Kill Devil Hills, NC Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

" Surface water leaving a site must be channeled to an approved discharge point such as a natural or man-made watercourse, lake, pond, ditch or stormwater system, and filling any such watercourse requires a sealed engineering plan showing the town's stormwater capacity will not be diminished. No surface water may be channeled into a sanitary sewer or septic system, and distances between open ditches and septic systems must be approved by the Dare County Sanitarian before the town approves the drainage design. 3 inches of rainfall)," calculated by the Rational Method or an equivalent approved methodology, with the Manning Equation used to size structures; sites over one acre must use the tabular hydrograph method from SCS TR-55 or equivalent.

During construction, the developer must keep every stream, creek, ditch or channel on or adjoining the site clear of debris that could clog drainage in a flood, and the Public Services Department requires culvert pipes, swales and right-of-way drainage improvements to be installed and inspected before it will sign off on a Certificate of Occupancy, a requirement that applies even to one- and two-family homes. Once built, the property owner is permanently responsible for maintaining the approved stormwater system to the standards of the North Carolina Division of Water Quality Stormwater Design Manual.