For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE. A non-habitable structure which is on the same parcel of property as the principal structure to be insured and the use of which is incidental to the use of the principal structure.
ACOE. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS. A federal agency providing military and public works services to the United States, including but not limited to the planning, designing, building, and operating of locks, dams, flood control, flood protection, waterway dredging, environmental regulation and ecosystem restoration.
ACT. An Act in relation to the regulation of the rivers, lakes and streams of the state, ILCS Ch. 615, Act 5, §§ 5 et seq.
APPLICANT. Any person, firm, corporation or agency which submits an application.
APPROPRIATE USE. Only uses of the regulatory floodway that are permissible and will be considered for permit issuance. The only uses that will be allowed are as specified in § 152.028.
BASE FLOOD. The flood having a 1% probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The base flood is also known as the 100-year frequency flood event. Application of the base flood elevation at any location is as defined in § 152.004.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE). The highest water surface elevation that can be expected during the base flood in relation to mean sea level. The BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE) is also known as the 100-YEAR FREQUENCY FLOOD ELEVATION. The flood elevation having a 1% probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
BASEMENT. Any area of a building having its floor below ground level on all sides.
BUILDING. 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, mobile home or a prefabricated building. This term also includes recreational vehicles and travel trailers to be installed on a site for more than 180 days.
CHANNEL. Any river, stream, creek, brook, branch, natural or artificial depression, ponded area, flowage, slough, ditch, conduit, culvert, gully, ravine, wash, or natural or man-made drainage way, which has a definite bed and banks or shoreline, in or into which surface or groundwater flows, either perennially or intermittently.
CHANNEL MODIFICATION. Alteration of a channel by changing the physical dimensions or materials of it bed or banks. CHANNEL MODIFICATION includes damming, rip-rapping or other armoring, widening, deepening, straightening, relocating, lining and significant removal of bottom or woody vegetation. CHANNEL MODIFICATION does not include the clearing of dead or dying vegetation, debris, or trash from the channel. CHANNELIZATION. A severe form of channel modification typically involving relocation of the existing channel ( e.g., straightening).
COMPENSATORY STORAGE. An artificially excavated, hydraulically equivalent volume of storage within the SFHA used to balance the loss of natural flood storage capacity when artificial fill or structures are placed within the floodplain. The uncompensated loss of natural floodplain storage can increase off-site floodwater elevations and flows.
CONDITIONAL APPROVAL OF A REGULATORY FLOOD WAY MAP CHANGE. Preconstruction approval by IDNR-OWR and FEMA of a proposed change to the floodway map. This preconstruction approval, pursuant to this part, gives assurances to the property owner that once an appropriate use is constructed according to permitted plans, the floodway map can be changed, as previously agreed, upon review and acceptance of as-built plans.
CONDITIONAL LETTER OF MAP AMENDMENT (CLOMA). A letter from FEMA stating that a proposed structure that is not to be elevated by fill (natural grade) would not be inundated by the base flood if built as proposed.
CONDITIONAL LETTER OF MAP AMENDMENT BASED ON FILL (CLOMR-F). A letter from FEMA stating that a parcel of land or proposed structure that will be elevated by fill would not be inundated by the base flood if fill is placed on the parcel as proposed or the structure is built as proposed.
CONDITIONAL LETTER OF MAP REVISION (CLOMR). A letter from FEMA which indicates that they will revise base flood elevations, flood insurance rate zones, flood boundaries or floodway as shown on an effective Flood Hazard Boundary Map or Flood Insurance Rate Map, once the project is built as proposed and as-built plans are submitted and approved.
CONTROL STRUCTURE. A structure designed to control the rate of flow that passes through the structure, given a specific upstream and downstream water surface elevation.
CRITICAL FACILITY. Any facility which is critical to the health and welfare of the population and, if flooded, would create an added dimension to the disaster. Damage to these critical facilities can impact the delivery of vital services, can cause greater damage to other sectors of the community, or can put special populations at risk. Examples of CRITICAL FACILITIES where flood protection should be required include: emergency services facilities (such as fire and police stations), schools, hospitals, retirement homes and senior care facilities, major roads and bridges, critical utility sites (telephone switching stations or electrical transformers), and hazardous material storage facilities (chemicals, petrochemicals, hazardous or toxic substances). Examples of CRITICAL FACILITIES where flood protection is recommended include: sewage treatment plants, water treatment plants, and pumping stations.
