Woodland Owne Notes Pacticing Foesty Unde Local Regulations As Noth Caolina s population expands, moe and moe foestland disappeas, conveted to esidential, etail, industial, and othe nonfoesty uses. The challenge of managing conflicts between foesty and nonfoesty uses falls to local govenments, especially as tees and othe vegetative buffes ae cleaed. As tees ae emoved, peceived and eal envionmental impacts may bing about estictive o pesciptive land use egulations. Othe egulations may be ceated as citizens voice thei concens about the emoval of individual tees o the cutting of multiple tees on pivate popety. These egulations may exempt cetain foesty pactices o estict the extent to which foesty can be conducted. This publication examines tee potection egulations, zoning, and othe odinances. Guidance is offeed on how to pactice foesty unde existing egulations and on how involvement in the community can etain foesty as a viable land use. Distibuted in futheance of the acts of Congess of May 8 and June 30, 1914. Noth Caolina State Univesity and Noth Caolina A&T State Univesity commit themselves to positive action to secue equal oppotunity egadless of ace, colo, ceed, national oigin, eligion, sex, age, o disability. In addition, the two Univesities welcome all pesons without egad to sexual oientation. Noth Caolina State Univesity, Noth Caolina A&T State Univesity, U.S. Depatment of Agicultue, and local govenments coopeating. Impotance of location and juisdiction Location will detemine whethe county o municipal egulations estict foesty activities conducted Lean about county and municipal juisdictions and the egulations that apply to you land. on you popety. Zoning and unified development odinances (UDOs) ae enfoceable only within a paticula local govenment s planning juisdiction. Planning juisdiction efes to the geogaphical aea whee a govenment has the authoity to egulate land uses and ceate plans fo gowth and development. A municipal planning juisdiction includes all aea within the copoate bounday, all aeas that have been annexed, and any aea within the extateitoial juisdiction (ETJ). Fo the potection of public health and safety, cities may also enfoce egulations within one mile of thei copoate boundaies without establishing an ETJ. A county s planning juisdiction encompasses any aea not within the planning juisdictions of municipalities in the county. In ae instances, counties and municipalities may shae zoning and planning esponsibilities and egulations. County and municipal planning depatments can povide infomation about whee thei egulations apply. Types of tee potection egulations Regulations designed to potect o peseve tees ae commonly called tee potection o timbe havesting odinances and typically addess two common concens of cities and counties: cleacut-
Woodland Owne Notes ting of all tees on pivate popety pio to development and the loss of individual tees. These odinances may equie special authoization fom the Noth Caolina Geneal Assembly (Table 1). Tee potection egulations typically do not stand alone but ae often incopoated within othe odinances. They ae often ceated by amending existing zoning odinances o UDOs and may be found in the landscaping and vegetative buffe sections of these odinances. In contast, steet tee odinances egulate the emoval, maintenance, and pesevation of vegetation on public popety and public ights-of-way. Steet tee odinances ae usually enacted without special authoization fom the Geneal Assembly. Foesty activities and local acts Communities can egulate the emoval of tees, egadless of why o whee tees ae cut, o they can addess specific pactices, such as cleacutting on undeveloped popety. Foesty activities may be exempt fom a local govenment s tee potection egulation if the local govenment voluntaily chooses to exempt foesty o if the local govenment is pohibited within thei local act (also called session law ) fom applying the tee potection egulation to foesty activities. Some local govenments exempt foesty activities fom thei tee potection egulations if one o both conditions ae met, as defined in thei local acts: If the popety in which foesty activities ae conducted is enolled in the county pesent use value taxation pogam as detemined unde Noth