For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions are adopted:
BUILDING. See STRUCTURE.
DEVELOPMENT. Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate including but not limited to:
(1) Construction, reconstruction, or placement of a building or any addition to a building valued at more than $1,000;
(2) Installing a manufactured home on a site, preparing a site for a manufactured home or installing a travel trailer on a site for more than 180 days;
(3) Installing utilities, erection of walls and fences, construction of roads, or similar projects;
(4) Construction of flood control structures such as levees, dikes, channel improvements, and the like;
(5) Mining, dredging, filling, grading, excavation, or drilling operations;
(6) Construction and/or reconstruction of bridges or culverts;
(7) Storage of materials; or
(8) Any other activity that might change the direction, height, or velocity of flood or surface waters.
DEVELOPMENT does not include activities such as the maintenance of existing buildings and facilities such as painting, re-roofing; resurfacing roads; or gardening, plowing, and similar agricultural practices that do not involve filling, grading, excavation, or the construction of permanent buildings.
EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION. A manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed before the effective date of the floodplain management regulations adopted by a community.
EXPANSION TO AN EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION. The preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads).
FHBM. Flood Hazard Boundary Map.
FIRM. Flood Insurance Rate Map.
FLOOD. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow, the unusual and rapid accumulation, or the runoff of surface waters from any source.
FLOODPLAIN. The channel proper and the areas adjoining any wetland, lake or watercourse which have been or hereafter may be covered by the regulatory flood. The floodplain includes both the floodway and the floodway fringe districts.
FLOOD PROTECTION GRADE or the FPG. The elevation of the regulatory flood plus two feet at any given location in the SFHA.
FLOODWAY. The channel of a river or stream and those portions of the flood plains adjoining the channel which are reasonably required to efficiently carry and discharge the peak flood flow of the regulatory flood of any river or stream.
FLOODWAY FRINGE. Those portions of the flood hazard areas lying outside the floodway.
LOWEST FLOOR. The top of the lowest of the following:
(1) The basement floor;
(2) The garage floor, if the garage is the lowest level of the building;
(3) The first floor of buildings elevated on pilings or constructed on a crawl space with permanent openings; or
(4) The floor level of any enclosure below an elevated building where the walls of the enclosure provide any resistance to the flow of flood waters unless:
(a) The walls are designed to automatically equalize the hydrostatic flood forces on the walls by allowing for the entry and exit of flood waters, through providing a minimum of two openings (in addition to doorways and windows) having a total area of one square foot for every two square feet of enclosed area subject to flooding. The bottom of all such openings shall be no higher than one foot above grade.
(b) Such enclosed space shall be usable for non-residential purposes and building access.
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 a recreational vehicle.
NEW MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION. A manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed on or after the effective date of floodplain management regulations adopted by a community.
RECREATION VEHICLE. A vehicle which is built on a single chassis; 400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projections; designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling, but as temporary living quarters for recreational camping, travel, or seasonal use.
REGULATORY FLOOD. The flood having a one percent probability of being equalled or exceeded in any given year, as calculated by a method and procedure which is acceptable to and approved by the Indiana Natural Resources Commission. The regulatory flood elevation at any location is as defined in § 154.05 of this chapter. The REGULATORY FLOOD is also known by the term BASE FLOOD.
SFHA or SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA. Those lands within the jurisdiction of the county that are subject to inundation by the regulatory flood. The SFHAs of the county are generally identified as such on the Flood Insurance Rate Map of the county prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and dated September 1, 1988.
STRUCTURE. A structure that is principally above ground and is enclosed by walls and a roof. The term includes a gas or liquid storage tank, a manufactured home, or a prefabricated building. The term also includes recreational vehicles and travel trailers to be installed on a site for more than 180 days.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT. Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the 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 include improvements of structures to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary, or safety code requirements or any alteration of a “historic structure,” provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a “historic structure.”
(Ord. 3140, passed 5-3-93)