DAM. All obstructions, wall embankments or barriers, together with their abutments and appurtenant works, if any, constructed for the purpose of storing or diverting water or creating a pool. Underground water storage tanks are not included. DAMS may include weirs, restrictive culverts or impoundment structures.
DELEGATED COMMUNITY. A community delegated state permitting authority in the floodway.
DESIGN STANDARDS. The Village of Frankfort Design Standards, Revised June 2007 or as amended from time to time, which shall be utilized in conjunction with other applicable ordinances and guidelines including, but not limited to, the floodplain ordinance, Water Resource Management Plan and zoning ordinance.
DEVELOPMENT.
(1) Any man-made change to real estate, including, but not limited to:
(a) Construction, reconstruction, repair, addition to or replacement of a building or structure.
(b) 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.
(c) Drilling, mining, installing utilities, construction of roads, bridges, or similar projects.
(d) Demolition of a structure or redevelopment of a site.
(e) Clearing of land as an adjunct of construction.
(f) Construction or erection of levees, walls, fences, dams, or culverts; channel modification; filling, dredging, grading, excavating, paving, or other non-agricultural alterations of the ground surface; storage of equipment or materials; deposit of solid or liquid waste.
(g) Any other activity of man that might change the direction, height, or velocity of flood or surface water, including extensive vegetation removal.
(2) DEVELOPMENT does not include maintenance of existing buildings and facilities such as re-roofing or re-surfacing of roads when there is no increase in elevation, or gardening, plowing, cultivation, and similar agricultural practices that do not involve filling, grading, or construction of levees.
ELEVATION CERTIFICATE. A form used by FEMA to certify building elevations, confirm compliance with the village floodplain management ordinance, determine proper insurance premium rates, and to support a request for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or a Letter of Map Revisions based on fill (LOMR-F).
EROSION. The general process whereby soils are moved by flowing water or wave action.
EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS. Organizations which are exempt from this chapter per the ILCS including state, federal or local units of government.
EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOUSING PARK. A manufactured housing park, as defined by the village zoning ordinance, for which the construction of facilities to service the manufactured homes to be affixed or buildings to be constructed (including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is complete before the effective date of the village’s initial floodplain management regulations.
EXPANSION TO AN EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOUSING PARK. The preparation of additional sites, as approved by the village and pursuant the then existing zoning code, by the construction of facilities to service the property upon 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).
FEMA. Federal Emergency Management Agency and its regulations at 44 CFR 59-79. The independent federal agency that, in addition to carrying out other activities, administers the NFIP.
FLOOD. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from overflow of inland or tidal waves, or the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.
FLOOD FREQUENCY. A period of years, based on a statistical analysis, during which a flood of a stated magnitude may be expected to be equaled or exceeded.
FLOOD FRINGE. That portion of the floodplain outside of the regulatory floodway.
FLOOD HAZARD BOUNDARY MAP (FHBM). A map prepared by the FEMA that depicts generalized areas within the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) within a community. These maps have since been replaced by Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) based on a detailed Flood Insurance Study (FIS).
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM). A map prepared by FEMA that depicts the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) within a community. This map includes insurance rate zones and floodplains and may or may not depict floodway.
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY (FIS). An examination, evaluation and determination of flood hazards and if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, adopted and published by FEMA.
FLOODPLAIN. That land typically adjacent to a body of water with ground surface elevations at or below the base flood or the 100-year frequency flood elevation. FLOODPLAINS may also include detached Special Flood Hazard Areas, ponding areas, etc. The FLOODPLAIN is also known as the SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA). The FLOODPLAINS are those lands within the jurisdiction of the village that are subject to inundation by the base flood or 100-year frequency flood. The SFHAs of the village, those parts of unincorporated Will and Cook Counties that lie within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the village, or those parts of unincorporated Will and Cook Counties that may be annexed into the village, are generally identified as such on the Countywide Flood Insurance Rate Map of Will and Cook Counties, Illinois prepared by FEMA for Will County on panel numbers 17197C0195G, 17197C0212G, 17197C0213G, 17197C0214G, 17197C0218G, 17197C0310G, 17197C0326G, 17197C0327G, 17197C0330G, 17197C0331G, and 17197C0335G dated February 15, 2019; and for Cook County on panel numbers 17031 C0781 J and 17031 C0782J dated August 19, 2008, and as amended from time to time.
