Riparian buffers are important for good water quality. They help filter the rainwater that flows from roads, roofs, and lawns before it reaches the streams. The buffer removes many pollutants such as oil from roads, sediment, and excess fertilizer from lawns. Riparian vegetation also slows floodwaters, thereby helping to maintain stable stream banks and protect downstream property. By slowing down floodwaters and rainwater runoff, the riparian vegetation allows water to soak into the ground and recharge groundwater. Slowing floodwaters allows the riparian zone to function as a site of sediment deposition, trapping sediments that build stream banks and would otherwise degrade our streams and rivers. We urge homeowners to be good stewards of the environment by keeping these buffers undisturbed to protect our most precious resource; our water.

The Town has buffer requirements in place to protect the quality of our streams. The Town does not allow any construction within 100 feet of any stream that flows yearround (perennial stream) or within 50 feet of any intermittent stream. The distance measurements are taken from the top of the stream bank.

The Town also requires diffuse flow of runoff in the buffer by dispersing concentrated flow and reestablishing vegetation. There are two zones to every buffer, Zone 1 and Zone 2. More about the buffer zones and allowable uses within each zone can be found on the Town’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), Section 6.1.11.