Huntersville LID

Huntersville was the first community in Mecklenburg County to make Low Impact Development part of its Water Quality Ordinance and Zoning policies. Rapid growth in Huntersville converted farms and open space into thousands of rooftops and parking lots. More rainwater wound up in McDowell Creek. The pollutant levels within the creek skyrocketed. McDowell Creek empties into Mountain Island Lake just above the main water intake for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities. Concern has increased about the quality of the raw drinking water.

In February 2003, Huntersville adopted a Water Quality Ordinance that encouraged the use of Low Impact Development practices in all development and redevelopment.

Effective June 30, 2007, Huntersville passed a Post Construction Storm Water Ordinance that replaced the Water Quality Ordinance while continuing to require Low Impact Development. To comply, builders, engineers and other professionals will need to reference the Huntersville Water Quality Design Manual and Site Evaluation Tools.

Huntersville Water Quality Design Manual(PDF, 6MB) (Revised November, 2017)

The Site Evaluation Tool (SET) is a planning tool in a spreadsheet-based model that assesses and compares pre-development and post-development runoff, infiltration, and pollutant loading rates, which provides a methodology to aid in better site design and evaluation of BMP effectiveness.

PowerPoint presentations showcasing how Low Impact Development is helping Huntersville: