Southaven, MS Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Chapter 4 of Title II of the Southaven Code regulates erosion and sediment control, and Section 2-35 holds the working standards. Section 2-33 states the purpose: to guide, regulate and control the design, construction, use and maintenance of any development or activity that disturbs the topsoil or moves earth in the City of Southaven.

Section 2-34 sets the permit gate. No person is granted a permit for land disturbing or construction activity that would require uncovering one (1) or more acres without approval of an erosion and sediment control plan by the AEA. Emergency activity immediately necessary to protect life, property or natural resources, and existing nursery and agricultural operations, need no permit.

Under § 2-35(1), clearing and grading of natural resources such as forests and wetlands is not permitted except in compliance with the rest of the title. Phasing is required on sites disturbing more than twenty (20) acres, and clearing cannot begin until sediment control devices are installed and stabilized, except the clearing needed to install them. Cut and fill slopes can be no steeper than 2:1 unless the AEA approves.

Under § 2-35(2), soil must be stabilized within five (5) days of clearing or inactivity. If seeding has not become established within two (2) weeks, the AEA can require revegetation or a non-vegetative option. Reseeding needs straw mulch or its equivalent until the cover crop is established over ninety (90) percent of the seeded area, and revegetated areas must show eighty-five (85) percent survival for one (1) year. Soil stockpiles must be stabilized or covered at the end of each workday, and a shutdown longer than two (2) weeks requires stabilizing the whole site.

Section 2-35(c) requires settling basins, sediment traps or tanks, and perimeter controls, and § 2-35(e) requires a temporary access road at every site. Under § 2-67(b), the permittee must notify the AEA at least two (2) working days before milestones such as the start of construction, completion of rough grading and final landscaping.