(A) No person shall erect, enlarge, construct, relocate, substantially improve, repair, place, alter, move or demolish any building, structure, mobile or modular home or other construction without first obtaining a separate building permit for each such building or structure from the office of the Town Clerk.
(B) No man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate located within a designated “Flood Hazard Area,” including but not limited to building or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations shall be initiated until a separate building permit has been obtained for each such operation from the office of the Town Clerk.
(C) No mobile or modular home shall be placed on improved or unimproved real estate without first obtaining a separate building permit for each mobile home from the office of the Town Clerk.
(D) Ordinary repairs of buildings or structures, the cost of which shall not exceed $500, may be made without obtaining a building permit.
(E) All applications for building permits shall be signed and in writing upon an official blank form supplied by the office of the Town Clerk or the Municipal Building Inspector and shall be submitted to either of said officials, along with the required fee.
(F) Building permit fees shall be as determined by motion of the Town Board of Trustees and shall be based primarily upon the municipal costs incurred in the administration of the municipal building permit system.
(G) The office of the Town Clerk shall be responsible for the administration of the building permit process within the community; provided, that building permit application forms may be obtained from, and submitted to, the Municipal Building Inspector.
(H) Applications for building permits shall contain all applicable information required on the building permit form and shall be accompanied by drawings of the proposed work (drawn to scale), showing floor plans, structural details, computations and such additional information as may be required of the applicant by the office of the Town Clerk, the Municipal Building Inspector, this code of ordinances or the Town Board of Trustees.
(I) Upon receipt of a complete building permit application and the rewired fee, the Town Clerk shall immediately turn the application over to the Municipal Building Inspector, who shall review the application to ensure that:
(1) The involved land is properly zoned for the proposed use;
(2) Applicable zoning district provisions (including Floodway and Floodway Fringe District provisions) have been met;
(3) Roadway access is available;
(4) Adequate and sanitary provisions have been made for utilities;
(5) All easements provided in the recorded plat, if any, are not encroached upon;
(6) All other required municipal permits have been obtained.
(J) Building permit applications for development, location, demolition or alteration within delineated “Flood Hazard Areas” (as shown on the community’s Official Flood Hazard Boundary Map and Flood insurance Rate Map (400274), dated November 1, 1974), which are adopted by reference as if set out fully herein, shall be reviewed by the Municipal Building Inspector to ensure they all of the following requirements are met:
(1) All building sites shall be reasonably safe from flooding; if a proposed building site is in a flood-prone area, all new construction and substantial improvement (including the placement of prefabricated buildings and mobile homes) shall:
(a) Be designed, modified and/or adequately anchored to prevent flotation, collapse or lateral movement of the structure; all mobile homes to be placed within Zone A on a community’s Flood Hazard Boundary Map shall be anchored by providing over-the-top and frame ties to ground anchors; over-the-top ties shall be provided at each of the four corners of the mobile home, with two additional ties per side at intermediate points and mobile homes less than 50 feet long requiring one additional tie per side; frame ties shall be provided at each corner of the home, with five additional ties per side at intermediate points and mobile homes less than 50 feet long requiring four additional ties per side; all components of the anchoring system shall be capable of carrying a force of 4,800 pounds; and additions to the mobile home shall be similarly anchored;
(b) Be constructed with material and utility equipment resistant to food damage; and
(c) Be constructed by methods and practices that minimize flood damages;
(2) All new and replacement water supply systems within flood-prone areas shall be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of flood waters into the systems;
(3) All new and replacement sanitary sewage systems shall be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of flood waters into the systems and discharge from the systems into flood waters;
(4) On-site waste disposal systems within flood-prone areas shall be located to avoid impairment to them or contamination from them during flooding;
(5) The Municipal Building Inspector shall utilize all available 100-year flood elevation data to review building permit applications and shall require that all applications for development within a flood-prone area be accompanied by:
(a) The elevation of the lowest habitable floor (including basement) of all new or substantially improved structures; and
(b) A certificate signed by a registered professional engineer or architect stating that the flood-proofing methods to be utilized are adequate to withstand the flood depths, pressures, velocities, impact and uplift forces an other factors associated with the 100-year flood and indicating the specific elevation to which the structure will be flood-proofed;
(6) All new construction or substantial improvement of residential structures within Zones A1-30 (on the community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map) shall have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated one foot above the level of the 100-year flood;
(7) Within Zones A1-30 (on the community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map), all mobile homes not in a mobile home park or mobile home subdivisions, all expansions to existing mobile home parks and mobile home subdivisions and all repairs, reconstruction or improvement of streets, utilities and/or pads in existing mobile home parks or mobile home subdivisions shall be located, developed, expanded or improved according to the following criteria:
(a) All mobile homes shall be placed, or be capable of being placed, on compacted fill or on pilings so that the lowest floor of the mobile home will be one foot above the level of the 100-year flood;
(b) All lots shall have adequate provisions for surface drainage and access; and
(c) All mobile homes to be elevated on pilings shall:
1. Be placed on lots large enough to permit steps;
2. Provide for piling foundations to be placed in stable or stabilized soils, no more than ten feet apart; and
3. Provide for reinforcement of piers more than six feet above around level;
(8) All new construction or substantial improvement of residential structures located within any AO (Area of Shallow Flooding) Zone (as shown on the community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map) shall have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated above the crown of the nearest street, one foot above the depth number specified for the area on the community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map;
