Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this chapter shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage and to give this chapter its most reasonable application.
.010 "Appeal" means a request for a review of the City Engineer or Planning Director's (or their designees) interpretation of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variance.
.015 "Accessory use" means a use which is incidental and subordinate to the principal use of the parcel of land on which it is located.
.020 "Area of shallow flooding" means a designated AO, AH or VO zone on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). The base flood depths range from one to three feet; a clearly defined channel does not exist; the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate; and velocity flow may be evident.
.030 "Area of special flooding hazard" means the land in the flood plain within the City subject to a one percent (1%) or greater chance of flooding in any given year. This area is designated as Zone A, AE, A1-30, A99, AR, AO, AH, V, VO, VE, and V1-30 on the FIRM.
.040 "Base flood" means the amount of water generated from runoff of a storm and having a one percent (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (also called the "one-hundred-year flood").
.045 "Base Flood Elevation (BFE)" means the elevation of the base flood, including wave height, relative to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD), North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) or other datum specified on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).
.047 "Basement" means any area of a building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.
.050 "Breakaway wall" means a wall that is not part of the structural support of the building and is intended through its design and construction to collapse under specific lateral loading forces, without causing damage to the elevated portion of the building or supporting foundation system.
.060 [Repealed].
.070 "City" means the City of Anaheim, California.
.080 "Coastal high hazard area" means the area subject to high velocity waters, including but not limited to coastal and tidal inundation or tsunamis. The area is designated on a FIRM as Zone V1-30.
.084 "Design Flood" means the flood associated with the greater of the following two areas:
(1) Area with a flood plain subject to a 1-percent or greater chance of flooding in any year.
(2) Area designated as a flood hazard area on a community's flood hazard map, or otherwise legally designated.
.085 "Design flood elevation" means the elevation of the "design flood," including wave height, relative to the datum specified on the community's legally designated flood hazard map. In areas designated as Zone AO, the design flood elevation shall be the elevation of the highest existing grade of the building's perimeter plus the depth number (in feet) specified on the flood hazard map. In areas designated as Zone AO where a depth number is not specified on the map, the depth number shall be taken as being equal to 2 feet (610 mm).
.090 "Development" means any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations, or storage of equipment or materials located within the area of special flood hazard.
.095 "Development permit" means for the purpose of Chapter 17.28 only, a building, grading, conditional use permit or other permit relating to development as defined herein.
.098 "Elevation certificate" means the FEMA required elevation certificate.
.100 "Existing manufactured home park or subdivision" means a manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed before June 3, 1980, the effective date of the City's floodplain management ordinance (Ordinance No. 4138).
.110 "Expansion to an existing manufactured home park or subdivision" means the preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads).
.120 "Flood" or "flooding" means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:
(1) The overflow of inland or tidal waters; and/or
(2) The unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of surface waters from any source;
(3) The collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as flash flood, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in this definition.
.130 [Repealed].
.140 "Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)" means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the City.
.150 "Flood Insurance Study" (FIS) means the official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that includes flood profiles, the FIRM, the Flood Hazard Boundary Map, and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
.155 "Floodplain" means any land area susceptible to "flood" or "flooding."
.156 "Floodproofing" means any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures and their contents.
.160 "Floodway" means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one (1) foot (also referred to as the "regulatory floodway").
.165 "Highest adjacent grade" means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.
.166 "Historic structure" means any structure that is: (a) listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of Interior) or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register; (b) certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district; (c) individually listed on a State inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of Interior; or (d) individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either: (1) by an approved State program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior; or (2) directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.
.168 "Insurable structure" means a roofed structure which has a minimum of two rigid walls in place. Silos and grain storage buildings, and buildings in the course of construction are insurable structures.
.169 "Letter of Map Change" means an official determination issued by FEMA that amends or revises an effective Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) or Flood Insurance Study (FIS).
(1) Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA): An amendment based on technical data showing that a property was incorrectly included in a designated special flood hazard area. A LOMA amends the current effective Flood Insurance Rate Map and establishes that a specific property, portion of a property, or structure is not located in a special flood hazard area.
(2) Letter of Map Revision (LOMR): A revision based on technical data that may show changes to flood zones, flood elevations, special flood hazard area boundaries and floodway delineations, and other planimetric features.
(3) Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill (LOMR-F): A determination that a structure or parcel of land has been elevated by fill above the base flood elevation and is, therefore, no longer located within the special flood hazard area. In order to qualify for this determination, the fill must have been permitted and placed in accordance with the community's floodplain management regulations.
