(a) Permit required.
(1) A land disturbance permit approved by the erosion control officer shall be required for all non-exempt land disturbing activities, except that no permit shall be required for land disturbing activity:
a. Where land disturbing activities are essential to protect human life and only for the duration of an emergency;
b. Where land disturbing activities are within 35 feet of a lake or natural watercourse and do not exceed 100 square feet in surface area; or
c. Where land disturbing activities are not within 35 feet of a lake or natural watercourse and do not exceed 2,000 square feet in surface area.
d. The application package shall include the review fee, the amount of which shall be established by the town council. Failure to obtain a required permit and plan approval prior to commencing work shall result in double the normal application review fee.
(2) Where a major erosion control plan approved by the state department of environment and natural resources is required, such plan approval shall be a prerequisite to receiving a permit from the town.
(b) Plans required.
(1) Minor plan submission. A minor erosion and sedimentation control plan shall be prepared for all land disturbing activities subject to this section whenever more than 2,000 square feet (100 square feet if land disturbing activity is within 35 feet of a lake or natural watercourse) but less than one acre of land is to be uncovered. The plan shall be filed with, and accepted for review by the erosion control officer, ten or more working days prior to initiating the activity. Two copies of the plan shall be filed and upon approval, one copy, signed by the erosion control officer, shall be returned to the applicant.
(2) Major plan submission. A major erosion and sedimentation control plan shall be prepared for all land disturbing activities subject to this article whenever one acre or more is to be uncovered. Three copies of the plan shall be filed with the town, a copy shall be simultaneously submitted to the director of the division of water resources at least 30 days prior to the commencement of the proposed activity.
(3) Financial responsibility and ownership. Plans may be disapproved unless accompanied by an authorized statement of financial responsibility and ownership. This statement shall be signed by the person financially responsible for the land disturbing activity or his attorney in fact. The statement shall include the mailing and street addresses of the principal place of business of the person financially responsible; the owner of the land; and any registered agents. If the person financially responsible is not a resident of the state, a state agent must be designated in the statement for the purpose of receiving notice of compliance or noncompliance with the plan, the Act, this section, or rules or orders adopted or issued pursuant to this article. Except as provided in subsections (3)a and b of this section, 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.
a. If the applicant is 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.
b. The town 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. The town may transfer a plan if all of the following conditions are met:
1. 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 ownership.
2. The town finds all the following:
(i) The plan holder is one of the following:
A. A natural person who is deceased.
B. A partnership, limited liability corporation, or any other business association that has been dissolved.
C. A person who has been lawfully and finally divested of title to the property on which the permitted activity is occurring or will occur.
D. A person who has sold the property on which the permitted activity is occurring or will occur.
(ii) The successor-owner holds title to the property on which the permitted activity is occurring or will occur.
(iii) The successor-owner is the sole claimant of the right to engage in the permitted activity.
(iv) There will be no substantial change in the permitted activity.
c. The plan holder shall comply with all terms and conditions of the plan until such time as the plan is transferred.
d. The successor-owner shall comply with all terms and conditions of the plan once the plan has been transferred.
e. Notwithstanding changes to law made after the original issuance of the plan, the town may not impose new or different terms and conditions on the plan without the prior express consent of the successor-owner. Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the town from requiring a revised plan pursuant to G.S. 113A-54.1(b).
(4) Environmental policy act document. Any major 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 erosion control officer shall promptly notify the person submitting the plan that the 30-day time limit for review of the plan pursuant to this article shall not begin until a complete environmental document is available for review.
(5) Content. The plans required by this section shall contain specific information as needed to adequately describe the proposed development of the tract and the measures planned to comply with the requirements of this article. Plan content may vary to meet the needs of specific site requirements.
a. A major plan shall contain the following:
1. A location map (showing and identifying nearby roads).
2. Either a certified copy of a survey or a copy of the tax maps showing the actual property which is subject to the application.
3. A site plan showing the following:
(i) Boundary and topographical surveys of the property including existing and proposed site conditions (buildings, streets, driveways, parking lots, utilities, grassed and landscaped areas, number of acres disturbed, watercourses and other features affecting stormwater runoff and management, etc.).
(ii) Offsite conditions (ownership use, drainage areas, lakes, and streams).
(iii) Lot lines and numbers, road names, easements, flood zones, utilities, and setbacks.
(iv) Stormwater systems (catchbasins, inlets, culverts, swales, ditches, and channels).
(v) Borrow and waste areas, access and haul roads, construction staging areas, topsoil stockpiles.
(vi) Disturbed area (clearly delineated).
(vii) Stream crossings.
(viii) Temporary and permanent sedimentation and erosion control measures (locations and dimensions of gravel entrances, diversion ditches, silt fences, sediment basins, velocity dissipaters, ditch lining, retaining walls, etc.).
(ix) Detailed drawings (sections, elevations, and perspectives of measures sufficient for construction).
