Zoning › State preemptions › North Carolina

NC Water Supply Watershed Protection Act (G.S. 143-214.5; 15A NCAC 02B .0200) (NC)

Tracked preemption from the North Carolina overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1992-01-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:NC
Other North Carolina preemptions
NC S.L. 2024-43 (HB 250) — Public Safety / Other Changes Omnibus (placeholder — zoning provisions unverified)NC S.L. 2023-108 (HB 409) — Statewide By-Right ADU MandateNC GS §160D-907 — Family Care Homes as Residential UseNC GS §160D-910 — Manufactured Housing Anti-ExclusionNC GS §160D-914 — Residential Solar Collector ProtectionNC GS §160D-921 — Tree Ordinance Local-Act RequirementNC GS §160D-903 — Bona Fide Farm Exemption from County ZoningNC HB 130 (2021) — Vested Rights Protections for Permit Applications

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

parcel.in_water_supply_watershed == True

Preempted fields

5 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
base_districts[*].impervious_surface_max_pctcap_at12WS-II critical areas: low-density option 1 du/2 ac OR 6–12% built-upon area depending on option
base_districts[*].impervious_surface_max_pctcap_at24WS-III protected area low-density: 24% BUA; high-density option allows higher with engineered stormwater controls
base_districts[*].impervious_surface_max_pctcap_at36WS-IV protected area: 24% BUA low-density or 36% with engineered controls; varies by sub-class
base_districts[*].riparian_buffer_ftfloor_at3030-ft vegetative buffer on perennial streams; 50 ft on protected areas of WS-II/III
base_districts[*].stormwater_treatment_requiredrequire85_pct_TSS_removal_high_density_option

Citation

Authority source
N.C.G.S. §143-214.5; 15A NCAC 02B .0200 (Water Supply Watershed Protection Rules)
§ §143-214.5
https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_143/GS_143-214.5.html

Research notes

NC Environmental Management Commission classifies surface water supplies (WS-I through WS-V). All local governments containing WS-protected watershed must adopt and enforce a watershed-protection ordinance meeting state minimums (DEQ Division of Water Resources oversight). Classifications: WS-I (most protective, no development), WS-II (limited development), WS-III (moderate), WS-IV (most permissive of protected), WS-V (downstream). Critical areas = 0.5 mile and draining to the intake. Cannot be waived locally. Triggers map-based applicability; required city attribute `in_water_supply_watershed` + `water_supply_watershed_class`.