MHDO Executive Summary
SUMMARY OF THE 27 AUGUST 2008 DRAFT OF THE TOWN OF LAKE LURE MOUNTAIN & HILLSIDE DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE
At the bottom of this page you will find important documents related to this ordinance
Michael Egan, Community Development Attorney
The mountainous area of western North Carolina is experiencing rapid growth and increasingly more development is moving onto steeper slopes and mountain ridges. Community leaders and long-time residents are expressing concerns about losing the resources and viewsheds that give this region its unique sense of place. Local governments are looking for ways to encourage and/or require safer and more responsible development on steep slopes. “Mountain Ridge and Steep Slope Protection Strategies”, Land of Sky Regional Council, April 2008.
These very concerns found voice in the Lake Lure Comprehensive Plan. Policy LU-1-2.1 calls for the establishment of an overlay zoning district to restrict development above the 1,500-feet elevation to protect viewsheds, vegetation and steep slopes. This policy calls for regulations addressing “all factors that have a direct impact on the quality of development at this highly visible elevation: tree protection / area of disturbance maximums, building height, density, etc.” Likewise, Objective NE-3-1 of the Comprehensive Plan advocates minimizing “negative impacts from grading on steep slopes and post-construction stormwater runoff.”
In order to address these concerns and implement the policies of the Comprehensive Plan, the Zoning and Planning Board, in May of 2007, began work on a steep slope ordinance for the Town. The Board has produced a draft ordinance which faithfully responds to the directives of the Comprehensive Plan by regulating tree protection, limits on disturbance and impervious surfaces, building height and density. Following is a summary of salient provisions of the draft ordinance.
1) The proposed ordinance only regulates lands with an average slope of 30% or more and certain protected mountain ridges. Indeed, the ordinance has been drafted to promote good subdivision design by (1) requiring that all new lots contain a building and grading envelope with an average natural slope of less than 30% and (2) exempting such lots, other than those on protected mountain ridges, from the regulatory reach of the ordinance.
2) §92.202 provides that lots of record as of the date of enactment of the ordinance are vested for the building of a single-family home provided that for lots with an average slope of 40% or greater, a geotechnical analysis will be required to demonstrate that the site is suitable and safe for the proposed building. Such homes will need to comply with the requirements for construction of buildings contained in §92.207.
3) Applications to subdivide land or to develop anything other than a single-family home will need to contain certain studies, including topographic surveys, soils reports, hydrology reports and geotechnical analyses, to evaluate the impacts of their proposals on steep-slope environments. Applications to build single-family homes will only need to produce a topographic survey unless the natural slope of building and grading envelope equals or exceeds 40% or unless the Rutherford County soils map indicates the presence of problematic soils.
4) §92.206 contains general regulations applicable to all land-disturbing activity. These include limitations on the steepness of artificial slopes, as well as standards relating to the compaction of fill, storm drainage, retaining walls and clearing and grading. Table 1 establishes a sliding scale, based on the average slope of the land, which restricts density, minimum lot size, and amounts of disturbed area and impervious surfaces. For instance, where the average natural slope of land to be subdivided is 30 - 34%, the minimum lot size is one acre, the maximum amount of disturbed areas is 25% of the site, and the maximum impervious surface is 20% of the site. THE MINIMUM LOT SIZE REQUIREMENT IN THIS TABLE ONLY APPLIES TO NEWLY CREATED LOTS. EXISTING LOTS OF RECORD MAY HAVE A SINGLE-FAMILY HOME BUILT UPON THEM REGARDLESS OF SIZE SO LONG AS THEY OTHERWISE COMPLY WITH APPLICABLE REGULATIONS.
5) Paragraph (O) of §92.206 contains new standards for roads and driveways serving lands covered by the ordinance.
6) The ordinance proposes adoption of a Protected Mountain Ridge Map which will identify highly visible ridges in the Town’s jurisdiction. §92.208 regulates the building height, screening, tree protection and roof lines on these ridges in an effort to protect significant viewsheds.
Informational Brochures |
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View your property on the Rutherford County GIS website HERE to see if it is located along a protected mountain ridge. Choose the ArcIMS GIS link from the available sites; enter your property information in the search tab; then add the Draft Protected Mountain Ridges Layer on the left of the screen and click Apply Changes. |
