of North Carolina.
STORMWATER. The flow of water which results from precipitation and which occurs immediately following rainfall, tidal flow or a snowmelt.
STATE CERTIFICATION. One or more of the following documents: a CAMA permit application and accompanying CAMA permit from the Division of Coastal Management, a Stormwater certification or permit, as required, from the Division of Environmental Management, and/or a Sedimentation and Erosion Control Plan that has been approved from the Division of Land Quality.
SURFACE WATERS. Rivers, streams, creeks, channels, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, drainage systems, springs, wetlands, wells, the Atlantic Ocean, and other bodies of surface or subsurface water, natural or artificial, lying within or forming part of the boundaries of Holden Beach. This term excludes privately owned ponds which have no entry or exit of water to or from waters of public domain.
10-YEAR, 24-HOUR STORM. The storm of the largest intensity expected to occur, on the average, once every 10 years, and of a 24-hour duration.
25-YEAR, 24-HOUR STORM. The storm of the largest intensity expected to occur, on the average, once every 25 years, and of a 24-hour duration.
VEGETATIVE FILTER. An area of natural or planted vegetation through which stormwater flows in a diffuse manner so that runoff does not become channelized and which provides for control of stormwater runoff through infiltration of runoff and filtering of pollutants. The defined length of the filter shall be provided for the direction of stormwater flow.
WET DETENTION POND. A structure that provides for storage and treatment of runoff and includes a permanent pool of water.
(Ord. 98-09, passed 5-28-98; Am. Ord. 99-18, passed 9-13-99; Am. Ord. 21-10, passed 6-15-21)