(A) Designation of the Floodplain Administrator. The City Manager shall designate a Floodplain Administrator. The Floodplain Administrator shall have completed either a one-day Floodplain Administrator training course or possess a Floodplain Manager certification to administer and implement the provisions of this chapter.
(B) Duties and responsibilities of the Floodplain Administrator. Duties and responsibilities of the Floodplain Administrator shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) Maintain and hold open for public inspection all records pertaining to the provisions of this chapter;
(2) Review permit application to determine whether proposed building site, including the placement of manufactured homes, will be reasonably safe from flooding;
(3) Review, approve, or deny all applications for development permits required by adoption of this chapter;
(4) Review permits for proposed development to assure that all necessary permits have been obtained from those federal, state, or local governmental agencies (including § 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 33 U.S.C. § 1344) from which prior approval are required;
(5) Where interpretation is needed as to the exact location of the boundaries of the areas of special flood hazards (for example, where there appears to be a conflict between a mapped boundary and actual field conditions), the Floodplain Administrator shall make the necessary interpretation;
(6) Notify, in riverine situations, adjacent communities and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, prior to any alteration or relocation of a watercourse, and submit evidence of such notification to the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
(7) Assure that the flood carrying capacity within the altered or relocated portion of any watercourse is maintained;
(8) When base flood elevation data has not been provided in accordance with § 151.03(B) of this chapter, the Floodplain Administrator shall obtain, review, and reasonably utilize any base flood elevation data and floodway data available from a federal, state, or other source, in order to administer the provisions of § 151.05 of this chapter;
(9) When a regulatory floodway has not been designated, the city’s Floodplain Administrator must require that no new construction, substantial improvements, or other development (including fill) shall be permitted within Zones A and AE on the County FIRM, unless it is demonstrated that the cumulative effect of the proposed development, when combined with all other existing and anticipated development, will not increase the water surface elevation of the base flood more than one foot at any point within the city;
(10) Under the provisions of 44 C.F.R. Chapter 1, § 65.12, of the National Flood Insurance Program regulations, the city may approve certain development in Zones A or AE on the community’s FIRM which increases the water surface elevation of the base flood by more than one foot, provided that the city first applies for a conditional FIRM revision through FEMA (conditional letter of map revision);
(11) Become accredited by the Board in accordance with 82 O.S. §§ 1601 through 1618, as amended; and
(12) After a disaster or other type of damage occurrence to structures in the city, determine if the residential and non-residential structures and manufactured homes have been substantially damaged and enforce the substantial improvement requirement.
(C) Permit procedures.
(1) Application for a development permit shall be presented to the Floodplain Administrator on forms furnished by him or her and may include, but not be limited to, plans in duplicate drawn to scale showing the location, dimensions, and elevation of proposed landscape alterations, existing and proposed structures, including the placement of manufactured homes, and the location of the foregoing in relation to areas of special flood hazard. Additionally, the following information is required:
(a) Elevation (in relation to mean sea level), of the lowest floor (including basement) of all new and substantially improved structures;
(b) Elevation in relation to mean sea level to which any nonresidential structure shall be floodproofed;
(c) A certificate from a registered professional engineer or architect that the nonresidential floodproofed structure shall meet the floodproofing criteria of § 151.05(B)(2) of this chapter;
(d) Description of the extent to which any watercourse or natural drainage will be altered or relocated as a result of proposed development; and
(e) Maintain a record of all such information in accordance with division (B)(1) above.
(2) Approval or denial of a development permit by the Floodplain Administrator shall be based on all of the provisions of this chapter and the following relevant factors:
(a) The danger to life and property due to flooding or erosion damage;
(b) The susceptibility of the proposed facility and its contents to flood damage and the effect of such damage on the individual owner;
(c) The danger that materials may be swept onto other lands to the injury of others;
(d) The compatibility of the proposed use with existing and anticipated development;
(e) The safety of access to the property in times of flood for ordinary and emergency vehicles;
(f) The costs of providing governmental services during and after flood conditions including maintenance and repair of streets and bridges, and public utilities and facilities, such as sewer, gas, electrical, and water systems;
(g) 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;
(h) The necessity to the facility of a waterfront location, where applicable;
(i) The availability of alternative locations, not subject to flooding or erosion damage, for the proposed use;
(j) The relationship of the proposed use to the Comprehensive Plan for that area; and
(k) Compensatory storage as to the expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise, and sediment transport of the flood waters within a floodway, floodplain, or any other location that may have expected flood waters.