(x) Construction sequence (permits, installation of measures, inspections and approvals, maintenance of measures, ground cover, and removal of measures after stabilization).
(xi) Statements concerning approval to discharge stormwater or perform off-site construction work.
(xii) Scale, legend, orientation (north arrow), seal and signature.
(xiii) Temporary and permanent seeding plans (seed bed preparation, fertilizer and lime rates, seeding schedule and rates, mulch and tack materials and rates).
(xiv) Underground utilities.
(xv) Dust control.
4. Calculations sufficient to support design for the entire stormwater system, including, but not limited to, the following:
(i) Temporary devices (sediment storage volumes, Q10 capacities).
(ii) Ditches, swales and channels (Q10 velocities and capacities).
(iii) Velocity dissipators (Q10 velocities).
(iv) Storm culverts and inlets (Q10 minimum).
5. Such other documents as may be requested by the erosion control officer to ensure compliance with this section.
b. A minor plan shall contain the following:
1. A location map (showing and identifying roads).
2. A sketch plan drawn to scale showing the following:
(i) Boundaries and topography of the property including existing and proposed site conditions (buildings, streets, driveways, parking lots, utilities, setbacks, watercourses and other features affecting stormwater runoff and management, etc.).
(ii) Offsite conditions (ownership use, drainage areas, lakes, and streams).
(iii) Area to be disturbed (building footprint, access roads, graded surfaces, cut and fill slopes, etc.).
(iv) Stormwater systems (catchbasins, inlets, culverts, swales, ditches, and channels).
(v) Stream crossings.
(vi) Temporary and permanent sedimentation and erosion control measures (locations and dimensions of gravel entrances, diversion ditches, silt fences, sediment basins, velocity dissipaters, ditch lining, retaining walls, etc.).
(vii) Construction sequence (permits, installation of measures, inspections and approvals, maintenance of measures, ground cover, and removal of measures after stabilization).
(viii) Temporary and permanent seeding plans (seed bed preparation, fertilizer and lime rates, seeding schedule and rates, mulch and tack materials and rates).
3. Either a certified copy of a survey or a copy of the tax maps showing the actual property which is the subject of the application.
4. Such other documents as may be requested by the erosion control officer to ensure compliance with this subsection.
(6) Soil and water conservation district comments. The district shall review the plan and submit any comments and recommendations to the town within 20 days after the district received the plan, or within any shorter period of time as may be agreed upon by the district and the town. Failure of the district to submit its comments and recommendations within 20 days or within any agreed-upon shorter period of time shall not delay final action on the plan.
(7) Timeline for decisions on plans. The erosion control officer will review the plan and within ten working days of receipt thereof for minor plans or 30 days for major plans, will notify the person submitting the plan that it has been approved, approved with modifications, approved with performance reservations, or disapproved. Failure to approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove a complete plan within the allocated time of receipt shall be deemed approval. The erosion control officer will review each revised plan and within five days of receipt thereof for minor plans or 15 days for major plans, will notify the person submitting the plan that it has been approved, approved with modifications, approved with performance reservations, or disapproved. Failure to approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove a revised plan within the allocated time of receipt shall be deemed approval.
(8) Approval. The erosion control officer 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 erosion control officer shall condition approval of plans upon the applicant's compliance with federal and state water quality laws, regulations and rules. The erosion control officer may establish an expiration date, not to exceed three years, for plans approved under this article.
(9) Disapproval for content. The erosion control officer may disapprove a plan or draft plan based on its content. A disapproval based upon a plan's content must specifically state in writing the reasons for disapproval.
(10) Other disapprovals. The erosion control officer may disapprove a plan or draft plan if implementation of the plan would result in a violation of the rules adopted by the environmental management commission to protect riparian buffers along surface waters. The erosion control officer may disapprove a plan or disapprove a transfer of a plan under subsection (b)(3) of this section upon a finding that an applicant, or a parent, subsidiary, or other affiliate of the applicant:
a. 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 town or the commission pursuant to the Act and has not complied with the notice within the time specified in the notice;
b. 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;
c. Has failed to substantially comply with state rules or local ordinances and regulations adopted pursuant to the Act;
d. 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.
In the event that a plan or a transfer of a plan is disapproved pursuant to this subsection, the town shall notify the director of the division of energy, mineral, and land resources of such disapproval within ten days. The town 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 section 22-35, the applicant may appeal the town's disapproval of the plan to the commission. For purposes of this subsection, an applicant's record or the proposed transferee's record may be considered for only the two years prior to the application date.
(11) Notice of activity initiation. No person may initiate a land disturbing activity before notifying the erosion control officer that issued the plan approval of the date that land disturbing activity will begin.
(12) Preconstruction conference. When deemed necessary by the erosion control officer, a preconstruction conference may be required.
(13) Display of plan approval. A plan approval 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 shall be kept on file at the job site.
