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On July 3, the Town of Wake Forest took
over enforcement of its erosion and
sedimentation control program from Wake
County.
The change means that there
must be permits for smaller areas. The
county required a grading permit from
any land disturbance an acre or greater.
The town will require a grading permit
for half an acre or greater, which
includes all single-family home lots.
The new grading permit fee is $400 and
acre rounded up to the nearest acre.
For land disturbances less
than half an acre, the builder or
homeowner must install minimum measures
to control erosion and stop sediment
from leaving the site. Those include a
silt fence on the low side of the lot
and a 10-foot by 30-foot stone
construction entrance. If those measures
are not installed, the town will not
allow the foundation to be poured and
will suspend construction until they are
installed.
The town’s engineering
department, headed by Eric Keravuori,
will work with developers, contractors,
builders and residents on grading
permits, site inspection, offsite
sediment violations and correction and
educational programs.
The town has a new Erosion
and Sediment Control Planning and Design
Manual that will be the basis for all
new plans. The sites the county has
permitted are now being inspected by the
town.
The new manual and its
consultation and inspection program will
also provide local oversight for the
Neuse Buffer Rules. Those rules protect
50 feet on each side of streams, rivers
and tributaries (measured from the top
of the bank). No one should undertake
any land disturbing activities within
that 50 feet without approval by the
state Division of Water Quality and the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Also all sites must comply
with the federal National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES),
having a rain gauge on site that is
inspected by the contractor and logged
once a week and after every half-inch of
rainfall.
For more information about
the new program, you can call Assistant
Town Engineer Holly Spring at 554-3158.
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