Caolina Geneal Statutes (N.C.G.S.) 105-277.2 though 277.7. If foesty activities ae conducted unde a foest management plan pepaed o appoved by a foeste egisteed with the state of Noth Caolina pusuant to Chapte 89B of the Geneal Statutes. Othe local govenments may exclude foesty activities fom thei egulations if the popety on which foesty activities ae conducted meets the pesent-use value land classifications as defined in N.C.G.S. 105-277.2(2) and N.C.G.S. 105-277.3(a)(3). But the land does not have to be enolled in the pesent-use value tax pogam. Fo moe infomation on the pesent-use value tax pogam in Noth Caolina, see Woodland Owne Note 40, entitled Noth Caolina s Foesty Pesent-Use Popety Tax Pogam http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/foesty/pdf/ WON/won40.pdf. Fo moe infomation about developing a foest management plan fo you foestland, see the publication entitled A Family Foest: A Planning Guide to Potect, Enhance, and Manage Pivate Foestland http://www.df. state.nc.us/stewadship/family_foest/ff_contents.htm. Modification of local authoity to egulate foesty activity Session Law 2005-447, entitled An Act to Claify the Role of Counties and Cities in Regulating Cetain Foesty Activities, sought to claify the authoity of local govenments to egulate foesty activities. Unde the law, municipalities and counties shall not adopt o enfoce any odinance, ule, egulation, o esolution that egulates: Foesty activities on foestland that is taxed on the basis of its pesent-use value as foestland. Foesty activity that is conducted in accodance with a foest management plan. The law shall not be constued to limit, expand, o othewise alte the authoity of a municipality o county to: Regulate activities associated with development. Regulate tees pusuant to any local act of the Geneal Assembly. Adopt odinances that ae necessay to comply with any fedeal o state law, egulation, o ule. Execise its planning o zoning authoity. Developing you foestland Foest landownes inteested in developing thei popety in the futue need to know that Session Law 2005-447 allows counties and cities to wait fo thee yeas befoe appoving a building pemit o a site o subdivision plan if tees ae emoved that should have othewise been peseved unde county o municipal development egulations. Development egulations typically equie that tee pesevation aeas o buffes be established befoe land is cleaed pio to development. Appoval time fo pemits and plans can extend to five yeas if tees ae cut in willful violation of these same development egulations.
Pacticing Foesty Unde Local Regulations Table 1. Local acts poviding tee potection authoity to local govenments.* Local Govenment Session Laws (Local acts) Apex... 2000 N.C. Sess. Laws 108 Asheville... 1985 N.C. Sess. Laws 556 Cay... 2000 N.C. Sess. Laws 108 2001 N.C. Sess. Laws 191 Caolina Beach... 1987 N.C. Sess. Laws 786 Chapel Hill... 1977 N.C. Sess. Laws 330 1989 N.C. Sess. Laws 478 Chalotte... 1975 N.C. Sess. Laws 115 Clayton... 2006 N.C. Sess. Laws 115 Conelius... 1997 N.C. Sess. Laws 420 Davidson... 1997 N.C. Sess. Laws 420 Duham... 2001 N.C. Sess. Laws 191 Fuquay-Vaina... 2001 N.C. Sess. Laws 191 Gane... 2000 N.C. Sess. Laws 108 2001 N.C. Sess. Laws 191 Geenville... 2006 N.C. Sess. Laws 102 Highlands... 1985 N.C. Sess. Laws 828 1991 N.C. Sess. Laws 519 Holly Spings... 2003 N.C. Sess. Laws 73 Huntesville... 1997 N.C. Sess. Laws 420 Kinston... 2000 N.C. Sess. Laws 108 Knightdale... 2001 N.C. Sess. Laws 191 Kue Beach... 1987 N.C. Sess. Laws 786 Matthews... 1997 N.C. Sess. Laws 420 2005 N.C. Sess. Laws 305 Moisville... 2000 N.C. Sess. Laws 108 2001 N.C. Sess. Laws 191 Mount Aiy... 2003 N.C. Sess. Laws 281 Nags Head... 1997 N.C. Sess. Laws 420 New Hanove County... 1987 N.C. Sess. Laws 786 Raleigh... 1985 N.C. Sess. Laws 556 2001 N.C. Sess. Laws 191 2004 N.C. Sess. Laws 203 Reidsville... 2006 N.C. Sess. Laws 115 Rockingham... 2003 N.C. Sess. Laws 246 Ruthefodton 2001 N.C. Sess. Laws 191 2004 N.C. Sess. Laws 203 Smithfield... 2003 N.C. Sess. Laws 246 Spence... 2001 N.C. Sess. Laws 191 Statesville... 2003 N.C. Sess. Laws 246 Southpot... 1987 N.C. Sess. Laws 242 Wake County 2001 N.C. Sess. Laws 191 2004 N.C. Sess. Laws 203 Wilmington... 