(A) Maintenance required. All structural and non-structural BMPs must be maintained so they will continue to serve their intended functions.
(B) Parties responsible for maintenance of structural BMPs. The developer must maintain structural and non-structural BMPs until accepted by a property owners’ association or lot owner.
(1) All structural BMPs required for residential subdivisions, including those on individual lots, must be accepted for maintenance by a property owners’ association. The developer must disclose which party will be responsible for continued maintenance on the record plat and on the stormwater management plan.
(2) Before improvements are accepted for maintenance by the property owners’ association or lot owner, the developer or the developer’s engineer or other representative, as authorized by statute, must certify to the property owners’ association or lot owner and to the town that improvements are complete and functioning as designed.
(3) If a property owners’ association or similar legal entity is to be responsible for the maintenance and control of BMPs, it shall be established so that it has clear legal authority to maintain and exercise control over, including the power to compel contributions from subdivision property owners to cover their proportionate shares of the costs associated with the maintenance of the BMPs. Such association shall be established prior to approval of the final plat.
(4) Documents providing for the establishment of a homeowners’ association or similar legal entity in accord with this chapter shall be approved by the Stormwater Administrator before any plat is recorded.
(C) Maintenance plan.
(1) The developer must record, and reference on the record plat, a maintenance plan that instructs the property owners’ association or lot owner about the annual maintenance tasks and associated costs for at least a 20-year period.
(2) It will be the responsibility of the property owners’ association or lot owner to update the maintenance plan at least every ten years in perpetuity.
(D) Maintenance agreement. The developer must record, and reference on the record plat, a maintenance agreement, or restrictive covenant that sets forth the property owners’ association’s or lot owner’s continuing responsibilities for maintenance, including specifying how cost will be apportioned among lot owners served.
(1) The maintenance agreement must provide that the association and its individual members are jointly and severally liable for maintenance.
(2) The maintenance agreement shall grant to the town a right of entry in the event that the Stormwater Administrator has reason to believe it has become necessary to inspect, monitor, maintain, repair or reconstruct the structural and non-structural BMPs; however, in no case shall the right of entry, of itself, confer an obligation on the town to assume responsibility for the structural and non-structural BMPs.
(E) Maintenance easement. The developer must record easements for access, maintenance and inspections by any property owners’ association and by the town.
(F) Annual maintenance inspection and report.
(1) The person or entity responsible for maintenance of any structural and non-structural BMPs installed pursuant to this chapter shall submit to the Stormwater Administrator an annual inspection report from one of the following persons performing services only in their area of competence: a qualified registered North Carolina professional engineer, surveyor, landscape architect, soil scientist, aquatic biologist, or person certified by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service for stormwater treatment practice inspection and maintenance.
(2) Annual inspection reports are due by June 30 of each year. The first annual report is due by June 30 following one year after approval of the as-built plan. For structural BMPs located on properties subject to property owners’ association agreements, the property owners’ association is responsible for collecting and submitting information on all individual lot structural BMPs installed pursuant to this chapter on an annual basis. The inspection report shall contain all of the following:
(a) The name and address of the land owner;
(b) The recorded book and page number of the lot of each structural and non-structural BMPs;
(c) A statement that an inspection was made of all structural and non-structural BMPs;
(d) The date the inspection was made;
(e) A statement that all inspected structural and non-structural BMPs are performing properly and are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the approved maintenance agreement required by this chapter; and
(f) The original signature and seal of the engineer, surveyor, or landscape architect.
(3) All inspection reports shall be on forms supplied by the Stormwater Administrator. An original inspection report shall be provided to the Stormwater Administrator by the first day of July following the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. Subsequent annual reports shall be due on the first day of July each year.
(Ord. 2010-27, passed 1-6-2010)