Orange County NC Website
Section 3 Riparian Area Protection within the Neuse River Basin <br /> The purpose of the County in adopting the following regulations is to protect the <br /> County's streams,wetlands, and floodplains; to protect the water quality of the County's <br /> watercourses,reservoirs, lakes, and ponds;to protect the County's riparian and aquatic <br /> ecosystems; and to provide environmentally sound use of the County's land resources. <br /> Buffers adjacent to streams provide multiple environmental protection and resource <br /> management benefits. Forested buffers enhance and protect the natural ecology of stream <br /> systems, as well as water quality through bank stabilization, shading, and nutrient <br /> removal (subsurface). Wildlife habitat is also provided within both forested and grassed <br /> buffers. They also help to minimize flood damage in flood prone areas. Grassed zones <br /> within the buffers.help to prevent sediment and sediment-bound pollutants such as <br /> phosphorous from reaching the streams. <br /> A. Applicability <br /> This Ordinance shall apply to 50-foot wide riparian buffers directly adjacent to <br /> surface waters in the Neuse River Basin within Orange County(intermittent <br /> streams,perennial streams, lakes,ponds, and estuaries), excluding wetlands. <br /> Wetlands adjacent to surface waters or within 50 feet of surface waters will be <br /> considered as part of the riparian buffer but are regulated pursuant to North <br /> Carolina Administrative Code 15A NCAC 2H .0506. The riparian buffers <br /> protected by this Ordinance shall be measured pursuant to Section 3-B. For the <br /> purpose of this Ordinance, a surface water shall be present if the feature is <br /> approximately shown on either the most recent version of the soil survey map <br /> prepared by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States <br /> Department of Agriculture or the most recent version of the 1:24,000 scale(7.5 <br /> minute) quadrangle topographic maps prepared by the United States Geologic <br /> Survey(USGS). <br /> Riparian buffers adjacent to surface waters that do not appear on either of the <br /> maps shall not be subject to this Ordinance. Riparian buffers adjacent to surface j <br /> waters that appear on the maps shall be subject to this Ordinance unless one of the <br /> following applies. <br /> 1. Exemption when an on-site Determination shows that Surface Water$ <br /> Are Not Present: When a landowner or other affected party believes that <br /> the maps have inaccurately depicted surface waters,he or she shall consult <br /> the County.Upon request,the County shall make on-site determinations. <br /> Any disputes over on-site determinations shall be referred to NCDENR- <br /> Division of Water Quality in writing. <br /> 2. Surface waters that appear on the maps shall not be subject to this <br /> Ordinance if an on-site determination shows that they fall into one of the <br /> following categories. <br /> a) Ditches and manmade conveyances other than modified natural <br /> streams unless constructed for navigation and/or boat access. <br /> b) Manmade ponds and lakes that are located outside natural <br /> drainage ways. <br /> 16 <br /> i <br />