Unless specifically defined below or in section 8-1-2 of this code, certain words or phrases used in this title shall be interpreted as set forth in said section 8-1-2 of this code. Any other terms or words not defined below or in section 8-1-2 of this code shall be interpreted so as to give them the meanings they have in common usage and to give this chapter its most reasonable application. As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section:
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE (APPURTENANT STRUCTURE): A structure on the same lot or parcel as a principal structure, the use of which is incidental and subordinate to the principal structure.
ADDITION (TO AN EXISTING BUILDING): An extension or increase in the floor area or height of a building or structure.
APPEAL: A request to the city council for a review of the floodplain administrator's interpretation of any provision of this chapter.
AREA OF SHALLOW FLOOD HAZARD: A designated AO, AH, AR/AO, or AR/AH zone on a community's flood insurance rate map (FIRM) with a one percent (1%) or greater annual chance of flooding to an average depth of one foot (1') to three feet (3') where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable, and where velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.
AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD: See SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA).
BASE FLOOD: The flood having a one percent (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE): A determination by the federal insurance admininstrator of the water surface elevations of the base flood, that is, the flood level that has a one percent (1%) or greater chance of occurrence in any given year. When the BFE has not been provided in a special flood hazard area, it may be obtained from engineering studies available from a federal, state, or other source using FEMA-approved engineering methodologies. This elevation, when combined with the freeboard, establishes the flood protection elevation.
BASEMENT: Any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.
CRAWL SPACE: The area of a house or structure between the lowest finish floor and the bottom of the foundation excavation enclosed by continuous foundation walls.
CRITICAL FACILITY: Facilities that are vital to flood response activities or critical to the health and safety of the public before, during, and after a flood, such as a hospital, emergency operations center, electric substation, police station, fire station, nursing home, school, vehicle and equipment storage facility, or shelter; and facilities that, if flooded, would make the flood problem and its impacts much worse, such as a hazardous materials facility, power generation facility, water utility, or wastewater treatment plant.
DATUM: The vertical datum is a base measurement point (or set of points) from which all elevations are determined. Historically, that common set of points was the national geodetic vertical datum of 1929 (NGVD29). The vertical datum currently adopted by the federal government as a basis for measuring heights is the north american vertical datum of 1988 (NAVD88).
DEVELOPMENT: Any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, the construction of buildings or other structures, mining dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation, or drilling operations, or storage of equipment or materials.
DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY: Any activity defined as development which will necessitate a floodplain development permit; such as: the construction of buildings, structures, or accessory structures; additions or substantial improvements to existing structures; bulkheads, retaining walls, piers, and pools; the placement of mobile homes; or the deposition or extraction of materials; the construction or elevation of dikes, berms and levees.
DIGITAL FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (DFIRM): The digital official map of a community, issued by the federal emergency management agency, on which both the special flood hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the community are delineated.
ELEVATED BUILDING: For insurance purposes, a non-basement building which has its lowest elevated floor raised above ground level by foundation walls, shear walls, posts, piers, pilings, or columns.
ELEVATION CERTIFICATE: The elevation certificate is an important administrative tool of the NFIP. It is used to determine the proper flood insurance premium rate; it is used to document elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with community floodplain management regulations; and it may be used to support a request for a letter of map amendment (LOMA) or letter of map revision based on fill (LOMR-F).
ENCLOSURE: An area enclosed by solid walls below the BFE/FPE or an area formed when any space below the BFE/FPE is enclosed on all sides by walls or partitions. Insect screening or open wood lattice used to surround space below the BFE/FPE is not considered an enclosure.
ENCROACHMENT: The advance or infringement of uses, fill, excavation, buildings, structures, or development into a floodplain, which may impede or alter the flow capacity of a floodplain.
EXISTING CONSTRUCTION: For the purposes of determining rates, structures for which the "start of construction" commenced before the effective date of the FIRM. "Existing construction" may also be referred to as "existing structures."
EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK or MANUFACTURED HOME SUBDIVISION: A manufactured home park or subdivision where 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 final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed before the effective date of the original floodplain management regulations adopted by the community, November 20, 1974.
EXISTING STRUCTURES: See EXISTING CONSTRUCTION.
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).
FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA): The agency with the overall responsibility of administering the national flood insurance program (NFIP).
FINISHED FLOOR: The finished floor is the first habitable walking surface referenced in the elevation certificate (FEMA form 81-31 sections C2a and C2b) as the top of the next highest floor or the top of a slab on grade floor.
