§ 175-103. Floodplain regulations.
   A.   Flood control. The land subject to flooding and land deemed by the Planning Board to be uninhabitable shall not be platted for residential construction or occupancy, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 58:16A-50 et seq., nor for such other uses as may increase danger to health, life or property or aggravate the flood hazard. However, such land within the plat may be set aside for such uses as will not be endangered by periodic or occasional inundation or will not produce unsatisfactory living conditions.
   B.   The purposes of the following floodplain regulations are to implement the land use rules and regulations promulgated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for floodways and the flood fringe portion of a flood hazard area; to discourage construction and regrading in flood hazard areas; to prevent encroachments into flood hazard areas which would obstruct or constrict the area through which water must pass; and to prevent pollution of watercourses during low- or high-water periods by preventing the placing or storing of unsanitary or dangerous substances in the flood hazard area.
      (1)   A flood hazard design elevation shall be determined on an individual basis based upon stream encroachment line data from the Division of Water Resources or, in the absence of that data, the flood elevation based on a one-hundred-year storm frequency. One or the other shall be delineated on the plat. In addition, the Planning Board Engineer may, upon receipt of the application and with the consent of the landowner and at the landowner's expense, determine the precise location of a floodway and flood fringe area by close inspection, field survey or other appropriate method and cause, if requested, the same to be marked on the ground and on the plat, and notify the owner, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Resources and the approving authority. The assistance of the United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, United States Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Resources, may be sought to aid in delineating the flood hazard design elevation, except that where state or federal agencies shall subsequently publish any reports which delineate the flood hazard design elevation of a watercourse, said report shall be the officially delineated flood hazard area as if said report were published in this chapter.
      (2)   Any lot containing a floodway portion of a drainage course and on which it is proposed to regrade and/or construct an improvement shall not be permitted unless the proposed use is permitted by this chapter, plat approval has been granted and a floodway permit has been issued by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Resources, where required by state regulations.
      (3)   Any lot containing a flood fringe portion of the flood hazard area and on which it is proposed to regrade and/or construct an improvement shall not be permitted unless the proposed use is permitted by this chapter and until plat approval has been granted.
      (4)   Any structure permitted shall be firmly anchored to prevent the structure from floating away and thus threatening life and property.
      (5)   Any structure permitted shall be constructed and placed on the lot so as to offer the minimum obstruction to the flow of water.
      (6)   Structures and fill, if approved, shall be constructed on the lot so as to offer minimum obstruction to the raising of the flood hazard level; no fill material may be brought onto the floodplain. All fill (if approved) must come from the floodplain on the lot. Fill shall consist of soil or rock materials only. Sanitary landfill will not be permitted.
      (7)   No on-site sewage disposal system or septic systems shall be built within the floodplain.
      (8)   The procedure for reviewing any proposed regrading and/or construction shall be the same as set forth for plat review. No application shall be approved and no permit granted until all zoning violations have either been corrected or a variance granted.
      (9)   The applicant shall submit maps, reports and other appropriate documents permitting the approving authority to evaluate whether the proposal has an inherent low flood damage potential; does not obstruct flood flows or increase flood heights and/or velocities; does not affect adversely the water-carrying capacity of any delineated floodway and/or channel; does not increase local runoff and erosion; does not unduly stress the natural environment of the floodplain or degrade the quality of surface water or the quality and quantity of ground waters; does not require channel modification or relocation; does not require fill or the erection of structures; and does not include the storage of equipment and materials.
      (10)   The applicant shall demonstrate compliance with § 175-140, Wetlands, of this chapter.
      (11)   All applications for development in the Town of Hammonton shall conform to the provisions of Chapter 147 of the Code of Ordinances of the Town of Hammonton entitled "Flood Hazard Areas."
[Added 7-25-1988 by Ord. No. 16-1988]