(9) All new construction or substantial improvement of nonresidential strictures within Zones A1-30 (on the community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map) shall:
(a) Have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated one foot above the level of the 100-year flood; or
(b) Be designed, together with attendant utility and sanitary facilities, so that, below the level of the 100-year flood, the structure is watertight, with walls and substantially impermeable to the passage of water and contains structural components capable of resisting hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and the effects of buoyancy;
(10) All new construction or substantial improvement of nonresidential structures within any AO (Area of Shallow Flooding) Zone (on the community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map) shall:
(a) Have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated above the crown of the nearest street, one foot above the depth number specified on the community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map; or
(b) Be completely flood-proofed, along with attendant utility and sanitary facilities to one foot above the depth number specified on the community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map, so that any space below that level is watertight, with walls substantially impermeable to the passage of water and containing structural components capable of resisting hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and the effects of buoyancy;
(11) The requirements of this chapter shall also be in effect for building permit applications located within any A99 Zones on the community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map;
(12) Floodways, as designated on the town’s Official Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM) are hazardous areas due to:
(a) The velocity of flood waters which carry debris and potentially damaging projectiles; and
(b) The creation of severe erosion problems; the following provisions apply within designated floodway areas:
1. Encroachments are prohibited, including fill, new construction, substantial improvements and other developments, unless certification by a professional registered engineer or architect is provided, demonstrating that encroachments shall not result in any increase in flood levels during occurrence of the base flood discharge;
2. If the provisions of subsection 1. are satisfied, all new construction and substantial improvements shall comply with all applicable flood hazard reduction provisions of this code of ordinances;
3. The placement of any mobile homes, except in an existing mobile home park or subdivision shall be prohibited.
(K) The Municipal Building Inspector shall have the following additional responsibilities in the review of building permit applications for development, location, demolition or alteration within a delineated “Flood hazard Area.”
(1) Building permit applications shall be reviewed to ensure that all necessary governmental agency permits required by state or federal law have been obtained.
(2) In the case of building permit applications for alteration or relocation of a watercourse, the Municipal Building Inspector shall:
(a) Notify adjacent communities and the State Flood Insurance Coordinating Office prior to such work (and submit copies of such notification to the Federal Mood Insurance Administrator); and
(b) Obtain written assurances from the building permit applicant that the flood-carrying capacity within the altered or relocated portion of the water course will be maintained.
(3) For the purpose of determining flood insurance risk premium rates, the Municipal Building Inspector shall maintain records of:
(a) The elevation of the lowest habitable floor of all new or substantially improved structures;
(b) Flood-proofing certificates (including the specific elevation to which the structure is flood-proofed).
(L) Issuance of a building permit for development within an identified “Flood Hazard Area” shall not create liability on the part of any municipal official for any flood damages resulting from reliance upon the provisions of this section or any administrative decision lawfully made thereunder.
(M) If the Municipal Building Inspector is satisfied that the proposed work described in the application and attached materials conform to the requirements of the adopted zoning ordinance, Building Code and other regulations and requirements, he or she shall authorize the issuance of the building permit by signing the application and forwarding it to the Town Clerk, who shall return a copy to the applicant.
(N) If the application or attached materials do not conform to pertinent municipal regulations, the Municipal Building Inspector shall not approve the application, but shall return the application to the Town Clerk, along with written reason(s) for disapproval. The Town Clerk shall return the application, with written reason(s) attached to the applicant. The applicant may subsequently amend his or her application, if possible, and resubmit or initiate other action to correct the deficiencies.
(O) The Municipal Building Inspector and the office of the Town Clerk shall complete all required review processes in an efficient and effective manner, without unreasonable or unnecessary delay.
(P) A building permit, once approved and issued, shall be construed as a license to proceed with the work and shall not be construed as authority to violate, cancel, alter or set aside any municipal regulations, nor shall such issuance prevent the Municipal Building Inspector from thereafter requiring a correction of errors in plans, construction or a violation of this chapter.
(Q) If the work allowed under an issued building permit has not been initiated within six months from the issuance date of said permit, the permit shall become null and void, unless a request for an extension is submitted to and approved by the Town Board of Trustees. If the permit becomes null and void, a new permit must be obtained and the regular fee incident thereto collected in order for the work to be initiated or resumed.
(R) The Municipal Building Inspector shall keep a permanent and accurate accounting of all building permits and shall transmit copies of each permit issued to the Chairperson of the Municipal Planning Commission for information purposes. The Town Clerk shall keep a permanent and accurate record of all building permit fee payments.
(S) The Town Clerk may revoke a building permit in case there has been any false statement or misrepresentation as to a material fact in the application or attached materials on which the building permit approval was based.
(T) Building permits shall be conspicuously displayed on the project or site in a manner visible from the street.
(U) The Town Clerk and the Municipal Building Inspector shall monitor municipal utility hook-up requests and shall not allow municipal utilities to be turned on to any unit, structure or project for which a building permit has not been issued.
(V) Appeals from any aggrieved person concerning a decision of the Town Clerk relative to the granting of building permits shall be taken to the Town Board of Trustees, who shall act as the Permit Board of Appeals for the town.
(W) In the event of any conflict between these building permit provisions delineated herein and any provision(s) of the Building Code adopted by the Town Board of Trustees, the provisions of this chapter shall prevail.
(`85 Code, § 4-15)