FLOOD or FLOODING:
A. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:
1. The overflow of inland or tidal waters;
2. The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source; or
3. Mudslides (mudflows) which are proximately caused by flooding as defined in division A2 of this definition and are akin to a river of liquid and flowing mud on the surfaces of normally dry land areas, as when earth is carried by a current of water and deposited along the path of the current.
B. The collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in division A1 of this definition.
FLOOD FRINGE: The portion of the floodplain outside of the floodway covered by floodwaters during the regulatory flood.
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM): The official map of a community, issued by the federal insurance administrator which delineates both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the community. A FIRM that has been made available digitally is called a digital flood insurance rate map (DFIRM).
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY (FIS): The examination, evaluation, and determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, or an examination, evaluation and determination of mudslide (mudflow) and/or flood-related hazards.
FLOOD PROTECTION ELEVATION (FPE): The base flood elevation plus the freeboard.
A. In special flood hazard areas where base flood elevations (BFEs) have been determined, this elevation shall be the BFE plus two feet (2') of freeboard; and
B. In special flood hazard areas where no BFE has been established, this elevation shall be at least three feet (3') above the highest adjacent grade.
FLOOD ZONE: A geographical area shown on a flood hazard boundary map (FHBM) or flood insurance rate map (FIRM) that reflects the severity or type of flooding in the area.
FLOODPLAIN or FLOOD-PRONE AREA: The land that has been or may be covered by floodwaters, or is surrounded by floodwater and inaccessible, during the occurrence of the regulatory flood. The riverine floodplain includes the floodway and the flood fringe.
FLOODPLAIN ADMINISTRATOR: The zoning administrator, or an individual designated by the zoning administrator, to administer and implement this chapter in accordance with its provisions.
FLOODPLAIN DEVELOPMENT PERMIT: Any type of permit that is required in conformance with the provisions of this chapter, prior to the commencement of any development activity.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT: The operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damage, including, but not limited to, emergency preparedness plans, flood control works, and floodplain management regulations.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS: Zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as a floodplain ordinance, grading ordinance, and erosion control ordinance), and other applications of police power. The term describes such state or local regulations, in any combination thereof, which provide standards for the purpose of flood damage prevention and reduction.
FLOODPROOFING: Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures and their contents.
FLOODWAY: The channel of a river or other watercourse and adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot (1').
FREEBOARD: A factor of safety usually expressed in feet above a flood level for the purposes of floodplain management. Freeboard tends to compensate for the many unknown factors that could contribute to flood heights greater than the height calculated for a selected size flood and floodway conditions, such as wave action, obstructed bridge openings, debris and ice jams and the hydrologic effects of urbanization in a watershed. The base flood elevation (BFE) plus the freeboard established the flood protection elevation (FPE). FREEBOARD shall be two feet (2').
FUNCTIONALLY DEPENDANT USE: A facility that cannot be used for its intended purpose unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water, such as a docking or port facility necessary for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers, shipbuilding, or ship repair facilities. The term does not include long-term storage, manufacture, sales, or service facilities.
HIGHEST ADJACENT GRADE (HAG): The highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction, adjacent to the proposed walls of a structure. Refer to the FEMA elevation certificate for HAG related to building elevation information.
HISTORIC STRUCTURE: A structure that is:
A. Listed individually in the national register of historic places (a listing maintained by the U.S. department of interior) or preliminarily determined by the secretary of the interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the national register;
B. Certified or preliminarily determined by the secretary of the interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or to a district preliminarily determined by the secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;
C. Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places and determined as eligible by states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the secretary of the interior; or
D. Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places and determined as eligible by communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:
1. By an approved state program as determined by the secretary of the interior, or
2. Directly by the secretary of the interior in states without approved programs.
LETTER OF MAP CHANGE (LOMC): An official FEMA determination, by letter, to amend or revise effective flood insurance rate maps, flood boundary and floodway maps, and flood insurance studies. LOMCs are issued in the following categories:
A. LETTER OF MAP AMENDMENT (LOMA): An official amendment, by letter, to an effective national flood insurance program (NFIP) map. A LOMA establishes a property's or structure's location in relation to the special flood hazard area (SFHA). LOMAs are usually issued because a property or structure has been inadvertently mapped as being in the floodplain but is actually on natural high ground above the base flood elevation.
B. LETTER OF MAP REVISION (LOMR): FEMA's modification to an effective flood insurance rate map (FIRM) or a flood boundary and floodway map (FBFM) or both. LOMRs are generally based on the implementation of physical measures that affect the hydrologic or hydraulic characteristics of a flooding source and thus result in the modification of the existing regulatory floodway, the effective base flood elevations (BFEs), or the special flood hazard area (SFHA). The LOMR officially revises the flood insurance rate map (FIRM) or flood boundary and floodway map (FBFM), and sometimes the flood insurance study (FIS) report, and when appropriate, includes a description of the modifications. The LOMR is generally accompanied by an annotated copy of the affected portions of the FIRM, FBFM, or FIS report.