(14) Required revisions. After approving a plan, if the erosion control officer, 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 erosion control officer shall require a revised plan. Pending the preparation of the revised plan, work shall cease or shall continue under conditions outlined by the erosion control officer. If following commencement of a land disturbing activity pursuant to an approved plan, the erosion control officer determines that the plan is inadequate to meet the requirements of this section, the erosion control officer may require any revision of the plan that is necessary to comply with this section.
(15) Amendment to a plan. 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 said amendment is approved by the erosion control officer, the land disturbing activity shall not proceed except in accordance with the erosion control plan as originally approved.
(16) Failure to file a plan. Any person engaged in land disturbing activity who fails to file a plan in accordance with this article, or who conducts a land disturbing activity except in accordance with provisions of an approved plan shall be deemed in violation of this article.
(17) Self inspections. The landowner, the financially responsible party, or the landowner's or the financially responsible party's agent shall perform an inspection of the area covered by the plan after each phase of the plan has been completed and after establishment of temporary ground cover in accordance with G.S. 113A-57(2). The person who performs the inspection shall maintain and make available a record of the inspection at the site of the land disturbing activity. The record shall set out any significant deviation from the approved erosion control plan, identify any measures that may be required to correct the deviation, and document the completion of those measures. The record shall be maintained until permanent ground cover has been established as required by the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan. The inspections required by this subsection shall be in addition to inspections required by G.S. 113A-61.1.
(18) Inspection required. Where inspections are required by subsection (b)(17) of this section and G.S. 113A- 54.1(e), the following apply:
a. The person who performs the inspection shall make a record of the site inspection by documenting the following items:
1. All of the erosion and sedimentation control measures, practices and devices, as called for in a construction sequence consistent with the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan, including, but not limited to, sedimentation control basins, sedimentation traps, sedimentation ponds, rock dams, temporary diversions, temporary slope drains, rock check dams, sediment fence or barriers, all forms of inlet protection, storm drainage facilities, energy dissipaters, and stabilization methods of open channels, have initially been installed and do not significantly deviate, as defined in subsection (18)a.5 of this section, from the locations, dimensions and relative elevations shown on the approved erosion and sedimentation plan. Such documentation shall be accomplished by initialing and dating each measure or practice shown on a copy of the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan or by completing, dating, and signing an inspection report that lists each measure, practice or device shown on the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan. This documentation is required only upon the initial installation of the erosion and sedimentation control measures, practices and devices as set forth by the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan or if the measures, practices and devices are modified after initial installation;
2. The completion of any phase of grading for all graded slopes and fills shown on the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan, specifically noting the location and condition of the graded slopes and fills. Such documentation shall be accomplished by initialing and dating a copy of the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan or by completing, dating, and signing an inspection report;
3. The location of temporary or permanent ground cover, and that the installation of the ground cover does not significantly deviate, as defined in subsection (18)a.5 of this section, from the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan. Such documentation shall be accomplished by initialing and dating a copy of the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan or by completing, dating and signing an inspection report;
4. That maintenance and repair requirements for all temporary and permanent erosion and sedimentation control measures, practices and devices have been performed. Such documentation shall be accomplished by completing, dating and signing an inspection report (the general stormwater permit monitoring form may be used to verify the maintenance and repair requirements); and
5. Any significant deviations from the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan, corrective actions required to correct the deviation and completion of the corrective actions. Such documentation shall be accomplished by initialing and dating a copy of the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan or by completing, dating and signing an inspection report. A significant deviation means an omission, alteration or relocation of an erosion or sedimentation control measure that prevents the measure from performing as intended.
b. The documentation, whether on a copy of the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan or an inspection report, shall include the name, address, affiliation, telephone number, and signature of the person conducting the inspection and the date of the inspection. Any relevant licenses and certifications may also be included. Any documentation of inspections that occur on a copy of the approved erosion and sedimentation control plan shall occur on a single copy of the plan and that plan shall be made available on the site. Any inspection reports shall also be made available on the site.
c. The inspection shall be performed during or after each of the following phases of a plan:
1. Installation of perimeter erosion and sediment control measures;
2. Clearing and grubbing of existing ground cover;
3. Completion of any phase of grading of slopes or fills that requires provision of temporary or permanent ground cover pursuant to G.S. 113-57(2);
4. Completion of storm drainage facilities;
5. Completion of construction or development; and
6. Quarterly until the establishment of permanent ground cover sufficient to restrain erosion or until the financially responsible party has conveyed ownership or control of the tract of land for which the erosion and sedimentation control plan has been approved and the town has been notified. If the financially responsible party has conveyed ownership or control of the tract of land for which the erosion and sedimentation control plan has been approved, the new owner or person in control shall conduct and document inspections quarterly until the establishment of permanent ground cover sufficient to restrain erosion.
(Code 1989, § 96.05; Ord. of 6-12-2007; Ord. of 5-8-2018)