FLOODPROOF. Any combination of structural and non-structural 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.
FLOODPROOFING CERTIFICATE. A form used to certify that a building has been designed and constructed to be structurally dry floodproofed to the flood protection elevation.
FLOOD PROTECTION ELEVATION (FPE). The elevation of the base flood or 100-year frequency flood plus two feet of freeboard at any given location in the SFHA. Outside of the floodplain limits, the water table or 100-year design water surface elevation of any adjacent stormwater facility, whichever is higher, plus two feet of freeboard.
FLOODPROOF. Any combination of structural and non-structural additions, changes or adjustments to structures of property which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures and their contents.
FLOODPROOFING CERTIFICATE. A form published by FEMA that is used to certify that a building has been designed and constructed to be structurally dry floodproofed to the FPE.
FLOODWAY. The portion of the channel and floodplain needed to store and convey the critical duration 100-year frequency flood discharge with no more than one-tenth foot increase in flood stage due to the loss of flood conveyance or storage, and no more than a 10% increase in velocities.
FREEBOARD. An increment of elevation added to the base flood elevation to provide a factor of safety for uncertainties in calculations, unknown localized conditions, wave actions and unpredictable effects such as those caused by ice or debris jams.
HISTORIC STRUCTURE. Any structure that is:
(1) Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Registrar;
(2) Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;
(3) Individually listed on the state inventory of historic places by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency;
(4) Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places that has been certified by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
HYDRAULICALLY EQUIVALENT COMPENSATORY STORAGE. Compensatory storage either adjacent to the floodplain fill or not located adjacent to the development but can be shown by hydrologic and hydraulic analysis to be equivalent to compensatory storage located adjacent to the development.
HYDROLOGIC AND HYDRAULIC CALCULATIONS. Engineering analysis which determines expected flood flows and flood elevations based on land characteristics and rainfall events.
HYDROLOGICALLY DISTURBED. An area where the land surface has been cleared, grubbed, compacted, or otherwise modified that changes runoff, volumes, rates or direction.
IDNR-OWR. Illinois Department of Natural Resources - Office of Water Resources.
INTERMITTENT STREAM. A stream whose bed intersects the groundwater table for only a portion of the year on the average or any stream which flows continuously for at least one month out of the year but not the entire year.
LETTER OF MAP AMENDMENT (LOMA). Official determination by FEMA that a specific structure or parcel of land would not be inundated by the base flood; amends the effective FHBM or FIRM.
LETTER OF MAP REVISION (LOMR). A letter from FEMA that officially revises the base flood or 100-year frequency flood elevations, flood insurance rate zones, flood boundaries or floodway as shown on an effective FHBM or FIRM.
LOWEST FLOOR. The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). 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 lowest floor provided that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of this chapter.
MANUFACTURED HOME. A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and is designated for use with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. The term manufactured homes also includes park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles placed on site for more than 180 consecutive days.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK or SUBDIVISION. A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
MITIGATION. Includes those measures necessary to minimize the negative effects which floodplain development activities might have on the public health, safety and welfare. Examples of MITIGATION include compensatory storage, soil erosion and sedimentation control, and channel restoration. MITIGATION may also include those activities taken to reduce a structure’s susceptibility to flooding.
NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM (NFIP). A federal program whose requirements are codified in Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
NATURAL. When used in reference to channels means those channels formed by the existing surface topography of the earth prior to changes made by man. A natural stream tends to follow a meandering path; its floodplain is not constrained by levees; the area near the bank has not been cleared, mowed or cultivated; the stream flows over soil and geologic materials typical of the area with no substantial alteration of the course or cross-section of the stream caused by filling or excavating. A modified channel may regain some natural characteristics over time as the channel meanders and vegetation is re-established. Similarly, a modified channel may be restored to more natural conditions by man through regrading and revegetation.
NAVD 88. National American Vertical Datum of 1988, which supersedes the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD).
