Greensboro, NC Environmental Rules: Boat Dock Permits (2026)

Land Development Ordinance Sec. 30-15-21 defines a water dependent structure as one for which the use requires access or proximity to or siting within surface waters to fulfill its basic purpose, such as boat ramps, boat houses, docks, and bulkheads, while ancillary facilities like boat-supply shops or parking are excluded from that definition. 6(B) lists the only two easement types where such a structure may be built: drainage maintenance and utility easements, and water quality conservation easements, both of which otherwise bar buildings or structures outright.

Beyond the easement itself, most Greensboro shoreline also sits inside a mapped stream buffer under Sec. 9, composed of Zone 1, the 30 feet nearest the water, where no new built-upon area is to be placed, and Zone 2, the next 20 feet, subject to the same restriction. Table 12-5 of that section separately lists water-dependent structures and buffer-crossing access trails leading to docks, boat ramps and fishing piers as distinct activity categories subject to the ordinance's exempt, allowable, or allowable-with-mitigation framework. Before the city issues any development approval that would impact a stream buffer, Sec.

9(G)(1) requires the applicant to show the activity is allowable under the ordinance, obtain a Determination of No Practical Alternative under Sec. 11, or secure an approved mitigation plan, and mitigation for buffer impacts routes through the NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program or an Army Corps-compliant private mitigation bank.