This chapter sets forth general and legal details which establish the purpose, jurisdiction and applicability of the ordinance, as well as its incorporated maps. Legal provisions are included to define how this ordinance interacts with local, state, and federal laws and details the replacement of the traditional "stand alone" ordinances with a Land Development Code (LDC). The regulations contained in this ordinance address the myriad facets of land development. These regulations shall be made in accordance with a comprehensive plan and shall be designed to, among other things:

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Promote and protect the public health and general welfare, facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and other public requirements, with a view to conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the community in accordance with a Comprehensive Plan,

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Establish procedures and standards for the development of land, promote orderly growth and development, coordinate new roads and highways within subdivisions, and facilitate the further re-subdivision of larger tracts into smaller parcels of land.

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Protect the public drinking water supply.

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Establish procedures to regulate certain land disturbing activity to control accelerated erosion and sedimentation in order to prevent the pollution of water and other damage to lakes, watercourses, and other public and private property by sedimentation.

(Ord. of 4-20-21)

This ordinance is adopted pursuant to the authority contained in the following North Carolina General Statutes:

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Chapter 160D-Article 7—Zoning Regulation

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Chapter 160D-Article 5—Planning

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Chapter 113A, Article 4, Part 60 and the North Carolina Administrative Code, Title 15A, Chapter 4 Subchapter A-E—Erosion and Sedimentation Control

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Chapter , 160D-926-Water Supply Watershed Management, and Chapter 143, Article 21, Watershed Protection Rules—Water Supply Watershed Protection Rules delegated to Iredell County by the State of North Carolina

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Chapter 63, Article 4, Model Airport Zoning Act

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Chapter 143, Article 21, Part 6; Chapter 160d-923 Floodplain Regulation

(Ord. of 12-5-17(1), § 1; Ord. of 4-20-21; Ord. of 10-18-21)

Whenever any provision of this Ordinance refers to or cites a section of the North Carolina General Statutes and that section is later amended or superseded, this Ordinance shall be deemed amended to refer to the amended section(s) of the North Carolina General Statutes or the section(s) that most nearly corresponds to the superseded section(s) of the North Carolina General Statutes.

In interpreting and applying the provisions of this Ordinance, the provision shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public safety, health, convenience, prosperity and general welfare. This Ordinance is not intended to interfere with or abrogate or annul any easements, covenants, or other agreements between parties; provided, however, where this Ordinance imposes a greater restriction or imposes higher standards than those required by other ordinances, rules, regulations, or by easements, covenant or agreements, the provisions of this Ordinance shall govern so that, in all cases, the most restrictive limitation or requirement, or the requirement causing the highest standard of improvement, shall govern.

This Ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the "Iredell County Land Development Code" and the map adopted herein, which is identified by the title "Iredell County Zoning Map." (See Section1.4)

Portions of this Ordinance dealing with zoning, subdivision, airport hazards, and flood damage protection shall apply to all areas outside of the incorporated limits and municipal extraterritorial jurisdictions within Iredell County. The portions specifically addressing erosion and sedimentation control issues shall apply to all lands of the County except the towns of Harmony and Love Valley. The portions of this Ordinance addressing water supply watersheds shall apply to the unincorporated areas and the towns of Love Valley and Harmony.

Table 1.1 Jurisdiction

(Ord. of 12-5-17(1))

The rewriting of this Ordinance in part carries forth by reenactment some of the provisions of the existing Zoning, Subdivision, Floodplain, Erosion Control, and Watershed Ordinances of Iredell County and it is not intended to repeal but rather to reenact and continue in force such existing provisions so that all rights and liabilities that have been accrued are preserved and may be enforced. All provisions of these ordinances which are not reenacted herein are hereby repealed. All suits at law or in equity and/or all prosecutions resulting from the violation of either of these ordinances in effect, which are now pending in any of the courts of this State or of the United States, shall not be abated or abandoned by reason of the adoption of this Ordinance, but shall be prosecuted to their finality the same as if this Ordinance had not been adopted; and any and all violations of the existing ordinances, prosecutions for which have not been instituted, may be filed and prosecuted; and nothing in this Ordinance shall be so construed as to abandon, abate, or dismiss any litigation or prosecution now pending and/or which may have been instituted or prosecuted.

Nothing herein contained shall require any change in the plans, construction, size or designated use of any building, structure or part thereof for which a building permit has been granted by the Building Inspector prior to the time of passage of this Ordinance or any amendment thereto; provided, however, that where construction is not begun under the outstanding permit within a period of one hundred eighty (180) days subsequent to the passage of this Ordinance or any amendment thereto, or where it has not been prosecuted to completion within eighteen (18) months subsequent to passage of this Ordinance or any amendment thereto, any further construction or use shall be in conformity with the provisions of this Ordinance or any such amendment.