1987 N.C. Sess. Laws 786 Wightsville Beach 1987 N.C. Sess. Laws 786 1989 N.C. Sess. Laws 611 *Note: The above infomation is subject to change. Refe to www.ces.ncsu.edu/ foesty/odinance/ o to the session laws at www.ncga.state.nc.us fo updates to this infomation. Avoiding penalties To avoid penalties, foest landownes should: Acquaint themselves with local tee potection, landscaping, and othe vegetative buffe equiements BEFORE havesting. Thee ae specific consequences within many tee potection egulations that may include civil o ciminal penalties. Local govenments have the ight to deny pemits, levy fines, and equie eestablishment of vegetation. Penalties may be financially significant. Fines o mitigation costs can be geate than the value of the timbe havested and exist to ensue compliance with local egulations. Detemine which egulations apply to the land by checking with planning o inspections depatments within the local govenment. Zoning and the UDO Zoning is an extemely poweful tool fo egulating land use, and it is lagely used by local govenments to pevent conflicts between vaious land uses (e.g., not Zoning odinances ae the allowing a sawmill opeation most common and extensive land use egulation in Noth Caolina. next to a hospital). Moe than thee-fouths of all counties in Noth Caolina have established eithe patial o complete zoning within thei planning juisdictions. Almost all cities in Noth Caolina have zoning, but unlike counties they do not have patial zoning they must enfoce thei zoning and planning authoity thoughout thei entie juisdiction. Zoning can be inflexible any use that is not specifically allowed o listed within a zoning odinance may be pohibited. Howeve, zoning odinances may be amended to add additional pemitted uses. Many land use equiements petaining to landscaping, buffes along oadways, and the eplanting of tees afte cutting may be contained thoughout vaious chaptes of a zoning odinance. Zoning applied to foestland may include estictions and povisions that will detemine: Whethe tees may be havested. Which tees may be havested. Whee the tees may be havested. How the aea to be havested must be eplanted o maintained afte the tees ae emoved. At the county level, foesty is exempt fom zoning because the planting and poduction of tees and timbe ae consideed agicultue and thus ae bona fide fam puposes exempt fom county zoning unde state law.
Woodland Owne Notes Bona fide fam puposes ae defined in N.C.G.S. 153A-340(b)(2). Municipalities ae not equied unde state law to exempt bona fide fam puposes fom thei zoning odinances although some have chosen to exempt agicultual land uses, including foesty, to encouage these uses within thei juisdiction. They have eceived this authoity to exempt agicultual activities fom thei zoning though local acts. Municipalities can also povide flexibility in thei land use egulations fo foest and fam lands that ae in county voluntay agicultual distict pogams but contained within thei ETJs unde thei existing planning and zoning authoity. Land use egulations, including the zoning odinance itself, may be contained within a UDO (unified development odinance). Many cities and counties ae now compiling all of thei land use egulations into this single unified section of a city o county s code of odinances. Tee potection and tee havesting povisions may be ceated unde a city s zoning authoity and incopoated into a zoning odinance o UDO, and such povisions would not be affected by Session Law 2005-447. Counties may also adopt tee potection and tee havesting povisions as pat of thei zoning odinance o UDO. Howeve, foesty opeations that meet the bona fide fam definition in N.C.G.S. 153A-340 (b)(2) ae exempt fom county zoning. Note: Tee potection egulations ceated pusuant to local bills may o may not be included in the zoning odinance o UDO. They ae still enfoceable and may simply be found somewhee else within a local govenment s code of odinances. Contact you city o county govenment fo infomation on its code of odinances. Wateshed and othe potections Wate supply wateshed potection, floodplain and floodway development, noise, buning, ai pollution contol, soil eosion and sedimentation contol, landscaping, and othe odinances may egulate foesty pactices o have the potential