Appeals
Any disagreement regarding any order, decision, or determination relating to the interpretation or
application of a water quality buffer ordinance, including assessment of penalties, is resolved
through an appeal to either the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the jurisdiction with the
applicable buffer regulation or the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Advisory Committee,
which differs based on the buffer type and jurisdiction as described in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Appropriate Organization for Granting Appeals
Buffer Type
(see Section 1) Charlotte
Organization Based on Jurisdiction (1)
Cornelius
Davidson
Huntersville
Watershed
ZBA
ZBA
ZBA
ZBA
S.W.I.M.
ZBA
ZBA
ZBA
ZBA
PostSWAC
ZBA
SWAC
ZBA
Construction
Goose & Six
SWAC
N/A
N/A
N/A
Mile
Notes:
(1) ZBA = Zoning Board of Adjustment
SWAC = Storm Water Advisory Committee
EMC = NC Environmental Management Commission
N/A = This type of buffer does not occur in this jurisdiction.
Matthews
Mint Hill
Pineville
N/A
ZBA
SWAC
N/A
ZBA
SWAC
N/A
ZBA
SWAC
Meck.
Co.
N/A
ZBA
SWAC
N/A
SWAC/EMC
N/A
N/A
If the buffer ordinance is part of a jurisdiction’s Zoning Ordinance, then decisions regarding the
application and administration of the buffer rules are made by the Zoning Administrator for the
jurisdiction with assistance from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services and appeals to
these decisions are heard by the jurisdiction’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. If the buffer
ordinance is part of City Code and not the Zoning Ordinance, then decisions regarding the
application and administration of the buffer rules are made by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm
Water Services and appeals to these decisions are heard by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm
Water Advisory Committee. The one exception is that any disagreement over a determination
regarding an Authorization Certificate for Goose Creek is referred to the Director of the N.C.
Division of Water Quality for a decision. For an appeal to be granted, the Zoning Board of
Adjustment or Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Advisory Committee must find an error in
the application of the ordinance by the Zoning Administrator or staff of Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Storm Water Services. If the appeal pertains to the assessment of a civil penalty and the Zoning
Board of Adjustment or Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Advisory Committee finds that a
violation of the ordinance has occurred, but that in setting the amount of the penalty the
appropriate weight was not given to either mitigating or aggravating factors, then they will either
decrease or increase the per day civil penalty within the range allowed by the ordinance. If it is
determined that a violation has not occurred, then the penalty will be rescinded.
The process for filing an appeal is initiated by the submittal of a notice of appeal by the owner of
the affected property, an agent authorized in writing to act on the owner’s behalf, or a person
having written contractual interest in the affected property. A notice of appeal must be filed
within 30 working days of the day the disputed order, decision, determination or interpretation
was made. If the organization responsible for granting the appeal is the Zoning Board of
Adjustment (see Table 1), then the petition must be submitted to the Zoning Administration for
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the jurisdiction with the applicable buffer ordinance. The form to be used and address for
submittal can be obtained by contacting the jurisdiction where the buffer is located. Contact
information can be obtained from the jurisdiction’s website under the Planning Department. If
the responsible organization is the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Advisory Committee,
then the petition form and instructions for completion and submittal can be obtained from the
Clerk to the Committee at 704-336-6171. All appeals filed with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Storm Water Advisory Committee must be accompanied by a $100 filing fee.
Upon receipt of a notice of appeal, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services will transmit to
the Storm Water Advisory Committee copies of all administrative papers, records, and other
information regarding the subject matter of the appeal. The filing of such notice shall stay any
proceedings in furtherance of the contested action, except Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water
Services may certify in writing to the Storm Water Advisory Committee that because of facts
stated in the certificate, a stay imposes an imminent peril to life or property or would seriously
interfere with the enforcement of the Ordinance. The Storm Water Advisory Committee will
then review the certificate and may override the stay of further proceedings. The Storm Water
Advisory Committee will hold a public hearing on every notice of appeal in accordance with the
rules adopted by it for such purposes. Prior to the hearing, the Storm Water Advisory Committee
will mail written notice of the time, place and subject of the hearing to the person or persons
filing the notice, to the owners of the subject property and to the owners of property adjacent to
the subject property. The hearing will be conducted in the nature of a quasi-judicial proceeding
with all findings of fact supported by competent, material evidence. The Storm Water Advisory
Committee bylaws will determine the number of concurring votes needed to grant an appeal. A
similar process will be followed for variance petitions submitted to Zoning Board of Adjustment.
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