Charlottesville, VA Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

City Code § 10-31 requires an erosion and sediment control plan, filed as part of the ESM plan, for a development and the buildings within it regardless of construction phasing. The plan must show the major conservation decisions needed to meet the state's conservation objectives at 9VAC25-875-560, and it can include site maps, a soil and water inventory, and a record of the decisions behind the design. Where a residential development is being built out by different property owners on separate lots, § 10-31(c) requires each lot's land-disturbing activity to be covered by the plan or by a signed agreement in lieu of a plan.

Section 10-31(d) closes the obvious loophole: an individual lot disturbing less than 6,000 square feet does not become exempt from the Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Act (VESMA) if the whole development's total disturbance is 6,000 square feet or more. The person carrying out the plan must give the city the name of an individual holding a Virginia responsible land disturber (RLD) certificate under § 10-25(b)(2); failing to identify that certified individual before work starts can lead to revocation of the land-disturbance approval. The stormwater pollution prevention plan required alongside it, under § 10-28, must control runoff volume and velocity, minimize exposed soil and steep-slope disturbance, and start stabilizing any area where work has stopped for 14 days or more.