to do so. These odinances can impact landownes even though they may not be included as pat of a municipal o county zoning odinance o in a UDO, but could be efeenced within thei code of odinances and published elsewhee. Odinances that addess public health, safety, and welfae may be enacted unde a local govenment s geneal odinance-making authoity (e.g., a buning odinance) o pusuant to othe state laws. Wate supply wateshed potection odinances, and eosion and sedimentation contol odinances ae enacted to estict land uses that may ham wate quality. These odinances ae enacted in esponse to the Wate Supply Wateshed Potection Act (N.C.G.S. 143-214.5) and the Sedimentation and Pollution Contol Act of 1973 (N.C.G.S. 113A-50 though 82). Foesty, o silvicultue as it is temed in the statutes, is allowed in all wate supply wateshed potection aeas, only if the Foest Pactices Guidelines Related to Wate Quality (15A NCAC 01I.0101-.0209) ae followed. Fo moe infomation on maintaining foesty exemptions unde the Sedimentation and Pollution Contol Act, see Woodland Owne Note 22, entitled Maintaining the Foesty Exemption Unde the Sedimentation Pollution Contol Act http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/neos/foest/woodland/won-22.html. Landscaping o vegetative buffe odinances, enacted to educe conflicts between land uses and to peseve the aesthetics of a community, may not addess foesty pactices specifically but they may egulate the emoval o maintenance of vegetation on pivate popety. Landscaping ules may also be enacted though zoning athe than the geneal odinance-making authoity. Foest havesting can be egulated unde landscaping odinances, and this must be consideed befoe tees ae cut o emoved. Landscaping egulations may include tee potection povisions that allow fo foesty. Buning and noise odinances may be enacted unde local govenment s geneal odinance-making authoity. A local odinance may estict the open buning of debis o woodland within the county o city limits. Some odinances may allow buning fo agicultual and foesty puposes with a pemit while othes do not allow open buning fo such puposes. Buning estictions may apply only duing cetain weathe and ai quality conditions. Noise odinances egulate the souces and level of sound allowed in a community, and some povide exemptions fo foesty and agicultual activities o equipment.
Pacticing Foesty Unde Local Regulations Pacticing foesty fo the long tem Undestanding cuent laws and egulations that may affect foesty Being involved with local planning and is impotant. policymaking, while pacticing good Howeve, foesty management, will help encouage the viability of foesty as a land foest landownes can use option fo futue landownes. encouage communities to allow foesty pactices in the futue by following these suggestions: Obtain an appoved foest management plan. Follow the foesty best management pactices outlined in that plan to comply with local odinances. Undestand and comply with all local, state, and fedeal laws o egulations that apply to you land and management activities. Get involved in the planning and zoning pocess within you local govenment befoe ETJs ae ceated, befoe annexations occu, and befoe zoning egulations ae adopted, amended, and enfoced. Seve on zoning and planning boads o community advisoy councils, which offe ecommendations to local govenments on zoning and egulations petaining to community appeaance and land use issues. Povide guidance to local officials about foesty management and about how local laws and egulations impact foesty in you community, when possible. (See the section, Become involved in you community, below.) Foest landownes need to anticipate development as they plan futue management. Land uses will change, and foesty may be in conflict with new uses as communities gow. The following indicatos can help you pedict whee and how you community will gow: Compehensive land use plans Plans fo futue municipal o egional development will detemine whee esidential, commecial, and othe development will occu. Extateitoial juisdiction (ETJ) Popeties within o adjacent to an existing o planned ETJ ae likely to be annexed by a municipality. Land use egulations may change in the ETJ, and new land uses othe than foesty, such