Morrisville Unified Development Ordinance - October 2019

Article 6: Riparian Buffers

SECTION 6.1. PURPOSE The purpose of the standards in this section is to protect water quality in the Upper Neuse River Basin and the Jordan Lake watershed, including water supplies throughout the Neuse River Basin and Jordan Lake watershed. Specifically, it is intended to protect and preserve existing riparian buffers in accordance with State riparian buffer rules. Vegetative buffers adjacent to surface waters provide multiple environmental protection and resource management benefits. Forested buffers enhance and protect the natural ecology of stream systems, as well as water quality through bank stabilization, shading, and nutrient removal. They also help minimize flood damage in flood prone areas. Well-vegetated riparian buffers help remove nitrogen and prevent sediment and sediment-bound pollutants such as phosphorus from reaching the waters. The riparian buffer standards in this article are intended to achieve these important benefits.

SECTION 6.2. GENERAL

Authority

6.2.1.

This article is enacted and administered pursuant to the Town’s general authority to regulate development (see Section 1.1.2, Authority) and the local delegation or assignment of authority for the protection and maintenance of riparian buffers granted by the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission in accordance with 15A NCAC 2B .0241 (Neuse River Basin: Nutrient Sensitive Waters Management Strategy: Delegation of Authority for the Protection And Maintenance of Riparian Buffers) and 15A NCAC 02B .0267 (Jordan Water Supply Nutrient Strategy: Protection of Existing Riparian Buffers).

Applicability

6.2.2.

A. General Except as otherwise provided in Section 6.2.2.B, Exemptions, this article applies to any development, as well as any other activity listed in Table 6.8, Uses and Activities Permitted in Riparian Buffers, that occurs within riparian buffers directly adjacent to surface waters in the Neuse River Basin and the Jordan watershed (as identified in accordance with Section 6.3, Riparian Buffers), as well as to any development or listed activity that occurs outside of such buffers and has hydrologic impacts in violation of the diffuse flow requirements set out in Section 6.7. No new clearing, grading, or development shall take place, nor shall any new building permits be issued, in violation of the standards in this article. No development or activity subject to this article may occur within a required riparian buffer unless reviewed and approved in accordance with Section 6.5, Riparian Buffer Development Review. Parties subject to this article shall abide by all State rules and laws regarding waters of the state— including, but not limited to, Rules 15A NCAC 2B .0230 and .0231, Rules 15A NCAC 2H .0500, 15A NCAC 2H .1300, and Sections 401 and 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Existing and Ongoing Uses a. This article shall not apply to uses that are existing and on-going. Existing uses may include agriculture, buildings, industrial facilities, commercial areas, transportation facilities, maintained lawns, utility lines, and on-site sanitary sewage systems—any of which involve either specific, periodic management of vegetation or displacement of vegetation by structures or regular activity. An existing, on-going use is one meeting the following criteria: B. Exemptions

(1) Neuse River Basin

A use in the Neuse River Basin is existing if it existed before July 22, 1997 (the effective date of the North Carolina Division of Water Resources’ Neuse Rule).

Morrisville, NC

October 1, 2019

Unified Development Ordinance

Page 6-1