Grading and drainage in Chapel Hill are regulated through LUMO Appendix A Section 5.4 (Stormwater Management) and Section 5.19 (Stormwater Quality and Peak Flow Rate Requirements), the Town's NPDES Phase II MS4 permit, and the Jordan Watershed Riparian Buffer Protection rules at LUMO Section 5.18 that implement 15A NCAC 02B .0267. The Jordan Lake riparian buffer is 50 feet wide measured from the top of bank of all intermittent and perennial streams, divided into Zone 1 (inner 30 ft, most restrictive) and Zone 2 (outer 20 ft). Chapel Hill is one of the most rigorous adopters of the Jordan buffer rules in the state and continues to enforce them despite the suspension of the related new-development rule .0265.
Chapel Hill's grading and drainage controls sit at the intersection of LUMO Appendix A Article 5 (Sections 5.4, 5.18, 5.19), Town Code Chapter 23 (Water, Sewers and Drains), the Town's adopted NC Stormwater Design Manual published by NC DEMLR, and the Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Ordinance in Town Code Chapter 5, Article V. Post-construction Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs) must capture the design storm volume and release it slowly to mimic predevelopment hydrology. SCM types accepted under the NC Stormwater Design Manual include detention basins, bioretention cells (rain gardens), wet ponds, sand filters, level spreader/vegetated filter strips, infiltration trenches, and stormwater wetlands. The Jordan Lake new-development rule 15A NCAC 02B .0265, which historically required loading limits of 2.2 lb/ac/yr nitrogen and 0.82 lb/ac/yr phosphorus in the Upper New Hope arm plus first-inch runoff treatment and no net increase in peak flow for the 1-year 24-hour storm, has been suspended by the NC General Assembly pending rule readoption. However, the Jordan Lake riparian buffer rule 15A NCAC 02B .0267 remains in force and is implemented locally through LUMO Section 5.18 - the Jordan Watershed Riparian Buffer Protection ordinance. Under LUMO 5.18, a 50-foot riparian buffer is measured horizontally from the top of bank of all intermittent and perennial streams in the Jordan Watershed (which covers all of Chapel Hill since the Town lies entirely in the Upper New Hope arm). Zone 1 is the inner 30 feet beginning at the top of bank and is the most restrictive (essentially no disturbance allowed except for limited variance-eligible uses); Zone 2 is the outer 20 feet (some grading and stormwater conveyance permitted with mitigation). The Town's Resource Conservation District (RCD) overlay under LUMO Section 3.6.3 imposes a parallel local buffer with Streamside, Managed Use, and Upland Zones. Submit drainage studies and SCM plans to Public Works Stormwater Management for review.
Unauthorized grading or drainage alterations in Chapel Hill are enforced under the LUMO and NCGS Chapter 160D, with Stop Work orders, civil penalties, mandatory restoration, and withholding of the Certificate of Occupancy. Violations of LUMO Section 5.18 or the underlying Jordan Lake riparian buffer rule 15A NCAC 02B .0267 expose the violator to additional NC DEQ enforcement under NCGS 143-215.6A with civil penalties up to $25,000 per day per violation and mandatory replanting of disturbed buffer vegetation. Concentrated runoff that floods, undermines, or otherwise damages a neighbor's property can expose the owner to nuisance and trespass liability under North Carolina common law. Failure to install or maintain post-construction SCMs as approved exposes the operator to Phase II NPDES MS4 enforcement and federal Clean Water Act penalties.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Chapel Hill, NC
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Chapel Hill, NC
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Chapel Hill, NC
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Chapel Hill, NC
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Chapel Hill, NC
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Chapel Hill, NC
Chapel Hill Town Code Chapter 10 Article IV limits food trucks to private parking lots in downtown Chapel Hill and surrounding commercial districts. Only one...
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