Rutherford County, NC Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Rutherford County's erosion and sedimentation control requirement lives in its Subdivision Regulations, Appendix B, Article IX, Section 903, printed as part of the ordinance readopted July 6, 2021. Section 903 requires that whenever a subdivision involves a land-disturbing activity of one acre or more, the subdivider must show proof with the preliminary plat that an erosion and sedimentation control plan has been submitted to, and approved by, the state agency with jurisdiction, identified as the Division of Land Resources of the NC Department of Environmental Quality, in accordance with NC Administrative Code Title 15 as adopted by the NC Sedimentation Commission on January 11, 1978.

This state-plan requirement sits alongside the county's own general suitability screen in Section 900: where the Planning Commission finds land proposed for subdivision subject to flooding, improper drainage, severe erosion, or slides, or other characteristics posing an ascertainable danger to health, safety, or property, the subdivider must correct those conditions before the subdivision can proceed. Because Rutherford County's own review is tied to the state-approved plan rather than a separate county erosion permit, a subdivider working outside a formal subdivision, such as a single lot not created by a plat, is not captured by Section 903's one-acre trigger and instead falls under the state sedimentation program directly.

Storm water easements are addressed separately in Section 908, which requires a drainage right-of-way conforming to any watercourse, drainageway, channel, or stream crossing a subdivision, sized adequately to maintain drainage.