North Carolina General Statutes
Article 21 - Water and Air Resources.
§ 143-214.23A - Limitations on local government riparian buffer requirements.

143-214.23A. Limitations on local government riparian buffer requirements.
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Local government ordinance" means any action by a local government carrying the effect of law approved before or after October 1, 2015, whether by ordinance, comprehensive plan, policy, resolution, or other measure.
(2) "Protection of water quality" means nutrient removal, pollutant removal, stream bank protection, or protection of an endangered species as required by federal law.
(3) "Riparian buffer area" means an area subject to a riparian buffer requirement.
(4) "Riparian buffer requirement" means a landward setback from surface waters.
(b) Except as provided in this section, a local government may not enact, implement, or enforce a local government ordinance that establishes a riparian buffer requirement that exceeds riparian buffer requirements necessary to comply with or implement federal or State law or a condition of a permit, certificate, or other approval issued by a federal or State agency.
(c) Subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to any local government ordinance that establishes a riparian buffer requirement enacted prior to August 1, 1997, if (i) the ordinance included findings that the requirement was imposed for purposes that include the protection of aesthetics, fish and wildlife habitat, and recreational use by maintaining water temperature, healthy tree canopy and understory, and the protection of the natural shoreline through minimization of erosion and potential chemical pollution in addition to the protection of water quality and the prevention of excess nutrient runoff, and (ii) the ordinance would permit small or temporary structures within 50 feet of the water body and docks and piers within and along the edge of the water body under certain circumstances.
(d) A local government may request from the Commission the authority to enact, implement, and enforce a local government ordinance that establishes a riparian buffer requirement for the protection of water quality that exceeds riparian buffer requirements for the protection of water quality necessary to comply with or implement federal or State law or a condition of a permit, certificate, or other approval issued by a federal or State agency. To do so, a local government shall submit to the Commission an application requesting this authority that includes the local government ordinance, including the riparian buffer requirement for the protection of water quality, scientific studies of the local environmental and physical conditions that support the necessity of the riparian buffer requirement for the protection of water quality, and any other information requested by the Commission. Within 90 days after the Commission receives a complete application, the Commission shall review the application and notify the local government whether the application has been approved, approved with modifications, or disapproved. The Commission shall not approve a local government ordinance that establishes a riparian buffer requirement for the protection of water quality unless the Commission finds that the scientific evidence presented by the local government supports the necessity of the riparian buffer requirement for the protection of water quality.
(e) Cities and counties shall not treat the land within a riparian buffer area as if the land is the property of the State or any of its subdivisions unless the land or an interest therein has been acquired by the State or its subdivisions by a conveyance or by eminent domain. Land within a riparian buffer area in which neither the State nor its subdivisions holds any property interest may be used by the property owner to satisfy any other development-related regulatory requirements based on property size, including, but not limited to, residential density and nonresidential intensity calculations and yields, tree conservation purposes, open space or conservation area requirements, setbacks, perimeter buffers, and lot area requirements.
(f) When riparian buffer requirements are included within a lot, cities and counties shall require that the riparian buffer area be shown on the recorded plat. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require that the riparian buffer area be surveyed. When riparian buffer requirements are placed outside of lots in portions of a subdivision that are designated as common areas or open space and neither the State nor its subdivisions holds any property interest in that riparian buffer area, the local government shall attribute to each lot abutting the riparian buffer area a proportionate share based on the area of all lots abutting the riparian buffer area for purposes of development-related regulatory requirements based on property size, including, but not limited to, residential density and nonresidential intensity calculations and yields, tree conservation purposes, open space or conservation area requirements, setbacks, perimeter buffers, and lot area requirements.
(g) The Commission may adopt rules to implement this section. (2015-246, s. 13.1(b).)

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