as commecial o esidential development, will appea in the ETJ. Municipal annexation ageements Ageements made between cities will delineate aeas that each city may annex in the futue. Odinances Zoning and othe odinances, as they ae developed o modified, will shape futue development and detemine allowable land uses. Sewe and wate extensions Cities may extend wate and sewe sevices to undeveloped aeas to encouage population gowth and new development. Landownes may have to pay fo these extensions even if they do not access these utilities unless they ae in a voluntay agicultual distict pogam that holds these fees in abeyance. Tanspotation plans Plans that guide the expansion of a city o county s tanspotation infastuctue will show whee oads ae to be constucted and impoved yeas in advance. Evolution of land use egulation and foesty A typical Noth Caolina scenaio As a community gows and develops, entie tacts of foested land ae cleaed. In some cases the community may be told that the tee-cleaing is foesty so that it will be exempt fom egulation as a esult. Citizens become inceasingly concened about thei community s appeaance and the benefits lost that those tees povided. To addess these concens, a local act is passed in the Noth Caolina Geneal Assembly giving that community the authoity to enact an odinance to estict cutting of tees on land pio to development. Become involved in you community Tee potection and tee havesting odinances peseve visual appeaance, potect habitat fo wildlife and plants, and peseve tees impotant to a community s histoy and heitage. Landownes need to ecognize that community concens about foesty may detemine the pactices allowed on thei lands in the futue. Involvement in the community and awaeness of concens is a fist step. Once involved, landownes can offe expetise and guidance about the benefits of popely managed foestland to both local officials and fellow citizens. Become a esouce to you community and local govenment: Lean about city and county juisdictions and egulations that apply to you land. You city o county manage s office and the city and county planning, zoning, envionmental, engineeing, and inspection depatments can povide this infomation. Look online at local govenment Web sites fo zoning odinances, tee potection egulations, and othe land use egulations. Remembe that laws and
Woodland Owne Notes egulations made available though local govenment web sites ae not the legally enfoceable vesions they ae povided only fo geneal guidance and efeence. Local depatments, city cleks, o county cleks maintain the official enfoceable text. Note: The failue of a county o municipal official to povide you with the most ecent amendments to an odinance o ule does not elieve you of the obligation of complying no does it esult in the imposition of liability upon that official o that official s employe. Ask questions of local officials and govenment staff about zoning o tee potection odinances in you community. Guidance and contact infomation ae often available on a city o county s planning, zoning, o envionmental depatment web page and may also be available though the Extension Foesty web site entitled Odinances, Laws, Regulations, and Pogams Affecting Foesty in Noth Caolina, available at www.ces.ncsu.edu/foesty/odinance. Ensue that you foesty opeation complies with all applicable fedeal, state, and local laws and egulations. Achieving compliance with egulations must be a goal of you foest management plan. Refeencing local egulations and pemit equiements within the management plan is one way to accomplish this goal. Keep in mind that each time the plan is evised, these efeences must be checked and updated. Do not engage in any foest management pactices without fist consulting and eceiving official guidance fom local, state, o fedeal depatments that enfoce laws and egulations that may apply to you foestland. Obtain all guidance in witing. Paticipate in the vaious planning boads, citizen advisoy councils, o othe goups o committees to become awae of local policies that may affect the use o management of you foestland. When possible, offe you pespective that of the foest landowne, consulting foeste, o esouce pofessional to concened citizens and local officials.
