The following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
1. Accessory Use or Structure – a use or structure on the same lot with, and of a nature customarily incidental and subordinate to, the principal use or structure.
2. Basement – means any area of a structure, including crawl spaces, having its floor or base subgrade (below ground level) on all four sides, regardless of the depth of excavation below ground level.
3. Conditional Use – means a specific type of structure or land use listed in the official control that may be allowed but only after an in-depth review procedure and with appropriate conditions or restrictions as provided in the official zoning controls or building codes and upon a finding that:
(a) Certain conditions as detailed in the zoning ordinance exist.
(b) The structure and/or land use conform to the comprehensive land use plan and are compatible with the existing neighborhood.
4. Equal Degree of Encroachment – a method of determining the location of floodway boundaries so that floodplain lands on both sides of a stream are capable of conveying a proportionate share of flood flows.
5. Flood – a temporary increase in the flow or stage of a stream or in the stage of a wetland or lake that results in the inundation of normally dry areas.
6. Flood Frequency – the frequency for which it is expected that a specific flood state or discharge may be equaled or exceeded.
7. Floor Fringe – that portion of the floodplain outside of the floodway. Flood fringe is synonymous with the term “floodway fringe” used in the Flood Insurance Study for Anoka County.
8. Floodplain – the beds proper and the areas adjoining a wetland, lake or watercourse which have been or hereafter may be covered by the regional flood.
9. Flood Proofing – a combination of structural provisions, changes, or adjustments to properties and structures subject to flooding, primarily for the reduction or elimination of flood damages.
10. Floodway – the bed of a wetland or lake and the channel of a watercourse and those portions of the adjoining floodplain which are reasonably required to carry or store the regional flood discharge.
11. Lowest Floor – the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area, including but not limited to unfinished floors, basement, crawl space, storage space, and garage floor, but excepting allowable flood-proofed spaces identified in Section 7F-450D. of this Ordinance.
12. Manufactured Home – a structure, transportable in one 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 the term “recreational vehicle.”
13. Obstruction – any dam, wall, wharf, embankment, levee, dike, pile, abutment, projection, excavation, channel modification, culvert, building, wire, fence, stockpile, refuse, fill, structure, or matter in, along, across, or projecting into any channel, watercourse, or regulatory floodplain which may impede retard, or change the direction of the flow of water, either in itself or by catching or collecting debris carried by such water.
14. Principal Use of Structure – means all uses or structures that are not accessory uses or structures.
15. Reach – a hydraulic engineering term to describe a longitudinal segment of a stream or river influenced by a natural or man-made obstruction. In an urban area, the segment of a stream or river between two consecutive bridge crossings would most typically constitute a reach.
16. Recreational Vehicle – a vehicle that is built on a single chassis, is 400 square feet or less when measured at the larges projection, is designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck, and is designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use. For the purposes of this Ordinance, the term recreational vehicle shall be synonymous with the term travel trailer/travel vehicle.
17. Regional Flood – a flood which is representative of large floods knows to have occurred generally in Minnesota and reasonably characteristic of what can be expected to occur on an average frequency in the magnitude of the 100-year recurrence interval. Regional flood is synonymous with the term “base flood” used in a fixed insurance study.
18. Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation – the regulatory flood protection elevation shall be an elevation no lower than two feet above the elevation of the regional flood plus any increases in flood elevation caused by encroachments on the floodplain that result from designation of a floodway.
19. Structure – anything constructed or erected on the ground or attached to the ground or on-site utilities, including, but not limited to, buildings, factories, sheds, detached garages, cabins, manufactured homes, recreational vehicles not meeting the exemption criteria specified in Article VII of this Ordinance and other similar items.
20. Substantial Damage – means damage of any origin sustained by a structure where the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
21. Substantial Improvement – within any consecutive 365-day period, any reconstruction, rehabilitation (including normal maintenance and repair), repair after damage, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent 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.
(b) Any alteration of an “historic structure,” provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as an “historic structure.” For the purpose of this Ordinance, “historic structure” shall be as defined in 44 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 59.1.
22. Variance – means a modification of a specific permitted development standard required in an official control including this Ordinance to allow an alternative development standard not stated as acceptable in the official control, but only as applied to a particular property for the purpose of alleviating a practical difficulty as defined and elaborated upon in the City’s planning and zoning enabling legislation.
[§ 7F-200, #22 is amended by Ord. No. 11-04, effective June 30, 2011.]