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

Part VII of the county's subdivision ordinance, Section 701, applies extra design requirements to any subdivision located adjacent to waters that the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries has identified as primary nursery areas, or to tributaries leading to those waters. A permanent 75-foot conservation zone must be established along the water in which all land-disturbing activity is prohibited, with the only exception being shoreline stabilization work allowed under a CAMA permit. Every structure in the subdivision must be set back at least 100 feet from the mean low water line, and parking areas must be sited as far from water, wetlands, and shoreline areas as possible.

The ordinance also bans curb-and-gutter construction in these subdivisions, requiring strip paving instead, and prohibits channeling stormwater runoff directly into a water body. Instead, runoff has to be routed through swales and similar systems engineered to slow the water down, increase infiltration, let suspended solids settle out, and remove pollutants before the water reaches the nursery area. These stormwater standards apply in addition to, not instead of, the county's other subdivision requirements, including the buffering and utility standards found elsewhere in Article II.