from: Kassi L. Day <[email protected]>
to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>,
“Michael C. Frue” <[email protected]>
date: Aug 28, 2019, 5:01 PM
subject: RE: Records Request: (August 2019) Requested info about State Protective Law for our Ridge Tops
Hello Sunshine, thank you for your email. This doesn’t appear to be a request for records but I can provide this information.
The Buncombe County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 78. Zoning, Article 6. Buncombe County Zoning Ordinance, Section 78-645. Protected Ridge Overlay District, is written and administered in compliance with the North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 113A. Pollution Control and Environment, Article 14-Mountain Ridge Protection, and the Mountain Ridge Protection Act of 1983.
You can read more about how the law applies to local communities here:
https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter_113A/Article_14.pdf
The municipalities contained within Buncombe County (Weaverville, Woodfin, Black Mountain, Montreat, Biltmore Forest and the City of Asheville) enforce their own zoning requirements, but not all municipalities have a steep slope ordinance. The 1983 Mountain Ridge Protection Act (MRPA -NCGS 113A) is often built into steep slope ordinances as a common practice with other provisions representing higher standards than the height component outlined in the Act. For instance, Buncombe County’s steep slope standards contained within our Zoning Ordinance prescribe individually defined overlays for steep slope and protected ridge areas. However, we do not have the authority to enforce our own steep slope standards in any of the municipalities listed above. Since all of the jurisdictions have their own zoning ordinance, compliance with steep slope and the MRPA would fall under the respective planning and zoning departments to enforce.
Kassi Day
Public Information/Communications Coordinator
Buncombe County
200 College St.
Asheville, NC 28801
Desk 828-250-4119/Mobile 828-767-3226
[email protected]
Emails to and from this email address are subject to NC Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
Status:
Response Received from Government