Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this chapter shall be interpreted according to the meanings they have in common usage and to give this chapter its most reasonable application.
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE: A structure on the same lot or parcel as a principal structure, the use of which is incidental and subordinate to the principal structure.
ADDITION (To An Existing Building): An extension or increase in the floor area or height of a building or structure.
APPEAL: A request for review of the floodplain administrator's interpretation of provisions of this chapter or request for a variance.
AREA OF SHALLOW FLOODING: A designated AO zone on a community's flood insurance rate map (FIRM) with a one percent (1%) or greater annual chance of flooding to an average depth of one to three feet (3') where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable, and where velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.
AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD: See definition of Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA).
BASE FLOOD: The flood having a one percent (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE): A determination by the federal insurance administrator of the water surface elevations of the base flood, that is, the flood level that has a one percent (1%) or greater chance of occurrence in any given year. When the BFE has not been provided in a special flood hazard area, it may be obtained from engineering studies available from a federal, state, or other source using FEMA approved engineering methodologies. This elevation, when combined with the freeboard, establishes the flood protection elevation.
BASEMENT: Any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.
BUILDING: See definition of Structure.
CRITICAL FACILITIES: Facilities that are vital to flood response activities or critical to the health and safety of the public before, during, and after a flood, such as a hospital, emergency operations center, electric substation, police station, fire station, nursing home, school, vehicle and equipment storage facility, or shelter; and facilities that, if flooded, would make the flood problem and its impacts much worse, such as a hazardous materials facility, power generation facility, water utility, or wastewater treatment plant.
DEVELOPMENT: Any manmade 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.
DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY: Any activity defined as development which will necessitate a floodplain development permit; such as: the construction of buildings, structures, or accessory structures; additions or substantial improvements to existing structures; bulkheads, retaining walls, piers, and pools; the placement of mobile homes; or the deposition or extraction of materials; the construction or elevation of dikes, berms and levees.
ELEVATED BUILDING: For insurance purposes, a nonbasement building which has its lowest elevated floor raised above ground level by foundation walls, shear walls, posts, piers, pilings, or columns.
ELEVATION CERTIFICATE: The official form (FEMA form 81-31) used to provide elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with community floodplain management regulations and determine the proper flood insurance premium rate.
ENCLOSURE: An area enclosed by solid walls below the BFE/FPE or an area formed when any space below the BFE/FPE is enclosed on all sides by walls or partitions. Insect screening or open wood lattice used to surround space below the BFE/FPE is not considered an enclosure.
ENCROACHMENT: The advance or infringement of uses, fill, excavation, buildings, structures, or development into a floodplain, which may impede or alter the flow capacity of a floodplain.
FLOOD ELEVATION DETERMINATION: See definition of Base Flood Elevation (BFE).
FLOOD ELEVATION STUDY: See definition of Flood Insurance Study (FIS).
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM): An official map of a community, on which the federal insurance administrator has delineated both the special hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the community. A FIRM that has been made available digitally is called a digital flood insurance rate map (DFIRM).
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY (FIS): An examination, evaluation, and determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations; or an examination, evaluation and determination of mudslide (i.e., mudflow) and/or flood related erosion hazards.
FLOOD OR FLOODING: A. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:
1. The overflow of inland or tidal waters.
2. The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.
3. Mudslides (i.e., mudflows) which are proximately caused by flooding as defined in subsection A2 of this definition and are akin to a river of liquid and flowing mud on the surfaces of normally dry land areas, as when earth is carried by a current of water and deposited along the path of the current.
B. 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 an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in subsection A1 of this definition.
FLOOD PROTECTION ELEVATION (FPE): The base flood elevation plus the freeboard.
A. In "special flood hazard areas" where base flood elevations (BFEs) have been determined, this elevation shall be the BFE plus one foot (1') of freeboard; and
B. In "special flood hazard areas" where no BFE has been established, this elevation shall be at least two feet (2') above the highest adjacent grade.
FLOOD PROTECTION SYSTEM: Those physical structural works for which funds have been authorized, appropriated, and expended and which have been constructed specifically to modify flooding in order to reduce the extent of the area within a community subject to a "special flood hazard" and the extent of the depths of associated flooding. Such a system typically includes dams, reservoirs, levees, or dikes. These specialized flood modifying works are those constructed in conformance with sound engineering standards.
FLOOD ZONE: A geographical area shown on a flood insurance rate map (FIRM) that reflects the severity or type of flooding in the area.
FLOODPLAIN ADMINISTRATOR: The individual appointed to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.
