James City County, VA Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Section 8-7 makes it unlawful to engage in land-disturbing activity until the county issues Land Disturbing Approval, with the administrator deciding whether a specific exemption applies. 2; bona fide agricultural clearing, tilling, planting, or harvesting, though harvesting forest crops keeps its exemption only if the area is reforested or converted to pasture under state law; fence, sign, or utility pole installation; shoreline erosion projects already approved by wetlands boards, the Marine Resources Commission, or the Army Corps; railroad track and facility repair; and emergency response work, which must be reported to the administrator within seven days and brought into full compliance within 30 days.

Certain activities, such as abandoned-property reclamation and routine maintenance that doesn't add new pipes or capacity, must still get Land Disturbing Approval and meet erosion-control requirements even though they skip the water quality and quantity criteria. Section 8-11 requires a full erosion and sediment control plan for a development and every building constructed within it, regardless of how construction is phased, and different property owners developing individual lots or sections in the same residential development must still be covered by that plan. Critically, disturbing less than 10,000 square feet on an individual residential lot is not automatically exempt if the total disturbance across the whole development equals or exceeds 10,000 square feet.

Section 8-13 lets the administrator grant variances from erosion-control requirements, but a written request made during construction must be approved or denied within 10 days or it is treated as disapproved, and economic hardship alone never justifies an exception.