C. LETTER OF MAP REVISION BASED ON FILL (LOMR-F): FEMA's modification of the special flood hazard area (SFHA) shown on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM) based on the placement of fill outside the existing regulatory floodway. The LOMR-F does not change the FIRM, FBFM, or FIS report.
D. CONDITIONAL LETTER OF MAP REVISION (CLOMR): A formal review and comment as to whether a proposed flood protection project or other project complies with the minimum NFIP requirements for such projects with respect to delineation of special flood hazard areas. A CLOMR does not revise the effective flood insurance rate map (FIRM) or flood insurance study (FIS). Upon submission and approval of certified as-built documentation, a letter of map revision (LOMR) may be issued by FEMA to revise the effective FIRM. Building permits and/or flood development permits cannot be issued based on a CLOMR, because a CLOMR does not change the NFIP map.
LEVEE: A manmade structure, usually an earthen embankment, designed and constructed according to sound engineering practices, to contain, control, or divert the flow of water so as to provide protection from temporary flooding.
LEVEE SYSTEM: A flood protection system that consists of a levee, or levees, and associated structures, such as closure and drainage devices, which are constructed and operated in accordance with sound engineering practices.
LOWEST ADJACENT GRADE (LAG): The lowest point of the ground level next to the structure. Refer to the FEMA elevation certificate for LAG related to building elevation information.
LOWEST FLOOR: The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement or crawl space). An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access or storage, in an area other than a basement area, is not considered a building's lowest floor, provided that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of 44 CFR Part 60.3 and this chapter.
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 connected to the required utilities. For floodplain management purposes, the term "manufactured home" also includes park trailers, travel trailers, and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days. The term "manufactured home" does not include park trailers, travel trailers, and other similar vehicles.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION: A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two (2) or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
MARKET VALUE: The building value, not including the land value and that of any accessory structures or other improvements on the lot. MARKET VALUE may be established by independent certified appraisal; replacement cost depreciated for age of building and quality of construction (actual cash value); or adjusted tax assessed values.
MEAN HIGH WATER MARK: A water level corresponding to the natural or ordinary high water mark and is the line which the water impresses on the soil by covering it for sufficient periods of time to deprive the soil of its terrestrial vegetation and destroy its value for commonly accepted agricultural purposes. The current mean high water mark is at a flow of six thousand five hundred (6,500) cubic feet per second (cfs) along the Boise River. Tributary waters within the city of Eagle will reference specific data establishing the water level. The mean high water mark is established by the U.S. army corps of engineers.
MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT: Electrical, heating, ventilation, plumbing, and air conditioning equipment and other service facilities.
MUDSLIDE (MUDFLOW) AREA MANAGEMENT: The operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing mudslide (mudflow) damage, including but not limited to emergency preparedness plans, mudslide control works, and floodplain management regulations.
MUDSLIDE (MUDFLOW) PRONE AREA: An area with land surfaces and slopes of unconsolidated material where the history, geology, and climate indicate a potential for mudflow.
NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM (NFIP): The NFIP is a federal program created by congress to mitigate future flood losses nationwide through sound, community-enforced building and zoning ordinances and to provide access to affordable, federally backed flood insurance protection for property owners.
NEW CONSTRUCTION: For the purposes of determining insurance rates, structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of an initial FIRM or after November 20, 1974, whichever is later, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures. For floodplain management purposes, new construction means structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of a floodplain management regulation adopted by a community and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.
NEW MANUFACTURED HOME PARK or SUBDIVISION: A place where 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 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.
NO ADVERSE IMPACT: Floodplain management where the action of one property owner does not adversely impact public property or other private property, as measured by increased flood peaks, flood stage, flood velocity, and erosion and sedimentation. No adverse impact floodplain management is a policy which provides a means to promote the use of retention/detention or other techniques to mitigate increased runoff from urban areas.
NONRESIDENTIAL STRUCTURE: A building other than a residential structure. The term includes, but it is limited to: buildings used for places of assembly, education, childcare, business, maintenance, storage, manufacturing, government, hospitals, sanatoriums, and nursing homes.
POST-FIRM: Construction or other development for which the "start of construction" occurred on or after the effective date of the initial flood insurance rate map (FIRM) or after November 20, 1974.
PRE-FIRM: Construction or other development for which the "start of construction" occurred before December 14, 1982, the effective date of the initial flood insurance rate map (FIRM).