Pacticing Foesty Unde Local Regulations Othe esouces Fo moe infomation on foesty management pactices and local egulations, eview the following: Publications A Family Foest: A Planning Guide to Potect, Enhance, and Manage Pivate Foestland. Noth Caolina Division of Foest Resouces, Raleigh, N.C. http://www.df. state.nc.us/stewadship/family_foest/ff_contents.htm Noth Caolina s Foesty Pesent-Use Popety Tax Pogam. Woodland Owne Note 40. Noth Caolina Coopeative Extension, Noth Caolina State Univesity, Raleigh, N.C. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/neos/foest/pdf/ WON/won40.pdf Web sites Noth Caolina State Univesity Extension Foesty, Noth Caolina Coopeative Extension, Noth Caolina State Univesity, Raleigh, N.C. http://www.ces.ncsu. edu/foesty/ Odinances, Laws, Regulations, and Pogams Affecting Foesty Management in Noth Caolina. Noth Caolina Coopeative Extension, Noth Caolina State Univesity, Raleigh, N.C. http://www.ces.ncsu. edu/foesty/odinance/ UNC School of Govenment. Univesity of Noth Caolina, Chapel Hill, N.C. http://www.sog.unc.edu/ Refeences Ducke, R. 2005. Land Subdivision Contol, Development Ageements, and Tee Potection: A Selection of Legislation fom the 2005 Noth Caolina Geneal Assembly. Institute of Govenment. The Univesity of Noth Caolina at Chapel Hill. NC Planning. 26 August 2006. http://www.ncplan.unc.edu/legisinfo/ducke- Subiv-DevAgmt-Tee.htm Eisley, M. City plans to punish illegal logging. The News and Obseve, 20 Jan. 1998, final. ed. 1B+. Hamilton, R. A. 2004. Noth Caolina s Foesty Pesent-Use Popety Tax Pogam. Woodland Owne Note 40. Noth Caolina Coopeative Extension Sevice. Raleigh, N.C. 4 p. Hamilton, R. A., B. Edwads, J. Folta, and M. Megalos. 2002. A Family Foest: A planning guide to potect, enhance, and manage pivate foestland. Noth Caolina Division of Foest Resouces. Raleigh, N.C. 28 p. Jahn, L. G. 2002. Foests and the Noth Caolina Economy. Noth Caolina Coopeative Extension Sevice. 1 p. Lawence, D. M., and W. J. Wicke. 1996. Municipal Govenment in Noth Caolina. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Institute of Govenment, Univesity of Noth Caolina. 770 p. Owens, D. W. 2001. Intoduction to Zoning. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Institute of Govenment, Univesity of Noth Caolina. 184 p. Owens, D. W. 1999. Legislative Zoning Decisions: Legal Aspects. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Institute of Govenment, Univesity of Noth Caolina. 435 p.
Checklist fo pacticing foesty Use this checklist befoe undetaking any foesty activities that may be affected by local tee potection, zoning, and othe egulations. The checklist will help ensue compliance with local egulations and thus help you avoid fines and othe penalties. Add othe items to the checklist as you discove them. Obtain a management plan developed by a egisteed foeste, and make sue the plan is followed duing all havesting and management activities. Ente any qualifying aceage into you county s pesent-use value tax pogam. Make sue that you meet all of the pogam equiements and qualifications including following the management plan. Detemine which tee potection, landscaping, vegetative buffe, zoning, o othe egulations apply to you foesty activities. Contact you local planning, inspections, o othe local govenment offices that enfoce land use and envionmental potection egulations fo details on these egulations. Veify which of you foesty activities ae exempt unde local egulations. Seek egulatoy guidance and intepetation befoe you act. Obtain guidance in witing, and etain it fo you ecods. Make sue that all equied pemits have been obtained. Conside visual and ipaian buffes o othe ways to peseve vegetation that may go beyond egulatoy equiements. These consideations can help alleviate community and neaby neighbos concens. Pepaed by Bandon A. King, Extension Assistant Robet E. Badon, Ph.D., Extension Specialist Mak A. Megalos, Ph. D., Outeach Associate Depatment of Foesty and Envionmental Resouces Funding fo this publication was povided though an Uban and Community Foesty Gant fom the Noth Caolina Division of Foest Resouces, Noth Caolina Depatment of Envionment and Natual Resouces 10,000 copies of this public document wee pinted at a cost of $3,026.50 o $0.30 pe copy Published by Noth Caolina Coopeative Extension Sevice WON-41 11/06 10M JL/GM E07-45841