(a) If the Planning Commission finds that land proposed to be subdivided is unsuitable for subdivision development due to flooding, bad drainage, topography, high shrink and swell soils and subject to soil slips, inadequate water supplies, schools, transportation facilities, and other such conditions which would endanger health, life, and property; and if, from investigations conducted by the public agencies concerned, it is determined that in the best interest of the public the land should not be developed for the purpose proposed, the Commission shall not approve the land for subdivision unless adequate methods are advanced by the subdivider for solving the problems that will be created by the development of this land.
(b) Land subject to flooding, land with excessive slope, and land deemed by the Planning Commission to be undesirable for development shall not be platted for residential occupancy, nor for such other purposes as may involve danger to health, life, or property or to aggravate erosion or flood hazard Such land shall be set aside for compatible uses.
(c) The following rules shall apply to all subdivisions and planned unit developments:
(1) All proposals for subdivisions and planned unit developments, including those for manufactured home subdivisions, shall be consistent with the need to minimize flood damage;
(2) All proposals for subdivisions and planned unit developments, including those for manufactured home subdivisions, shall have public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical, and water systems located and constructed to minimize flood damage;
(3) All proposals for subdivisions and planned unit developments, including those for manufactured home subdivisions, shall have adequate drainage provided to reduce exposure to flood damage; and
(4) All proposals for subdivisions and planned unit developments, including those for manufactured home subdivisions, and all proposals for other developments that contain at least 50 lots or five acres (whichever is less), whether or not subdivision is involved, shall include base flood elevation data.
(5) All proposals for residential subdivisions and planned unit developments, including those for manufactured home subdivisions, shall include provisions for a buildable area on each lot to be elevated (naturally or by means of fill) to the base flood level prior to sale of the lot.
(d) "Land subject to flooding" is defined as that land covered with water by a 100 year flood. The 100 year flood is that which has one percent chance of occurring in a given location in a single year.
(e) The regulatory flood or 100 year flood is divided into three basic parts:
(1) The channel. A natural or artificial watercourse that confines and conducts sustained or intermittent stream flow.
(2) The floodway. The channel and those parts of the adjoining flood plain that reasonably are required to carry and discharge the 100 year flood without a substantial increase in stage.
(3) The floodway fringe. The area within the regulatory flood plain that is outside the floodway. The floodway fringe primarily serves as a backwater storage area.
(f) Land described under division (e)(1) and (2) of this section shall be considered as undesirable for development. Land described under division (e)(3) of this section may be considered by the Planning Commission for approval as a possible development area if properly filled.
(Ord. 12-02. Passed 7-8-02.)