A. Designation Of Floodplain Ordinance Administrator: The building official is hereby appointed as the floodplain administrator who is responsible for administering and implementing the provisions of this chapter.
B. Permit Procedures: Application for a floodplain development permit shall be made to the floodplain administrator on forms furnished by the administrator or the administrator's designee prior to starting development activities. Specifically, the following information is required:
1. Application Stage:
a. Plans in duplicate drawn to scale with elevations of the project area and the nature, location, dimensions of existing and proposed structures, earthen fill placement, storage of materials or equipment and drainage facilities;
b. Elevation in relation to the flood protection elevation, or highest adjacent grade, of the lowest floor level, including crawl spaces or basements, of all proposed structures;
c. Elevation to which any nonresidential structure will be floodproofed;
d. Design certification from a registered professional engineer or architect that any proposed nonresidential floodproofed structure not exempted by V-D will meet the floodproofing criterion in section 13-1-5 of this chapter;
e. Description of the extent to which any watercourse will be altered or relocated as a result of a proposed development.
2. Construction Stage:
a. For all new construction and substantial improvements, the permit holder shall provide to the floodplain administrator an as built certification of the floor elevation or floodproofing level, using appropriate FEMA elevation or floodproofing certificate, immediately after the lowest floor or floodproofing is completed. When floodproofing is utilized for nonresidential structures, the certification shall be prepared by or under the direct supervision of a professional engineer or architect and certified by same.
b. Certificate deficiencies identified by the floodplain administrator shall be corrected by the permit holder immediately and prior to work proceeding. Failure to submit certification or failure to make the corrections may be cause for the floodplain administrator to issue a stop work order for the project.
3. Technical Review:
a. If the community does not have the expertise to evaluate the technical data that is part of the application, the community may contract for an independent engineering review or require a review by FEMA through the letter of map revision process.
b. The applicant will pay the costs of an independent technical review.
4. Expiration Of Floodplain Development Permit:
a. All floodplain development permits shall be conditional upon the commencement of work within one hundred eighty (180) days.
b. A floodplain development permit shall expire one hundred eighty (180) days after issuance unless the permitted activity has been substantially begun and thereafter is pursued to completion.
C. Duties And Responsibilities Of The Administrator: Duties of the floodplain administrator shall include, but shall not be limited to:
1. Review all floodplain development permit applications to assure that the permit requirements of this chapter have been satisfied.
2. Review proposed development to assure that necessary permits have been received from governmental agencies from which approval is required by federal or state law. Copies of such permits shall be provided by the applicant and maintained on file.
3. When base flood elevation data or floodway data are not available, then the floodplain administrator shall obtain, review and reasonably utilize any base flood elevation and floodway data available from a federal, state or other source in order to administer the provisions of this chapter.
4. When base flood elevations or other current engineering data are not available, the floodplain administrator shall take into account the flood hazards, to the extent they are known, to determine whether a proposed building site will be reasonably safe from flooding.
5. Obtain, and record the actual elevation in relation to the vertical datum on the effective FIRM, or highest adjacent grade, of the lowest floor level, including basement, of all new construction or substantially improved structures.
6. Obtain, and record the actual elevation, in relation to the vertical datum on the effective FIRM to which any new or substantially improved structures have been floodproofed.
7. When floodproofing is required for a structure as per section 13-1-5 of this chapter, the floodplain administrator shall obtain certification of design criteria from a registered professional engineer or architect.
8. Where interpretation is needed of the exact location of boundaries of the areas of special flood hazard including regulatory floodway (for example, where there appears to be a conflict between a mapped boundary and actual field conditions) the floodplain administrator shall make the interpretation. Any person contesting the location of the boundary shall be given a reasonable opportunity to appeal the interpretation as provided in this chapter.
9. All records pertaining to the provisions of this chapter shall be maintained in the city of Blackfoot's planning and zoning office and shall be open for public inspection. (Ord. 2129, 3-3-2015)
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