Delaware County, PA Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Section 195-814 of the Delaware County Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance of 2016 is a single-sentence deferral: all soil erosion and sedimentation control practices must follow the applicable sections of the municipality's own stormwater management ordinance and comply with Chapter 102 of the Pennsylvania Code, the state Department of Environmental Protection's erosion and sediment control regulation. Section 195-916 confirms that erosion and sediment control facilities in any minor subdivision or land development plan must be designed under that same § 195-814 standard, so the county never substitutes its own numeric limits on disturbed acreage, buffer width or sediment basin sizing; those figures live in the municipal ordinance and the state regulation, not in the county code.

The county's separate 1977 Floodplain Protection Ordinance, Chapter 62, adds a concrete threshold that predates the current SALDO: § 62-7C tells prospective developers in a designated floodplain district to consult the Delaware County Conservation District about erosion and sediment control and soil conditions for any project under 25 acres, and requires a soil and erosion control permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for any project of 25 acres or more. Chapter 195's natural features protection standard, § 195-816A(8)(e), layers on a related site-specific control for stream corridors: any perennial or intermittent stream on a tract triggers a riparian buffer of at least 50 feet from the top of bank, reducible to 25% of the rear or side setback or a 10-foot minimum where the setback itself is under 50 feet.

Together these sections mean Delaware County channels erosion control review to whichever body actually holds the numeric standard: the municipality for ordinary sites, PADEP for anything at or above 25 acres.