Artificial turf in Calabash, NC, planned around the Town's 25% impervious line.

In Calabash, the hard share of your lot decides how much paperwork the turf needs.

Calabash wrote its own stormwater rules into Chapter 53 of the Town Code, adopted August 10, 2004. Section 4 applies it to every property owner and to all construction, including improvements to existing homes. Section 9 sends construction that needs no state certification to Section 8.2.

Section 8.2 is short. A Town Storm Water Permit is required for land of one acre or less. On a residential lot, more than 25% impervious surface requires an engineered stormwater plan. Every commercial job needs an engineered plan, and land over one acre is regulated by the State.

Add up what is already hard on your lot: roof, driveway, walks and patio. Near a quarter of the lot, the way the turf is counted can decide whether you need an engineer. The chapter counts compacted soil, gravel roads and recreation facilities as built-upon area, and leaves out slatted wood decks, pool water and new types of pervious paving material.

State law has since spoken to turf. As WithersRavenel quotes it, G.S. 143-214.7D(b)(6) says turf made to drain through its backing, installed to the maker's specifications over a pervious surface, is not built-upon area for stormwater programs. Our guide to built-upon area on both sides of the state line covers the rest. The Chapter 53 we read is the version recorded in 2004, so ask the Town whether Section 8.2 is still current and how it will count your turf and base.

Calabash already bans landscaping that sheds rain like a sheet.

Section 7 of Chapter 53 sets standards for homes that are already built. Its second rule says no landscaping using impervious materials such as solid plastic and vinyl will be permitted, and that property owners must remove any put down before the chapter took effect. After giving notice, the Town can fine $200 for each violation.

The rule never names artificial turf. It targets surfaces that stop rain reaching the ground, and turf that drains through its backing, over a base that lets water pass, is built to do the opposite. Keep the manufacturer's drainage information with your permit papers in case the Town asks.

Section 9 adds a rule for land outside a subdivision: no change of the terrain or drainage without prior approval from the Town. If the layout raises, lowers or reroutes the ground on a lot like that, get the approval before we start.

Your front lawn may cross onto Town ground before it reaches the road.

Chapter 54 of the Town Code, recodified March 8, 2011, covers streets, rights-of-way and the ditches beside them. Section 54.25 bars anything placed on a street right-of-way unless the chapter allows it. It is unlawful to obstruct a drainage ditch so it impedes the flow of water, to place anything across a ditch without the Town's prior authorization, or to block a ditch right-of-way so maintenance equipment cannot move.

Anything left there stays at your own risk. If it is not removed within a reasonable time after the Town gives notice, the Town removes it at your expense, and the penalty is $100 for each day. Section 54.22 sets $200 a day for blocking a culvert, ditch or drain so water cannot flow over or under a street.

Section 54.42 shows how far Town ground reaches. Town staff mow from the pavement edge to the center of the shoulder ditch, and from there to the property line no more than two times a year, and the policy covers Town property only. So the grass strip you mow may not be yours. Check your survey, and keep the turf, its base and any drain pipe out of the ditch and the right-of-way unless the Town authorizes it.

Zoning, flood, inspection, CAMA and stormwater all sit with the Town.

Brunswick County's municipal jurisdictions table lists the Town, not the County, for flood, building inspection, CAMA, zoning and stormwater in Calabash. Town office hours are 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday. The same table sends Shallotte's building inspection to the County, so one town's process is no guide to the next.

The Building Inspector handles the Storm Water Permit. A denial can go to the Planning Board, then to the Town Council. If you are cited under Section 8.2, Section 12 gives you 30 days to file a written appeal with the Storm Water Appeals Board, made up of Planning Board members.

Near the water there is one more step. Construction under one acre that reaches into a State-defined Area of Environmental Concern needs a CAMA minor permit from the Town's Local Permit Officer. Chapter 53 names coastal wetlands, estuarine waters, estuarine shorelines and public trust areas among those most applicable to Calabash. Ask whether your lot touches one before the layout is final.

Hickmans Crossroads carries a Calabash mailing address, but a mailing address is not the same as Town limits. Brunswick County's municipal jurisdictions table assigns the Town, not the County, for zoning, flood, building inspection, CAMA and stormwater inside Calabash - it says nothing about where that line runs, or about Hickmans Crossroads by name. If your address is Calabash and you are not sure your lot sits inside Town limits, ask Brunswick County which jurisdiction, Town or County, covers your parcel before the layout is final.

Calabash's own communities add another layer beyond the Town or County rules above. Kingfish Bay is a private, gated community on the Calabash River, and Devaun Park is a Traditional Neighborhood Design community on the Calabash River. Calabash Station, Coastal Club of the Carolinas, Hunters Trace and Meadowlands are also named communities in the Calabash area. If your lot sits in any of these communities, start with Brunswick County's jurisdictions table to see whether the parcel falls inside Calabash town limits, where the Town's stormwater, ditch and impervious-surface rules above apply, or in unincorporated Brunswick County, where County rules apply instead. Either way, your community's association still decides what it will approve on an individual lot. Get its current covenants or architectural guidelines, and its sign-off, before the layout is final.

Add a retaining wall or a shed and Article 11 applies as well.

A green on a sloped yard can call for a retaining wall. Calabash's Article 11 table of area, yard and height, last amended January 12, 2022, frees a wall of three feet or less, measured from the lowest ground to the top, from setback and yard rules. A taller wall needs a building permit.

Accessory buildings may cover up to 10% of the gross lot area and must stand at least 5 feet from any lot line, which matters if a garden shed joins the plan.

Our free visit measures the area and checks the ground and where water meets the street. You approve the custom layout first, with a base built for your soil. Take that drawing to Town Hall, and see our backyard putting greens if a green is part of it.