Site plans requiring a stormwater permit within Wake County's Land Use Jurisdiction must be submitted to Watershed Management Program for review and approval. Land subdividers, stormwater designers, builders and the general public must develop site plans to ensure compliance with Article 9 of the Unified Development Ordinance and applicable State and Federal regulations.
The Current Stormwater Ordinance was adopted August 13, 2006. Implementation of the new Stormwater Ordinance applies to all preliminary residential site plan applications submitted on or after the November 2006 prelim cycle.
Projects submitted after August 1, 2012, must submit using the new Wake County Hybrid Tool; your comments or feedback are welcome.(New Version 1.4 fixes bugs as of February 15, 2012.) Do not enable content when prompted. Older versions of Excel will require the installation of a compatibility pack from Microsoft to ensure functionality. Please contact Jennifer Mitchell (919-856-6195) if compatibility pack does not yield desired results.
NOTE: Credit for disconnected impervious area must be justified.
Stormwater Permit Process
The Stormwater Process in WAKE COUNTY is composed of the following: Presubmittal Meeting, Preliminary Plan Review, Technical Review Committee, Construction Plan Review, Plan Approval, Preconstruction Meeting, Permit Issuance, Permit Completion and Post-Construction Maintenance. In addition, Wake County administers the erosion and sediment control and floodplain regulations including related plan review and permit issuance.
Prior to initiating a stormwater application, the applicant should be familiar with The Wake County Unified Development Ordinance, Article 9: Stormwater Management. All applicants must adhere to the Wake County Joint Erosion Control, Stormwater and Floodplain Application, Subdivision Process and/or Commercial Permit Application in addition to the following submittal requirements:
I. Presubmittal Meeting
All development proposals are required to schedule a presubmittal meeting with the Wake County Planning staff before any plan submittal process is initiated. Wake County staff will provide guidance on floodplain management, erosion control and stormwater submittals and site plan design guidance, in coordination with the planning/zoning staff. Applicants should call the Planning Department at 919-856-6221 to schedule a meeting with the County. Applicants shall complete a presubmittal meeting request form and provide staff with the following:
II. Preliminary Plan Review
After the presubmittal meeting, the applicant will receive comments and/or a request for additional information. Once comments are resolved, the applicant shall provide a preliminary subdivision plan or a Commercial Permit Application. Plans requiring Planning Board approval (regular subdivisions, special use permits, planned compliance permits) will be reviewed by the Technical Review Committee (TRC). See Wake County Planning Policy for fees and submittal requirements.
Note: Non-residential projects NOT requiring Planning Board approval may proceed to the Construction Plan Process; ***Remember*** zoning approval (land use permit application) is required prior to receiving construction plan approval.
The Preliminary Plan submittal for stormwater should include the following:
Cover letter stating the purpose of the submission
Two (2) copies of the Hybrid Stormwater Tool (Site Data Sheet, Drainage Area Worksheets, Site Summary, and any other sheets available)
Wake County Stormwater Submittal Checklist (Preliminary Plan portion)
Wake County Standards Checklist (Falls Lake, Jordan Lake or Wake County)
Site Plan including proposed BMP locations
Drainage Area Map
Copy of USGS Quad Map and Wake County Soil Survey map with delineated project limits
Flood Hazard Area impacts
Any additional calculations available
III. Construction Plan Review
Following the TRC Review process and Planning Board Approval, regular subdivisions and non-residential development and redevelopment projects with greater than ½-acre of disturbance are required to obtain a Stormwater Permit through Wake County. Development with greater than 1 acre of disturbance shall also obtain a Land Disturbance Permit through Wake County.
The applicant shall submit the following to Wake County for stormwater construction plan review:
Cover letter stating the purpose of the submission
Erosion Control and Stormwater Joint Application and review fees Wake County Stormwater Submittal Checklist (Preliminary Plan and Construction Plan portion)
Wake County Standards Checklist (Falls Lake, Jordan Lake, or Wake County)
Two (2) copies of the Stormwater Design Tool (All sheets); digital submittal optional
Five (5) copies of a complete set of construction drawings
Drainage Area Map
Copy of USGS Quad map and Wake County Soil Survey with delineated project limits
All supporting calculation documentation
Erosion Control requirements (applicant should submit a total of five (5) copies when submitting for both Stormwater and Erosion Control)
Flood Studies / Flood Hazard Soil Redelineations
Buffer Impacts / stream delineations
Wake County will provide review comments or plan approval directly to the applicant. Applicant should adhere to the fee schedule for all resubmittals.
V. Preconstruction Meeting
Following approval of construction drawings by Wake County Environmental Services and Planning / Zoning, a pre-construction meeting must be scheduled prior to any land disturbance. At this time, applicants will obtain the Stormwater Permit as well as a Land Disturbance Permit (if applicable). Additionally, applicant shall receive two copies of the approved stormwater and/or erosion control plan. Applicant should bring the following to the preconstruction meeting:
VI. Conditions of Approval
The following conditions of approval (as noted on construction plan stormwater approval letter) shall be provided to Wake County for review prior to recordation of the final plat for Residential Projects OR prior to the Certificate of Occupancy (CO) for Non-Residential Projects.
Conditions of Approval may include: Stormwater Agreement, Operation & Maintenance Plan, Engineer’s Certification, As-built Survey, Covenants, Performance Guarantee, etc. See Planning Department for Review Procedures for submittal requirements for final plat approval and final plat recordation. Note that Stormwater's Final Plat checklist is supplemental to Planning's plat checklist.
Projects with stormwater devices must provide as built plans and maintenance documents prior to final plat approval or CO or post a performance guarantee.
Maintenance documents shall be recorded with the Wake County Register of Deeds.
If there are stormwater devices, please provide the as-built package at least 30 days prior to request for CO. The as-built package may include but aren't limited to:
Maintenance documents and easements must be recorded with the Wake County Register of Deeds.