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City Council adopts code changes to end stormwater replacement fund following state law changes
Summary
Council unanimously approved amendments to Durham City Code to discontinue the local stormwater facility replacement fund and add a refund provision after state law barred local governments from collecting or managing such funds.
The Durham City Council adopted ordinances that revise city stormwater rules to comply with changes in state law that prohibit local governments from collecting or managing a stormwater facility replacement fund.
Planning staff told the council the fund — created in February 2008 as an insurance-style program to support long-term maintenance and repair of permitted stormwater control measures — must be discontinued in light of Session Law 2023-108, which amended North Carolina General Statute §160D-925. Staff also noted that any payments previously collected may be returned to payors upon request; the proposed code amendments include a new section providing for refunds of prior payments into the fund.
The council voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance amendments and the new refund provision. Staff said the changes revise Chapter 70, Articles 10 and 11 of Durham City Code, updating sections 70-742 through 70-743 and 70-750 through 70-753 to bring the city into statutory compliance.
City staff said the public hearing required by state law had been noticed and that the amendments are intended to align the city’s code with the statutory prohibition on locally managed stormwater replacement funds. The council took two related motions (one to amend the performance standards and one to adopt the new refund section), and both passed unanimously.
