In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE. A structure that is on the same parcel of property as a principal structure, the use of which is incidental to the use of the principal structure.
APPEAL. A request for a review of the Floodplain Administrator's interpretation of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variance.
AREA OF SHALLOW FLOODING. A designated Zone AO, AH, AR/AO or AR/AH on the town's firm with a one percent or greater annual chance of flooding to an average depth of one to three feet 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.
BASE FLOOD. A flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE). The computed elevation to which floodwater is anticipated to rise during the base flood.
BASEMENT. Any area of the building having its floor sub-grade; i.e., below ground level on all sides.
BREAKAWAY WALL. 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 support or foundation system.
BUILDING. See STRUCTURE.
COMMUNITY. Any state, area or political subdivision thereof, or any Indian tribe or authorized tribal organization, or authorized native organization, which has authority to adopt and enforce floodplain management regulations for the areas within its jurisdiction.
DEVELOPMENT. 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.
ELEVATION CERTIFICATE. An administrative tool of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that is used to provide elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with community floodplain management ordinances, to determine the proper insurance premium rate, and to support a request for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or Letter of Map Revision based on fill (LOMR-F).
ENCROACHMENT. The advance of infringement of uses, plant growth, fill, excavation, buildings, permanent structures or development into a floodplain, which may impede or alter the flow capacity of a floodplain.
EROSION. The process of the gradual wearing a way of land masses. This peril is not, per se, covered under the National Flood Insurance Program.
FLOOD OR FLOODING. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:
(1) The overflow of flood waters;
(2) The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source, and/or
(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 an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in this definition.
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM). The official map of a community, on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delineated both the Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY (FIS). The official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that includes flood profiles, the FIRM, and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
FLOODPLAIN OR FLOOD-PRONE AREA. Any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source (See definition of "Flood or Flooding").
FLOODPLAIN ADMINISTRATOR. The Town Manager is hereby authorized by the Floodplain Board to administer and enforce the provisions of this ordinance.
FLOODPLAIN BOARD. The Town Council of the Town of Clifton at such times as they are engaged in the enforcement of this chapter.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT. The operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damage and preserving and enhancing, where possible, natural resources in the floodplain, including but not limited to emergency preparedness plans, flood control work, floodplain management regulations, and open space plans.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS. Zoning ordinances, subdivisions regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as floodplain ordinance, grading ordinance and erosion control ordinance) and other applications of police power, which control development in flood-prone areas. The term describes federal, state or local regulations in any combination thereof, which provide standards for preventing and reducing flood loss and damage.
FLOOD PROOFING. Any combination of structural and non-structural additions, changes, or adjustments to nonresidential structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures, and their contents by means other than elevation.
FLOOD-RELATED EROSION. The collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of 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 a flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding.
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 more than a designated height. Also referred to as “Regulatory Floodway.”
FUNCTIONALLY DEPENDENT USE. A use which cannot perform its intended purpose unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water. The term includes only docking facilities, port facilities that are necessary for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers and ship building and ship repair facilities but does not include long-term storage or related manufacturing facilities.
GOVERNING BODY. The Town Council of the Town of Clifton.
HARDSHIP. As related to §§ 154.070 and 154.071, meaning the exceptional hardship that would result from a failure to grant the requested variance. The requested variance must be exceptional, unusual, and peculiar to the property involved. Mere economic or financial hardship alone is not exceptional. Inconvenience, aesthetic considerations, physical handicaps, personal preferences, or the disapproval of one's neighbors likewise cannot, as a rule, qualify as an exceptional hardship. All of these problems can be resolved through other means without granting a variance, even if the alternative is more expensive, or requires the property owner to build elsewhere or put the parcel to a different use than originally intended.
HIGHEST ADJACENT GRADE. The highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.
HISTORIC STRUCTURE. Any structure that is:
(1) 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;
(2) 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;
(3) Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior; or
(4) Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:
(a) By an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior or
(b) Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.
LEVEE. A man-made structure, usually an earthen embankment, designed and constructed in accordance with sound engineering practices to contain, control or divert the flow of water in order to reduce the risk from temporary flooding.