REASONABLY SAFE FROM FLOODING: Base floodwaters will not inundate the land or damage structures to be removed from the area of special flood hazard in areas previously included in base flood delineations on the current flood insurance rate map, which shall be certified as reasonably safe from flooding by an applicant's registered professional engineer according to the criteria in FEMA technical bulletin 10-01.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE: A vehicle which is:
A. Built on a single chassis;
B. Four hundred (400) square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projections;
C. Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a vehicle; and
D. Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as a temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use.
REGULATORY FLOODWAY: See FLOODWAY.
REMEDY A VIOLATION: To bring the structure or other development into compliance with state or local floodplain management regulations, or, if this is not possible, to reduce the impacts of its non-compliance. Ways that impacts may be reduced include protecting the structure or other affected development from flood damages, implementing the enforcement provisions of this chapter or otherwise deterring future similar violations, or reducing federal financial exposure with regard to the structure or other development.
REPETITIVE LOSS STRUCTURE: An NFIP-insured structure that has had at least two (2) paid flood losses of more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) each in any ten (10) year period since 1978.
RIPARIAN ZONE: That area along the banks of any waterway twenty five feet (25') in width measured landward from the mean high water mark.
RIVERVINE: Relating to, formed by, or resembling a river (including tributaries), stream, brook, and the like.
SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA): The land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent (1%) or greater chance of flooding in any given year. For purposes of these regulations, the term SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA is synonymous in meaning with the phrase "area of special flood hazard".
START OF CONSTRUCTION: Includes substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, placement or other improvement was within one hundred eighty (180) days of the permit date. The actual start means either the first placement of permanent construction of a structure or site, such as the pouring of slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns; or any work beyond the stage of excavation; or the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling; nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers or foundation. For a substantial improvement, the actual start of construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of a building, whether or not the alteration affects the external dimensions of a building.
STREAM ALTERATION: To obstruct, diminish, destroy, alter, modify, relocate, or change the natural existing shape of the channel or to change the direction of flow of water of any stream channel within or below the mean high water mark. It includes removal of material from the stream channel and emplacement of material or structures in the stream channel.
STRUCTURE: A walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally aboveground, as well as a manufactured home.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE: Damage of any origin sustained by a building whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed forty percent (40%) of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE also means flood-related damage sustained by a structure on two (2) separate occasions during a ten (10) year period for which the cost of repairs at the time of each such flood event, on the average, equals or exceeds twenty percent (20%) of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. See definition of SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT:
Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds forty percent (40%) 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; or
B. Any alteration of a "historic structure", provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a "historic structure" and the alteration is approved by variance issued pursuant to this chapter.
TECHNICAL BULLETINS AND TECHNICAL FACT SHEETS:
A. FEMA publications that provide guidance concerning the building performance standards of the NFIP, which are contained in 44 CFR Part 60.3. The bulletins and fact sheets are intended for use primarily by state and local officials responsible for interpreting and enforcing NFIP regulations and by members of the development community, such as design professionals and builders. New bulletins, as well as updates of existing bulletins, are issued periodically as needed. The bulletins do not create regulations. Rather they provide specific guidance for complying with the minimum requirements of existing NFIP regulations.
B. It should be noted that TECHNICAL BULLETINS AND TECHNICAL FACT SHEETS provide guidance on the minimum requirements of the NFIP regulations. State or community requirements that exceed those of the NFIP take precedence. Design professionals should contact the community officials to determine whether more restrictive state or local regulations apply to the building or site in question. All applicable standards of the state or local building code must also be met for any building in a flood hazard area.
UNNUMBERED "A ZONE": An area shown on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM) as an "A zone" in which base flood depths and a clearly defined channel are not shown.
VARIANCE: A grant of relief from the requirements of this title which permits construction of a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this chapter.
VIOLATION: The failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with the community's floodplain management regulations. A structure or other development without the finished construction elevation certificate, other certifications, or other evidence of compliance required in 44 CFR Parts 60.3(b)(5), (c)(4), (c)(10), (d)(3), (e)(2), (e)(4), or (e)(5) is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.
WATER SURFACE ELEVATION: The height, in relation to the national geodetic vertical datum (NGVD) of 1929 or the north american vertical datum (NAVD) of 1988 (or other specified datum), of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of coastal or riverine areas.
WATERCOURSE: A lake, river, creek, stream, wash, channel, or other topographic feature on or over which waters flow at least periodically. WATERCOURSE includes specifically designated areas in which substantial flood damage may occur.
(Ord. 115, 5-12-1987; amd. Ord. 485, 7-24-2007; Ord. 700A, 3-11-2014; Ord. 815, 7-23-2019)
Next Doc