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

5, Article II, governs new development outside municipal corporate limits and outside the county's water supply watersheds, which follow separate rules under Sec. 5-33. Sec. 5-37(a) sets the trigger: a stormwater permit is required for residential or commercial development or redevelopment equaling or exceeding one acre of disturbance, and for smaller projects that are part of a larger common plan of development or sale. Sec. 5-35 exempts agriculture, state-guideline forestry, mining-permitted activity, and standalone commercial or residential projects under an acre. Applicants submit two copies of a stormwater plan to the Natural Resources Department, which must act within 45 days of a complete application under Sec.

5-37(g); starting work before the county issues a permit doubles the plan review fee under Sec. 5-37(d). A denial or an approval with modifications can be appealed to the county's Environmental Review Board within 15 days; the board must hold its hearing within 30 days of the appeal, decide within 15 days after the hearing, and its final decision can go to Gaston County Superior Court by certiorari within 30 days, per Sec. 5-37(h) through (l). An approved plan lapses if the applicant makes no site progress within six months, though the stormwater administrator may grant one six-month extension for good cause under Sec. 5-37(p).