Located within SFHAs, established in Section 8.07, are areas designated as floodways. The floodway is an extremely hazardous area due to the velocity of floodwaters, which carry debris, potential projectiles, and has erosion potential. If the site is in an identified floodway, the Floodplain Administrator shall require the applicant to forward the application, along with all pertinent plans and specifications, to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, and apply for a permit for construction in a floodway. Under the provisions of I.C. 14-28-1, a permit for construction in a floodway from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources is required prior to the issuance of a local building permit for any excavation, deposit, construction, or obstruction activity located in the floodway. This includes land preparation activities, such as filling, grading, clearing and paving etc., undertaken before the actual start of construction of the structure. However, it does exclude non-substantial additions/improvements to existing (lawful) residences in a non-boundary river floodway. (I.C. 14-28-1-26 allows construction of a non-substantial addition/improvement to a residence in a non-boundary river floodway without obtaining a permit for construction in the floodway from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Please note that if fill is needed to elevate an addition above the existing grade, prior approval for the fill is required from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.)
No action shall be taken by the Floodplain Administrator until a permit or letter or authorization (when applicable) has been issued by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, granting approval for construction in the floodway. Once a permit for construction in a floodway has been issued by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Floodplain Administrator may issue the local floodplain development permit, provided the provisions contained in Provisions for Flood Hazard Reduction (Sections 8.18 through 8.25) of this ordinance have been met. The floodplain development permit cannot be less restrictive than the permit for construction in a floodway issued by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. However, a community’s more restrictive regulations (if any) shall take precedence.
No development shall be allowed that, acting alone or in combination with existing or future development, will adversely affect the efficiency of, or unduly restrict the capacity of the floodway. This adverse affect is defined as an increase in the elevation of the regulatory flood by at least fifteen-hundredths (0.15) of a foot, as determined by comparing the regulatory flood elevation under the project condition, to that under the natural or pre-floodway condition, as proven with hydraulic analyses.
For all projects involving channel modifications or fill (including levees) the city shall submit the data and request that the Federal Emergency Management Agency revise the regulatory flood data per mapping standard regulations found in 44 C.F.R. § 65.12.
(Ord. 2012-16, passed 6-26-2012; Am. Ord. 2015-10, passed 3-24-2015; Am. Ord. 2015-11, passed 3-24-2015)