Nothing herein contained shall require any change in the plans, construction, size or designated use of any zoning permit which has been granted prior to the adoption of this Ordinance provided that a building permit has been obtained and construction begun within one hundred eighty (180) days of the date of the issuance of such permit and provided that such building permit is prosecuted to completion as provided for above.

Nothing herein contained shall require any change in the plans, construction, size or designated use of any special use permit which has been granted prior to the adoption of this Ordinance and which special use is no longer carried forth on this Ordinance provided that a building permit has been obtained and construction begun within one hundred eighty (180) days of the date of the approval of such permit and provided that such building permit is prosecuted to completion as provided for above. Such valid special uses including those already existing for non-continued uses may be constructed, continued and reconstructed the same as any permitted use subject to such use limitations and other conditions as provided for in the original issuance of the special use permit. Any such special use that is changed to any permitted use for any period of time shall not be permitted to resume the special use.

Nothing herein contained shall require any change in any zoning vested right which has been established prior to the adoption of this Ordinance during its vested rights period except to the extent permitted at the time of the approval of the site specific development plan and consistent with G.S. 153A-344.1.

Nothing herein contained shall require any change in the use for planned residential development of any land that was zoned as planned residential District (PRD) prior to the adoption of this Ordinance. Although the adoption of this Ordinance does not carry forth the PRD as a zoning district, it is the intent of this Ordinance that any land so zoned may be used for planned residential development provided such development is in conformance with the requirements of the PRD as it existed in the Ordinance repealed by the adoption of this Ordinance and provided the land is not rezoned to another zoning district. If any land zoned PRD is rezoned to another zoning district then the land shall be accorded such development rights as are provided for in this Ordinance in such situations.

Nothing herein contained shall require any change in the plans, construction, size, or designated use of any development or any part thereof for which a floodplain development permit has been granted by the Floodplain Administrator or his or her authorized agents before the time of passage of this Ordinance; provided, however, that when construction is not begun under such outstanding permit within a period of six (6) months subsequent to the date of issuance of the outstanding permit, construction or use shall be in conformity with the provisions of this Ordinance.

To the extent that the provisions of this Ordinance are the same in substance as the previously adopted provisions that they replace in the County's Zoning, Subdivision, Water Supply Watershed Protection, Airport Hazard, Erosion and Sedimentation Control, and Flood Damage Prevention Ordinances, they shall be considered as continuations thereof and not as new enactments unless otherwise specifically provided. In particular, a situation that did not constitute a lawful nonconforming situation under the previously adopted Zoning Ordinance does not achieve lawful nonconforming status under this Ordinance merely by the repeal of the Zoning Ordinance.

In general the following requirements must be adhered to:

A.

No building or land shall hereafter be used and no building or part thereof shall be erected, moved or altered except in conformity with the regulations herein specified for the district in which it is located, except as hereinafter provided in this Ordinance.

B.

No subdivision or plat of land within the County's jurisdiction shall be filed or recorded with the Register of Deeds until it has been submitted to and approved by the Subdivision Administrator and until this approval is entered in writing on the face of the plat by the Subdivision Administrator, nor shall a building permit be issued for construction on any lot in a proposed subdivision until a final plat of said subdivision has been recorded at the Register of Deeds and where applicable, an improvements permit has been issued by the Health Department.

C.

All land-disturbing activity shall conform to the requirements of this Ordinance, and all documentation shall be submitted in accordance with the procedures and specifications established herein.

The provisions of this ordinance shall NOT apply to bona fide farms including start up farms, except that a farm property used for non-farm purposes shall NOT be exempt from regulation; except that the floodplain management provisions of Appendix G of this ordinance, regulating development in the special flood hazard areas, as required for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program, shall apply to all development including bona fide farms located within the special flood hazard areas of Iredell County.

For the purposes of this ordinance, a bona fide farm is any tract or tracts of land, which meets the criteria as established in G.S. 160D-903 together with any subsequent amendments.

Start-up farms requesting bona fide farm status shall provide documentation that they satisfy all the requirements set forth in G.S. 160D-903 together with any subsequent amendments.

(Ord. of 7-17-12(1); Ord. of 4-20-21; Ord. of 10-18-21)

The location and boundaries of the zoning districts established by this Ordinance are shown on a geographic coverage layer that is maintained as part of the county's geographic information system (GIS) under the direction of the Planning Director. This geographic coverage layer constitutes Iredell County's official zoning map, and is hereby incorporated and made part of this Ordinance. No unauthorized person may alter or modify the official zoning map. The Planning Director may authorize printed copies of the map to be produced, and must maintain digital or printed copies of superseded versions of the official zoning map for historical reference.

