Gastonia, NC Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Gastonia's post-construction stormwater ordinance, Chapter 14, Article VI, Division 4, folds floodway protection directly into its design requirements rather than housing flood-zone rules in a stand-alone chapter. Sec. 14-738(c)(1)(viii) lists five conditions that apply whenever a structural stormwater control measure is sited within a floodplain: prior approval from both the stormwater administrator and the City of Gastonia's Floodplain Manager; a design prepared by a North Carolina-licensed Professional Engineer; compliance with the floodplain "no-rise" restriction; control of peak runoff for both the 100-year and two-year storm events; and a seasonal high water table established by a North Carolina-licensed soil scientist so the impounding and water-quality components are sized accurately.

This provision sits inside the broader high-density project standards of Sec. 14-738(c), which otherwise require capturing the first inch of rainfall, an 85 percent average annual removal rate for total suspended solids, and an enforceable deed restriction running with the land. Because the floodplain parameters attach specifically to control-measure siting, any developer proposing a pond, wetland, or other structure inside a mapped floodplain must clear the Floodplain Manager's review in addition to the standard stormwater permit process under Sec. 14-734; the design cannot proceed on the stormwater administrator's approval alone. Sec. 14-731(a) traces the ordinance's authority to G.S. 143-214.7, Session Law 2004-163, and Chapter 113A, Article 21, Part 6 of the General Statutes, the state's floodway regulation article, so the city's floodway approval requirement rests on that state grant.