Mooresville staff propose tighter erosion rules, update stormwater ordinance to protect Lake Norman

Mooresville town staff on Wednesday presented linked updates to the town code designed to tighten controls on construction runoff and give the town local authority over erosion during construction.

Deputy Water Resources Director Marissa Houston told the Board of Commissioners the proposed amendment to chapter 25 of the town code would align local post‑construction stormwater rules with North Carolina Session Law 2023‑108 (House Bill 48) and change how developers fund maintenance of stormwater control measures. "We're just proposing a few minor adjustments to our chapter 25 stormwater ordinance," Houston said, noting two edits: replacing the term "escrow account" with "segregated funds account" and changing the timing of an initial 5% funding deposit to occur at project completion/approval rather than prior to plat.

Engineering Services Manager Ashton Walker outlined a separate but related draft erosion and sedimentation control ordinance (chapter 27) intended to move permitting for construction‑phase erosion from Iredell County to the town. "Erosion and sedimentation control is dirty water. So, it's everything that's happening during construction," Walker said, describing the proposal as part of an effort to provide "a higher level of service" and faster field inspections.

Why it matters: the drafts are intended to reduce sediment and other construction runoff reaching streams that drain…