LOWEST FLOOR. The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area including the basement. See 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 non-elevation design requirements of this chapter.
MANUFACTURED HOME. A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. For floodplain management purposes, the term “manufactured home” also includes mobile homes as defined in the town's zoning ordinance, park trailers, travel trailers, and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than 180 consecutive days.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION. A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
MARKET VALUE. Replacement cost of a structure less depreciation since construction.
MEAN SEA LEVEL. For purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929, North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988 or other datum, to which Base Flood Elevations shown on the town's Floor Insurance Rate Map are referenced.
NEW CONSTRUCTION. For the purposes of determining insurance rates, structures for which the “start of construction” commenced on or after the effective date of an initial Flood Insurance Rate Map or after December 31, 1974, whichever is later, and includes any subsequent 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 the town and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.
OBSTRUCTION. Including, but not limited to, any dam, wall, wharf, embankment, levee, dike, pile, abutment, protection, excavation, channelization, bridge, conduit, culvert, building, wire, fence, rock, gravel, refuse, fill, structure, vegetation or other material in, along, across or projecting into any watercourse which may alter, impede, retard or change the direction and/or velocity of the flow of water, or due to its location, its propensity to snare or collect debris carried by the flow of water, or its likelihood of being earned downstream.
ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR FLOOD OR 100-YEAR FLOOD. The common name for the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. See BASE FLOOD.
PERSON. Any individual or their agent, a firm, partnership, association, corporation or an agent of the aforementioned groups, or this state or its agencies or political subdivisions.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE. A vehicle which is:
(1) Built on a single chassis;
(2) Four hundred square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;
(3) Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty truck; and
(4) Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.
REGULATORY FLOOD ELEVATION (RFE). An elevation one foot above the Base Flood Elevation.
REGULATORY 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 more than a designated height.
RIVERINE. Relating to, formed by or resembling a river (including tributaries), stream, brook, etc.
SHEETFLOW AREA. See AREA OF SHALLOW FLOODING.
SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA). An area in the floodplain subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. It is shown on an FIRM as Zone A, AO, AE, AH or A99.
START OF CONSTRUCTION. Includes substantial improvement and other proposed new development 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 180 days from the date of permit. 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 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, that is principally above ground, this includes a gas or liquid storage tank or 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 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT. Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement to a structure, the total cost of which equals or exceeds 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:
(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 local code enforcement official 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 structures continued designation as a “historic structure.”
VARIANCE. A grant of relief from the requirements of this ordinance which permits construction or such other uses of property in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this chapter.
VIOLATION. The failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with the town's floodplain management regulations. 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.
WATER SURFACE ELEVATION. The height, in relation to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929, North American Vertical Datum (NAVO) of 1988, or other datum, of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of coastal or riverine areas.
WATERCOURSE. A lake, river, creek, stream, wash, arroyo, 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.
ZONE A. No Base Flood Elevations determined.
ZONE AE. Base Flood Elevations determined.
ZONE AH. Flood depths of one to three feet (usually areas of ponding); Base Flood Elevations determined.
ZONE AO. Flood depths of one to three feet (usually sheet flow on sloping terrain); average depths determined. For areas of alluvial fan flooding, velocities also determined.
ZONE AR. Special Flood Hazard Area formerly protected from the 1% annual chance flood by a flood control system that was subsequently decertified. Zone AR indicates that the former flood control system is being restored to provide protection from the 1% annual chance or greater flood.
ZONE A99. Area to be protected from of 1% annual chance flood by a Federal flood protection system under construction; no Base Flood Elevations determined.
ZONED. Areas in which flood hazards are undetermined, but possible.
ZONE X (unshaded). Areas determined to be outside the 0.2% annual chance floodplain.
ZONE X (shaded). Areas of 0.2% annual chance flood; areas of 1% annual chance flood with average depths of less than one foot or with drainage areas less than one square mile; and areas protected by levees from 1% annual chance flood.
(Ord. 01-2007, passed 9-13-2007; Am. Ord. 02-2019, passed 3-14-2019)