Permeable resin-bound surfacing can earn real fee relief in Charlottesville, where the City's stormwater utility credit is unusually generous to voluntary practices, but only when it is built as permeable pavement over a stone reservoir with an underdrain or infiltrating subgrade and the City accepts its pollutant removal efficiency. In the credit manual's own worked example, voluntary permeable pavement earns back most of the fee on the area it treats.
An overlay on an existing driveway earns nothing, since water passes the resin and runs off the slab toward Meadow Creek or Moores Creek. Charlottesville's red clay soils mean most real installations will rely on an underdrain, and that shapes everything from design to credit.
Charlottesville's credit math, and where permeable pavement lands
The City bills its stormwater utility fee on impervious area in 500-square-foot billing units at $1.20 per unit per month, collected in June and December. Its Stormwater Utility Fee Credits Manual treats voluntary and required facilities differently. A facility required as a condition of development earns at most 40% of the fee for the area it treats. A voluntary facility installed after July 1, 2009 earns a sliding 40% to 100% on its treated area based on phosphorus removal efficiency from the Virginia Stormwater BMP Clearinghouse, with each property capped at 90% of the fee or the fee minus one billing unit, whichever leaves the lower bill.
The manual's example uses Level 1 permeable pavement at 59% efficiency, which works out to an 88.4% credit on the treated area. Applications need the credit form, a drainage area map, the facility's type, install date and efficiency, an operation and maintenance plan, recent date-stamped photos, a maintenance agreement giving the City inspection access, and an inspection form prepared by or under a professional engineer or licensed landscape architect. The manual is dated January 2014, so confirm current terms with the City.
Separately, the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District runs the Charlottesville Conservation Assistance Program (CCAP), which offers 75% financial reimbursement for most stormwater and conservation practices on city properties.
Piedmont red clay, steep lots and the Rivanna's creeks
Charlottesville sits in the Piedmont below the Blue Ridge, on red, clay-rich soils over weathered rock. The Virginia Stormwater Management Handbook's permeable pavement specification says Hydrologic Soil Group C and D soils usually require an underdrain, and an infiltrating design needs native soils under 40% silt and clay and under 20% clay, plus a field-verified rate of at least 0.5 inch per hour. Many city lots won't meet that, which is why the underdrained Level 1 design in the City's credit example is the realistic starting point.
The hills matter too. The Handbook recommends terracing permeable pavement where slopes reach 5% or more and keeping the reservoir bottom close to flat, so sloping driveways in Belmont or above the Rivanna often step down in cells. Freeze-thaw winters are routine, so the reservoir must drain fully between storms.
The City's local TMDL action plans cover Meadow, Moores, Schenks and Lodge Creeks and the Rivanna River, which helps explain why the credit rewards phosphorus removal rather than area alone.
Charlottesville properties that can use it
- Rental houses and small apartment lots near the University of Virginia, where parking is a large share of the impervious total.
- Driveways and walks in Belmont, Fifeville and 10th and Page, where homeowners may be able to pair CCAP reimbursement with a utility credit if both programs accept the surface.
- Courtyards and side passages near the Downtown Mall, where a natural-stone finish suits the brick setting.
- Church lots and private school grounds, where voluntary practices can reach the higher end of the sliding credit, depending on the efficiency the City assigns.
Applying for credit and getting plans approved, with Resin Rock supplying
Credit applications go to the City with the full package the manual lists, including a maintenance agreement that lets the City inspect and a facility inspection form prepared by or under a professional engineer or licensed landscape architect. Development projects follow the City's stormwater management requirements and its Standards and Design Manual. Because the Handbook's permeable pavement specification names interlocking pavers, grid pavers, pervious concrete and porous asphalt, ask the City what efficiency it would assign a resin-bound surface before relying on any credit figure.
Resin Rock is the manufacturer and supplier, not the installer. We supply UV-stable binder, stone blends, trims and Rock Crete permeable sub-base, with technical data sheets for your application, and we train and approve installers. Find an installer usually connects Charlottesville projects with one within 24 hours, and installers can join our Virginia training.
Before you specify permeable resin-bound in Charlottesville
- Decide early whether the practice is voluntary or required by development; the credit ceilings differ.
- Test soils for clay content and infiltration, and plan on an underdrain in most of the city.
- Confirm with the City what phosphorus efficiency it will assign to a resin-bound surface.
- Consider terracing driveways on slopes of 5% or more, as the Handbook recommends.
- Get CCAP approval from the Soil and Water Conservation District before any work starts.
- Write an operation and maintenance plan with an annual schedule, and line up a professional for the inspection form.
Common questions about permeable resin-bound in Charlottesville
How much of my Charlottesville stormwater fee could permeable pavement offset?
For a voluntary practice installed after July 2009, the credit on the treated area ranges from 40% to 100% depending on pollutant removal efficiency, capped at 90% of the property's fee. The manual's example gives Level 1 permeable pavement an 88.4% credit on the area it treats. Confirm current terms, since the manual is dated 2014.
Is resin-bound treated the same as permeable pavers for the credit?
Not necessarily. Credits rely on efficiencies from the Virginia BMP Clearinghouse or other state guidance, and the state's permeable pavement specification names pavers, grids, pervious concrete and porous asphalt. Ask the City how it would rate a resin-bound surface over a compliant reservoir before you count on the example's figure.
Can I get help paying for the project?
The Charlottesville Conservation Assistance Program, managed by the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District, offers 75% financial reimbursement for most stormwater and conservation practices on city properties. Contact the District before you build: work can't start until your application is approved, permeable pavers are on its practice list and need an infiltration test, and practices required by a development permit don't qualify. Ask whether a permeable resin-bound section would be treated as permeable pavers.
Official sources for Charlottesville
- City of Charlottesville Stormwater (fee, credits, CCAP)
- Charlottesville Stormwater Utility Fee Credits Manual (PDF)
- Virginia Stormwater Management Handbook: P-FIL-03 Permeable Pavement
Local rules change. We last checked these sources in October 2026. Confirm current requirements with the reviewing agency before you design, and treat this page as a starting point, not engineering or permitting advice.