NET WATERSHED BENEFIT. A finding that, when compared to the existing condition, the developed project will do one of the following: substantially reduce (more than 10%) downstream peak discharges; reduce downstream flood stages (more than one-tenth of a foot'); or reduce downstream damages to structures occurring in the pre-development condition. The demonstration of one of these conditions must be through detailed hydro logic and hydraulic analysis of watersheds on a regional scale.
NEW CONSTRUCTION. Structures and subsequent improvements for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of the floodplain ordinance.
NEW MANUFACTURED HOUSING PARK. A manufactured housing park, as defined by the village zoning ordinance, for which the construction of facilities for servicing the property 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 the village’s initial floodplain management regulations.
NGVD. National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929. Reference surface set by the National Geodetic Survey deduced from a continental adjustment of all existing adjustments in 1929.
NON-RIVERINE. Areas not associated with a stream or river such as isolated depressional storage areas, ponds and lakes.
NPDES II. Mandated by Congress under the Clean Water Act, the NPDES Stormwater Program is a comprehensive two-phased national program for addressing the non-agricultural sources of stormwater discharges which adversely affect the quality of our nation’s waters. The program uses the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting mechanism to require the implementation of controls designed to prevent harmful pollutants from being washed by stormwater runoff into local water bodies.
ORDINARY HIGH WATER MARK (OHWM). The point on the bank or shore up to which the presence and action of surface water is so continuous so as to leave a distinctive mark such as by erosion, destruction or prevention of terrestrial vegetation, predominance of aquatic vegetation or other easily recognized characteristics.
PERENNIAL STREAMS. Riverine watercourses whose thalweg generally intersects the groundwater table elevation sand flows throughout the year.
PUBLIC BODIES OF WATER. All open public streams and lakes capable of being navigated by watercraft, in whole or in part, for commercial uses and purposes, and all lakes, rivers, and streams which in their natural condition were capable of being improved and made navigable, or that are connected with or discharge their waters into navigable lakes or rivers within, or upon the borders of the State of Illinois, together with all bayous, sloughs, backwaters, and submerged lands that are open to the main channel or body of water directly accessible thereto.
PUBLIC FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT. A flood control project which will be operated and maintained by a public agency to reduce flood damages to existing buildings and structures which includes a hydrologic and hydraulic study of the existing and proposed conditions of the watershed. Nothing in this definition shall preclude the design, engineering, construction or financing, in whole or in part, of a flood control project by persons or parties who are not public agencies.
PUBLICLY NAVIGABLE WATERS. All streams and lakes capable of being navigated by watercraft.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE OR TRAVEL TRAILER. As defined by the village zoning ordinance.
REGIONAL PERMIT. Regional permits are offered for pre-approved projects which are considered minor projects that are permissible for IDNR-OWR Part 3708 rules for Northeastern Illinois regulatory floodways. A complete listing of the terms and conditions for specific project types can be obtained from the IDNR-OWR website.
REGISTERED LAND SURVEYOR. A land surveyor registered in the state of Illinois, under the Illinois Land Surveyors Act (ILCS Ch. 225, Act 330, §§ 1 et seq.).
REGISTERED or LICENSED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER. An engineer registered in the State of Illinois, under the Illinois Professional Engineering Act (ILCS Ch. 225, Act 325, §§ 1 et seq.).
REGULATORY FLOODWAY or DESIGNATED FLOODWAY. Those portions of the floodplain depicted on maps as floodway and recognized by the IDNR-OWR for regulatory purposes. The channel, including on-stream lakes, and that portion of the floodplain adjacent to a stream or watercourse as designated by OWR, which is needed to store and convey the existing and anticipated future 100-year frequency flood discharge with no more than a one-tenth foot increase in stage due to the loss of flood conveyance or storage, and no more than a 10% increase in velocities. The regulatory floodway for Hickory Creek, Hickory Creek Tributaries 1, 2, 3, and A, Jackson Creek, Jackson Creek Tributary 2, and Forked Creek, within the village, those parts of unincorporated Will and Cook Counties that are within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the village, or for those parts of unincorporated Will County that may be annexed into the village are designated on the Countywide Flood Insurance Rate Map of Will and Cook Counties, Illinois prepared by FEMA-for Will County on panel numbers 17197C0195G, 17197C0212G, 17197C0213G, 17197C0214G, 17197C0218G, 17197C0310G, 17197C0326G, 17197C0327G, 17197C0330G, 17197C0331G, and 17197C0335G dated February 15, 2019; and for Cook County on panel numbers 17031 C0781 J and 17031 C0782J dated August 19, 2008, and as amended from time to time. To locate the regulatory floodway boundary on any site, the regulatory floodway boundary should be scaled off the regulatory flood way map and located on a site plan, using reference marks common to both maps. Where interpretation is needed to determine the exact location of the regulatory floodway boundary, the IDNR-OWR should be contacted for the interpretation. When two floodway maps exist for a waterway, the more restrictive floodway limit shall prevail.
