Buncombe County, NC Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)

The county's Community Oriented Development (COD) provisions in Sec. 78-650 let a residential project increase its allowed density up to 250 percent above the base district density in Sec. 78-642, but only by earning points across a table of Community, Environment/Transit and Economy criteria. " That review, not a separate rainwater-specific permit, is the operative check: the engineer confirms the cistern system before the points count toward the density bonus. Points from rainwater/greywater collection can be combined with other Environment/Transit items such as riparian buffer conservation (15-25 points), low-impact development BMPs (5 points each) and open space preservation (5 points per acre), but a COD applicant must draw points from at least two of the three principal categories to qualify for any bonus at all, so a single cistern system alone will not unlock density.

Beyond the density calculation, Sec. 4 also requires the deed restrictions recorded for an approved COD to include maintenance language covering "rainwater collection/greywater harvesting" alongside other point-earning improvements, so a system installed to earn points must be kept functioning for the life of the development, not just at the time of approval. This is strictly a residential-development incentive: single-family homeowners outside a COD are not regulated, required, or credited for installing a rain barrel or cistern.