(A) Statutory authorization. The Indiana Legislature has in I.C. 36-1-4-11 granted the power to local government units to control land use within their jurisdictions. Therefore, the Common Council of the City of Hammond does hereby adopt the following floodplain management regulations.
(B) Findings of fact. The flood hazard areas of the City of Hammond are subject to periodic inundation which results in loss of life and property, health and safety hazards, disruption of commerce and governmental services, extraordinary public expenditures for flood protection and relief, and impairment of the tax base, all of which adversely affect the public health, safety, and general welfare. Additionally, structures that are inadequately elevated, floodproofed, or otherwise protected from flood damage also contribute to the flood loss. In order to minimize the threat of such damages and to achieve the purposes hereinafter set forth, these regulations are adopted.
(C) Statement of purpose. It is the purpose of this chapter to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare and to minimize public and private losses due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed to:
(1) Protect human life and health;
(2) Minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects;
(3) Minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public;
(4) Minimize prolonged business interruptions;
(5) Minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water and gas mains, electric, telephone, and sewer lines, streets, and bridges located in floodplains;
(6) Help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the sound use and development of flood prone areas in such a manner as to minimize flood blight area;
(7) Ensure that those who occupy the areas of special flood hazard assume responsibility for their actions;
(8) Minimize the impact of development on adjacent properties within and near flood prone areas;
(9) Ensure that the flood storage and conveyance functions of the floodplain are maintained;
(10) Minimize the impact of development on the natural, beneficial values of the floodplain;
(11) Prevent floodplain uses that are either hazardous or environmentally incompatible; and
(12) Meet community participation requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
(D) Methods of reducing flood loss. In order to accomplish its purposes, these regulations include methods and provisions for:
(1) Restricting or prohibiting uses which are dangerous to health, safety, and property due to water hazards, or which result in damaging increases in flood heights or velocities;
(2) Requiring that uses vulnerable to floods, including facilities, which serve such uses, be protected against flood damage at the time of initial construction;
(3) Controlling the alteration of natural floodplains, stream channels, and natural protective barriers, which help accommodate or channel floodwaters;
(4) Controlling filling, grading, dredging, excavating, and other development which may increase flood damage; and
(5) Preventing or regulating the construction of flood barriers, which will unnaturally divert floodwaters, or which may increase flood hazards in other areas.
(Ord. 9588, passed 12-27-2022)