FLOODPLAIN DEVELOPMENT PERMIT: Any type of permit that is required in conformance with the provisions of this chapter, prior to the commencement of any development activity.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT: The operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damage, including, but not limited to, emergency preparedness plans, flood control works, and floodplain management regulations.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS: Zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as a floodplain ordinance, grading ordinance, and erosion control ordinance), and other applications of police power. The term describes such state or local regulations, in any combination thereof, which provide standards for the purpose of flood damage prevention and reduction.
FLOODPLAIN OR FLOOD PRONE AREA: Any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source (see definition of Flood Or Flooding).
FLOODPROOFING: 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.
FLOODWAY: 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.
FREEBOARD: A factor of safety usually expressed in feet above a flood level for the purposes of floodplain management. Freeboard tends to compensate for the many unknown factors that could contribute to flood heights greater than the height calculated for a selected size flood and floodway conditions, such as wave action, obstructed bridge openings, debris and ice jams, and the hydrologic effects of urbanization in a watershed. The base flood elevation (BFE) plus the freeboard establishes the flood protection elevation (FPE). Freeboard shall be one foot (1').
HIGHEST ADJACENT GRADE (HAG): The highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction, adjacent to the proposed walls of a structure. Refer to the FEMA elevation certificate for HAG related to building elevation information.
HISTORIC STRUCTURE: A structure that is:
A. Listed individually in the national register of historic places (a listing maintained by the U.S. 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 to a district preliminarily determined by the secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;
C. Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places and determined as eligible by states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the secretary of the interior; or
D. Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places and determined as eligible by 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.
LEVEE: A manmade structure, usually an earthen embankment, designed and constructed according to sound engineering practices, to contain, control, or divert the flow of water so as to provide protection from temporary flooding including a fourteen foot (14') unimpeded running surface maintained along the top of the levee and a distance of thirty five feet (35') from the levee centerline to the tow of the levee on which no structure can be built without compromising the levee system.
LEVEE SYSTEM: A flood protection system that consists of a levee, or levees, and associated structures, such as closure and drainage devices, which are constructed and operated in accordance with sound engineering practices.
LOWEST ADJACENT GRADE (LAG): The lowest point of the ground level next to the structure. Refer to the FEMA elevation certificate for LAG related to building elevation information.
LOWEST FLOOR: The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, 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; provided, that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of 44 CFR section 60.3 and this chapter.
MANUFACTURED HOME: A structure, transportable in one or more sections, built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. The term "manufactured home" does not include a "recreational vehicle".
NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM (NFIP): The NFIP is a federal program created by congress to mitigate future flood losses nationwide through sound, community enforced building and zoning ordinances and to provide access to affordable, federally backed flood insurance protection for property owners.
NEW CONSTRUCTION: For floodplain management purposes, a structure for which a building permit is required.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE: A vehicle that is:
A. Built on a single chassis, and
B. Four hundred (400) square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection, and
C. Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towed 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.
REGULATORY FLOODWAY: See definition of Floodway.
REPETITIVE LOSS STRUCTURE: An NFIP insured structure that has had at least two (2) paid flood losses of more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) each in any ten (10) year period since 1978.
RIVERINE: Relating to, formed by, or resembling a river (including tributaries), stream, brook, etc.
SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA): The land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent (1%) or greater chance of flooding in any given year. For purposes of these regulations, the term "special flood hazard area" is synonymous in meaning with the phrase "area of special flood hazard".
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 dimensions of the building.
STRUCTURE: A walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground, as well as a manufactured home.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE: 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 (50%) of its market value before the damage occurred. See definition of Substantial Improvement. 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.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT: Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the market value of the structure before the "start of construction" of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred "substantial damage", regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either:
A.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 local code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions; or
B. Any alteration of a "historic structure", provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a "historic structure" and the alteration is approved by variance issued pursuant to this chapter.
VARIANCE: A grant of relief by the governing body from a requirement of this chapter.
VIOLATION: The failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with the community's floodplain management regulations. A structure or other development without the finished construction elevation certificate, other certifications, or other evidence of compliance required in 44 CFR section 60.3(b)(5), (c)(4), (c)(10), (d)(3), (e)(2), (e)(4), or (e)(5) is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.
WATERCOURSE: A lake, river, creek, stream, wash, channel, or other topographic feature on or over which waters flow at least periodically. Watercourse includes specifically designated areas in which substantial flood damage may occur. (Ord. 2017-137, 2-9-2017)