(A) Board of Floodplain Review.
(1) Creation and appointment. A Board of Floodplain Review is hereby established which shall be composed of all the members of the City Council. Members of City Council shall have the right to select a person to fill their position; however, the term of office shall run concurrent with the Councilmember’s term of office and the appointment shall not take effect unless ratified by a majority of the Council. The Mayor, or in his or her absence the Mayor pro tem, shall serve as Chairperson of the Board of Floodplain Review.
(2) Procedure. Meetings of the Board of Floodplain Review shall be held at such times, as the Board shall determine. All meetings of the Board of Floodplain Review shall be open to the public. The Board of Floodplain Review shall adopt rules of procedure and shall keep records of applications and actions thereon, which shall be a public record. The members of the Board shall serve at no additional compensation.
(3) Appeals; how taken. An appeal to the Board of Floodplain Review may be taken by any person, firm or corporation aggrieved or by any governmental officer, department or bureau affected by any decision of the Administrator based in whole or in part upon the provisions of this chapter. The appeal shall be taken by filing with the Board of Floodplain Review a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds thereof. In all cases where an appeal is made by a property owner or other interested party, a fee of $25 or the cost of publishing a notice of the hearings shall be paid by the appellant. The Administrator shall transmit to the Board of Floodplain Review all papers constituting the record upon which the appeal action was taken. The Board of Floodplain Review shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal, give public notice thereof, as well as due notice to parties in interest and decide the same within a reasonable time which shall not be more than ten days from the date of the hearing. At the hearing, any person or party may appear and be hired in person or by agent or by attorney.
(4) Powers. The Board of Floodplain Review shall have the following powers.
(a) Administrative review. To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged by the applicant that there is error in any order, requirement, permit, decision, determination or refusal made by the Administrator or other administrative official in the carrying out or enforcement of any provisions of this chapter.
(b) Variance procedures. In the case of a request for a variance, the following shall apply.
1. The city's Board of Floodplain Review shall hear and decide appeals and requests for variances from the requirements of this chapter.
2. Variances may also be issued for the repair or rehabilitation of historic structures, as defined herein, upon a determination that the proposed repair or rehabilitation will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a historic structure and the variance is the minimum necessary deviation from the requirements of this chapter to preserve the historic character and design of the structure.
3. In passing upon applications, the Board of Floodplain Review shall consider all technical evaluations all relevant factors, all standards specified in other sections of this chapter, and:
a. The danger that materials may be swept onto other property to the injury of others;
b. The danger to life and property due to flooding or erosion;
c. The susceptibility of the proposed facility and its contents to flood damage;
d. The importance of the services provided by the proposed facility to the community;
e. The necessity of the facility to a waterfront location, in the case of a functionally dependent facility;
f. The availability of alternative locations, not subject to flooding or erosion damage, for the proposed use;
g. The relationship of the proposed use to the comprehensive plan and floodplain management program for that area;
h. The safety of access to the property in times of flood for ordinary and emergency vehicles;
i. The expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise and sediment transport of the flood waters and the effects of wave action, if applicable, expected at the site; and
j. The costs of providing governmental services during and after flood conditions including maintenance and repair of public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical and water systems, and streets and bridges.
4. Upon consideration of the factors listed above, and the purposes of this chapter, the Board of Floodplain Review may attach conditions to the granting of variances, as it deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.
5. Variances shall not be issued within any designated floodway if any increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge would result.
(B) Conditions for variances.
(1) Variances shall be issued upon a determination that the variance is the minimum relief necessary, considering the flood hazard and the factors listed in division (A) above.
(2) Variances shall only be issued upon: a showing of good and sufficient cause, a determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship; or a determination that the granting of a variance will not result in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisance, cause fraud on or victimization of the public or conflict with existing local laws or chapters.
(3) Any applicant to whom a variance is granted shall be given written notice that the issuance of a variance to construct a structure below the base flood elevation will result in increased premium rates for flood insurance (as high as $25 for $100 coverage, and that the construction below the base flood elevation increases risks to life and property.
(4) The Administrator shall maintain the records of all appeal actions and report any variances to the Federal Emergency Management Agency upon request.
(1989 Code, § 14-306) (Ord. 1143, passed 9-25-2007; Ord. 1219, passed 6-9-2009; Ord. 1466, passed 3-10-2015)