Schedule 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:

• Project Name 
• Contact Information
• PIN Number
•  Approximate Disturbed Acreage (if available)
• Summary
• Sketch Plan (if available)

Apply for Preliminary Plan Approval

After the presubmittal meeting, the applicant will submit a preliminary plan review to Wake County Planning through the Permit Portal. 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

• Hybrid Stormwater Tool (Site Data Sheet, Drainage Area Worksheets, Site Summary, and any other sheets available) 

• Falls Preliminary Plan Checklist

• Neuse Preliminary Plan Submittal Checklist (choose appropriate regulatory Watershed)

• 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

• Additional calculations as needed

Apply for Construction Plan Approval

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 the Wake County Permit Portal. 

For subdivisions, you may upload your stormwater and erosion control documents with your Planning application. 

For non-residential projects, upload your stormwater and erosion control documents through the Watershed Management Permit Portal, 

• Cover letter stating the purpose of the submission
• Erosion Control and Stormwater Joint Application and review fees
• Neuse Stormwater Plan Submittal Checklist 
• Falls Lake Stormwater Plan Submittal Checklist  
• Neuse Construction Plan Submittal Checklist 
• Fall Lake Construction Plan Submittal Checklist 
• Stormwater Design Tool (All sheets); digital submittal optional
• 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 (site plan, Financial Responsibility Form)
• 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.

Obtain NCG01 Permit Coverage

Following approval of construction drawings by Wake County Environmental Services and Planning / Zoning, you may apply for your NCG01 Construction Stormwater Permit. You will apply online with the e-NOI form through the NC DEQ website. You will upload a copy of Wake County Land Disturbance Approval Letter.  The annual fee is $100. 

Upload the NCG01 Certificate of Coverage to the Wake County Permit Portal. Add the document to your land disturbance permit. 

Request Preconstruction Meeting

After construction plan approval, schedule a preconstruction meeting. You will receive your Land Disturbance Permit at this meeting.

Contact the Environmental Consultant assigned to your case to request a preconstruction meeting. Prior to this meeting you will need to:

1. Upload the NCG01 certificate of coverage (see above)
2. Pay permit fees. You may pay through the Permit Portal or by certified check to Wake County; office hours are Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.; Water Quality, 6th floor,Wake County Office Building
3. Submit 5 copies of the site plans to the office 5 days prior to the meeting for review and signature

Applicant should bring the following to the preconstruction meeting (at this time most meetings are held in the field).

• Owner / Applicant/ Financially responsible party 
• Site contractor(s) 
• Design Engineer (if requested)

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.  

Final Plat Approval

Projects with stormwater devices must provide as built plans and maintenance documents prior to final plat approval or CO or post a performance guarantee.

Final plats shall show all items required by the Final Plat Checklist, which may include but aren't limited to:

• Stormwater device(s) and maintenance/access easements and indicate the responsible party for maintenance
• Covenants
• Perpetuity Statement –" Maximum Impervious Area Square Footage on each Individual Lot will be Stringently Enforced with no Exceptions into Perpetuity"
• Reference the maintenance manual and maintenance agreement for the Stormwater BMP by book and page numbers
• Performance Guarantee disclosure (if one has been posted)
• Buffer location and notes
• Floodplain location and notes.

Maintenance documents shall be recorded with the Wake County Register of Deeds.

If the project expires before the plat is recorded, the stormwater permit becomes null and void.

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:

• Stormwater Agreement
• Operation & Maintenance Plan
• Engineer’s Certification
• As-built Survey
• Performance Guarantee (if required) 

Maintenance documents and easements must be recorded with the Wake County Register of Deeds.

Background

Both Falls Lake and Jordan Lake are considered polluted due to excessive nutrient inputs including stormwater runoff. As a result, both lakes have been designated as Nutrient Sensitive Waters (NSW) by the North Carolina Division of Water Quality (DWQ). The Falls Lake and Jordan Lake rules passed by the State require local governments to adopt stormwater standards for new development.  

The County adopted rules for each watershed by ordinance change in 2012. However, the State Legislature has placed the Jordan Lake Rules on hold.  

Nutrient Standards

Stormwater runoff from new development in Jordan and Falls Lake must meet both nitrogen and phosphorus limits. Nutrient reduction requirements for the Falls Lake and Jordan Lake watersheds differ slightly. Nitrogen and phosphorus limits depend on which watershed the development is located. The following table differentiates nutrient loading requirements by nutrient management strategy. Jordan Lake Watershed is divided into two regulatory jurisdictions – Upper New Hope (UNH) and Lower New Hope (LNH). 

The Neuse Rules are currently applied county-wide. All developments must meet state, local and federal regulations. If these regulations are inconsistent, the more restrictive standard governs.

Links

NC DWR Nutrient Offset Process

Falls Lake Nutrient Strategy

Jordan Lake Nutrient Strategy

NC DWR Stormwater Design Manual