Cabarrus County, NC Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Chapter 15, Section 7 of the Cabarrus County Development Ordinance requires all proposed projects in Cabarrus County to hold Phase 2 Post-Construction Stormwater Permitting through the State of North Carolina Department of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources, the same agency that issues the county's erosion and sediment control permits. Chapter 5, Section 5-7(C)(2) restates the geographic reach directly, stating that proposed developments in unincorporated Cabarrus County are subject to Phase 2 Post-Construction and Soil and Erosion Control permitting. The county folds the state stormwater approval into its own subdivision timeline: Chapter 15, Section 12 bars construction or installation of subdivision improvements until the preliminary plat is approved and all plans and specifications for roads, utilities, stormwater, and sedimentation and erosion control have been approved by the appropriate agencies.

For commercial and multi-family site plans, Chapter 12, Section 12-10 requires a copy of the Phase II Post Construction Stormwater Permitting Approval Certificate to be submitted with the major site development plan before the Zoning Administrator will issue a Zoning Compliance Permit. As with erosion control, if a developer's state stormwater permit lapses or is violated, Chapter 15, Section 7 authorizes Cabarrus County to withhold its own zoning and building permits until the state permit is restored to good standing. Projects near a regulated stream or lake also cross into the waterbody buffer standards of Chapter 4, which keep stormwater conveyance and grading out of the delineated buffer.