REGULATORY FLOODPLAIN. The floodplain as depicted on maps recognized by FEMA as defining the limits of the SFHA.
REPAIR, REMODELING, or MAINTENANCE. Development activities which do not result in any increases in the outside dimensions of a building or any changes to the dimensions of a structure.
REPETITIVE LOSS. Flood-related damages sustained by a structure on two separate occasions during a ten-year period for which the cost of repairs at the time of each such flood event, on the average, equals or exceeds 25% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
RETENTION/DETENTION FACILITY. A retention facility stores stormwater runoff without a gravity release. A detention facility provides for storage of stormwater runoff and controlled release of this runoff during and after a flood or storm.
RIVERINE SFHA. Any SFHA subject to flooding from a river, creek, intermittent stream, ditch, on stream lake system or any other identified channel. This term does not include areas subject to flooding from lakes, ponding areas, areas of sheet flow, or other areas not subject to overbank flooding.
RUNOFF. The water derived from melting snow or rain falling on the land surface, flowing over the surface of the ground or collected in channels or conduits.
SEDIMENTATION. The processes that deposit soils, debris, and other materials either on other ground surfaces or in bodies of water or watercourses.
SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA). Any base flood area subject to flooding from a river, creek, intermittent stream, ditch, or any other identified channel, having flood or flood related erosion hazards, or ponding and shown on a Flood Hazard Boundary Map or Flood Insurance Rate Map as Zone A, AO, Al-30, AE, A99, AH, VO, V1-V30, VE, V, M, or E.
START OF CONSTRUCTION. Includes substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition placement, or other improvement was within 180 days of the permit date. The ACTUAL START means either the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a 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 placement of a manufactured home on a foundation.
STATEWIDE PERMITS. Statewide permits are offered for pre-approved projects that are considered minor projects which are permissible per the IDNR-OWR Part 3700 rules. A complete listing of the statewide permits and permit requirements can be obtained from the IDNR-OWR website.
STORMWATER POLLUTION PREVENTION PLAN (SWPPP). A sediment and erosion control plan plus all the construction activities to prevent stormwater contamination and comply with the requirements of the Clean Water Act.
STRUCTURE. The results of a man-made change to the land constructed on or below the ground, including the construction, reconstruction or placement of a building or any addition to a building, roads, signs, billboards, etc.; 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.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cumulative percentage of damage during the life of the building equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred regardless of actual repair work performed. Volunteer labor and materials must be included in this determination. The term includes repetitive loss buildings.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT.
(1) Any repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or improvement of a structure taking place during the life of the building, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value or increases the floor area by more than 20% of the structure either:
(a) Before the improvement or repair is started, or
(b) If the structure has been damaged, and is being restored, before the damage occurred.
(2) SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT is considered to occur when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of the building commences, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure.
(3) This term includes structures which have incurred repetitive loss or substantial damage, regardless of the actual work done.
(4) The term does not, however, include either:
(a) Any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to assure safe living conditions or
(b) Any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the Illinois Register of Historic Places, provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as a historic structure.
THALWEG. A line along the lowest point in a channel.
TRANSITION SECTION. Reaches of the stream or floodway where water flows from a narrow cross-section to a wide cross-section or vice versa.
USABLE SPACE. Space used for dwelling, storage, utilities, or other beneficial purposes, including without limitation basements.
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 elevation certificate, other certifications, or other evidence of compliance is presumed to be in violation until such times as that documentation is provided.
WATERSHED. All land area drained by, or contributing water to, the same stream, lake, stormwater facility, or draining to a point.
(Ord. 3187, passed 1-22-19)