The provisions of this Ordinance shall apply within the areas designated as a public water supply watershed by the NC Environmental Management Commission and are defined and established on the map entitled, "Watershed Protection Map of Iredell County, NC", which is adopted simultaneously herewith. The Watershed Protection Map and all explanatory matter contained thereon accompanies and is hereby incorporated and made part of this Ordinance.

In order to carry out the purposes of this Ordinance, there are hereby created and established certain height zones, which include all of the land lying beneath the approach surfaces, transitional surfaces, horizontal surfaces, and conical surfaces as they apply to Statesville Regional Airport. Such zones are shown on the Height Zoning Map, prepared by W.K. Dickson dated September 2007, which is attached to this Ordinance and made part hereof.

The Special Flood Hazard Areas are those identified under the Cooperating Technical State (CTS) agreement between the State of North Carolina and FEMA in its Flood Insurance Study (FIS) dated November 16, 2018 for Iredell County and associated DFIRM panels, including any digital data developed as part of the FIS, which are adopted by reference and declared a part of this ordinance. Future revisions to the FIS and DFIRM panels that do not change flood hazard data within the jurisdictional authority of Iredell County are also adopted by reference and declared a part of this ordinance. Subsequent Letter of Map Revisions (LOMRs) and/or Physical Map Revisions (PMRs) shall be adopted within 3 months.

The initial Flood Insurance Rate Maps are as follows for the jurisdictional areas at the initial date:

Iredell County Unincorporated Area, dated May 15, 1980

Town of Davidson: January 10, 1995

Town of Mooresville: May 5, 1980

City of Statesville: September 17, 1979

(Ord. of 10-18-21)

Where uncertainty exists with respect to the boundaries of any of the districts as shown on the official comprehensive zoning atlas, the following rules shall apply:

A.

Where district boundaries are indicated as approximately following the center lines of streets or highways, street lines or railroad right-of-way lines or such lines extended, such center lines, street lines, or railroad right-of-way lines shall be construed to be such boundaries.

B.

Where district boundaries are so indicated that they approximately follow lot lines, such lot lines shall be construed to be said boundaries. However, a surveyed plat prepared by a registered land surveyor may be submitted to Iredell County as evidence that one or more properties along these boundaries do not lie within the Watershed Protection Overlay or Floodplain Protection Overlay.

C.

Except in the following situations, where district boundaries are so indicated that they are approximately parallel to the center lines of streets, highways, or railroads, or rights-or-way of same, such district boundaries shall be construed as being parallel thereto and at such distance there from as indicated on the zoning atlas. If no distance is given, such dimension shall be determined by use of the scale shown on said zoning atlas.

1.

Where the watershed area boundaries lie at a scaled distance more than twenty-five (25) feet from any parallel lot line, the location of watershed area boundaries shall be determined by use of the scale appearing on the watershed map.

2.

Where the watershed area boundaries lie at a scaled distance of twenty-five (25) feet or less from any parallel lot line, the location of watershed area boundaries shall be construed to be the lot line.

D.

Where physical or cultural features existing on the ground are at variance with those shown on the zoning atlas, in other circumstances not covered in this section, or where the Administrator cannot interpret the location of such boundaries, the Board of Adjustment shall interpret the district boundaries.

This ordinance has been adopted in accordance with the Iredell County 2030 Horizon Plan. While the board reaffirms its commitment that this ordinance and any amendments to be in conformity with adopted planning policies, the board hereby expresses its intent that neither this ordinance nor any amendment to it may be challenged on the basis of any alleged nonconformity with any planning document, except to the extent that consistency with the plan and ordinances that affect areas of environmental concern as required by NCGS 113A-111 (Effect of Land Use Plan).

(Ord. of 4-20-21)

Reasonable fees shall be set to cover the costs of administration, inspection, publication of notice and similar matters and may be charged to applicants. The amount of such fees shall be as set forth in the county's official fee schedule.

Should any section, clause, sentence, phrase, or provision of this Ordinance be decided by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the Ordinance as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so declared to be unconstitutional or invalid.

This Ordinance shall take effect and be in force on July 1, 2011. The Ordinance was adopted on May 3, 2011, by the Iredell County Board of Commissioners. This Ordinance shall take the place of previous versions of the Iredell County Zoning, Subdivision, Watershed Protection, Airport Hazard, Erosion and Sedimentation Control, and Flood Damage Prevention Ordinances, duly adopted.

Reserved.