(4) Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR): A formal review and comment as to whether a proposed flood protection project or other project complies with the minimum NFIP requirements for such projects with respect to delineation of special flood hazard areas. A CLOMR does not revise the effective Flood Insurance Rate Map or Flood Insurance Study; upon submission and approval of certified as-built documentation, a Letter of Map Revision may be issued by FEMA to revise the effective FIRM.
.170 "Lowest floor" means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area including basement, as defined in subsection .047 hereof. An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure below the lowest floor of a non-residential structure that is usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access or storage, in an area other than a basement area, is not considered a building's lowest floor of a non-residential structure, provided it conforms to applicable non-elevation design requirements, including, but not limited to: (a) the wet flood proofing standards in subsection 17.28.130.033; (b) the anchoring standards in subsection 17.28.130.011; (c) the construction materials and methods standards in subsection 17.28.130.020; and (d) the standards for utilities in subsection 17.28.150. For residential structures, all subgrade enclosed areas, including below-grade garages and storage areas, are prohibited as they are considered to be basements.
.180 "Manufactured home" means a structure, transportable in one (1) or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when attached to the required utilities. The term "manufactured home" does not include a "recreational vehicle."
.185 "Manufactured home park or subdivision" means a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
.190 "New construction" means, for the purposes of determining insurance rates, structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of an initial FIRM dated June 4, 1980, and includes any subsequent substantial improvements to such structures. For floodplain management purposes, "new construction" means structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of a floodplain management regulation adopted by a community and includes any subsequent substantial improvements to such structures.
.191 "Mobile home" means a "mobilehome," as defined in Section 18008 of the California Health and Safety Code, or any successor provisions thereto.
.192 "New manufactured home park or subdivision" means a manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed on or after June 3, 1980, the effective date of the City's floodplain management ordinance.
.195 "Ordinance" means the provisions of Chapter 17.28 of the Anaheim Municipal Code.
.200 "Recreational vehicle" means a vehicle which is: (a) built on a single chassis; (b) four hundred (400) square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection; (c) designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and (d) designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling, but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use.
.201 "Special flood hazard area (SFHA)" means the land in the floodplain within the City subject to a one percent (1%) or greater chance of flooding in any given year. This area is designated as Zone A, AE, A1-30, AO, AH, V, VO, VE, and V1-30 on the FIRM.
.210 "Start of construction" includes substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued; provided, the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, placement, or other improvement was within one hundred eighty (180) days of the permit date. The actual start means either the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site, such as the pouring of slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation; or the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling; nor does it include the installation of streets, and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers, or foundations or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure. For a substantial improvement, the actual start of construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of a building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimension of the building.
.220 "Structure" means a walled and roofed building, a gas or liquid storage tank and/or a manufactured home that is principally above ground.
.225 "Substantial damage" means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed fifty percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. "Substantial damage" also means flood-related damage sustained by a structure on two (2) separate occasions during a ten (10) year period, for which the cost of repairs at the time of each such flood event, on the average, equals or exceeds twenty-five percent (25%) of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
.230 "Substantial improvement" means any rehabilitation, reconstruction, addition, proposed new development of a structure or other improvements, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty (50%) percent of the market value of the structure before the "start of construction" of improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred "substantial damage," regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either (1) any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of State or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which have been identified by the Planning Director and/or his/her designee and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions, or (2) any alteration of a "historic structure," provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a "historic structure."
.240 "Variance" means the grant of relief from the requirements of this chapter which permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this chapter.
.250 "Violation" means the failure of a structure or other development to fully comply with this ordinance. A structure or other development without the elevation certificate, other certifications, or other evidence of compliance required in this ordinance is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.
.260 "Remedy a Violation" means to bring the structure or other development into compliance with State or local floodplain management regulations, or, if this is not possible, to reduce the impacts of its noncompliance. Ways that impacts may be reduced include protecting the structure or other affected development from flood damages, implementing the enforcement provisions of the ordinance or otherwise determining future similar violations, or reducing State or Federal financial exposure with regard to the structure or other development. (Ord. 4138 § 1 (part); June 3, 1980: Ord. 4879 §§ 1—8, 20 (part); December 1, 1987: Ord. 4963 § 3; September 27, 1988: Ord. 5217 §§ 2, 3; May 7, 1991: Ord. 5547 § 5; December 19, 1995: Ord. 5681 § 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; May 11, 1999: Ord. 6512 § 3; August 24, 2021.)