(D) Variances.
(1) General provisions.
(a) The Floodplain Board may grant variances for uses which do not satisfy the requirements of the Oklahoma Floodplain Management Act or these regulations, if the applicant for the variance presents adequate proof that compliance with these regulations will result in an arbitrary and unreasonable taking of property without sufficient benefit or advantage to the people; and satisfies the pertinent provisions of this division (D). However, provided no variance shall be granted where the effect of the variance will be to permit the continuance of a condition which unreasonably creates flooding hazards.
(b) Any variance so granted shall not be construed as to relieve any person who receives it from any liability imposed by the Oklahoma Floodplain Management Act or by other laws of the state.
(c) In no case shall variances be effective for a period longer than 20 years.
(d) Any person seeking a variance shall file a petition with the city, accompanied by a filing fee.
(e) Variances may be issued for new construction and substantial improvements to be erected on a lot of one-half acre or less in size contiguous to and surrounded by lots with existing structures constructed below the base flood level, providing the relevant factors in division (C)(2) above and provisions of division (D) below have been fully considered. As the lot size increases beyond the one-half acre, the technical justification required for issuing the variance increases.
(f) Any person seeking a variance to build a structure below the base flood elevation will be issued a notice signed by the Floodplain Administrator which states that the cost of flood insurance will be commensurate with the increased risk resulting from permitting the structure to be built lower than the base flood elevation; and such construction below the base flood level increases risks to life and property.
(g) At such time as the Floodplain Administrator deems the petition ready for notification to the public, the Floodplain Administrator shall schedule a hearing and direct the applicant to publish notice thereof in a newspaper of general circulation in the county and a newspaper of general circulation in the county at least 30 days prior to the hearing.
(h) The Floodplain Administrator shall conduct the hearing and make determinations in accordance with the applicable provisions of this division (D). The Floodplain Administrator shall exercise wide discretion in weighing the equities involved and the advantages and disadvantages to the applicant and to the public at large when determining whether the variance shall be granted.
(i) Variances shall only be issued upon:
1. A showing of good and sufficient cause;
2. A determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant;
3. A determination that the granting of a variance will not result in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisances, cause fraud on or victimization of the public, or conflict with existing local laws, regulations, or ordinances; and
4. A determination that the variance is the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief.
(j) Upon consideration of the factors stated in this division (D) and the intent of these regulations, the Floodplain Administrator may attach such conditions to the granting of a variance as it deems necessary to further the purposes and objectives stated in § 151.01(C) of this chapter.
(k) The Floodplain Administrator shall maintain a record of all variance actions, including justification for their issuance; and a copy of any variance issued by the city shall be sent by the Floodplain Administrator to the OWRB and FEMA within 15 days after issuance of the variance.
(2) Special provisions.
(a) Variances may be issued for the reconstruction, rehabilitation, or restoration of structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the State Inventory of Historic Places, without regard to the procedures set forth in the remainder of these regulations.
(b) Variances shall not be issued within any designated floodway if any increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge would result.
(c) Variances may be issued for the repair or rehabilitation of historic structures 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 to preserve the historic character and design of the structure.
(d) Variances may be issued for new construction and substantial improvements and for other development necessary for the conduct of a functionally dependent use provided that:
1. The criteria of divisions (D)(1)(e), (D)(1)(i), (D)(2)(b), and (D)(2)(c) above are met; and
2. The structure or other development is protected by methods that minimize flood damages during the base flood and create no additional threats to public safety.
(Prior Code, § 151.04) (Ord. 1622, passed 8-11-2009; Ord. 1703, passed 11-12-2013)