Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this chapter shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage and to give this chapter its most reasonable application.
1. “Appurtenant structure” means a structure which is on the same parcel of the property as the principal structure to be insured and the use of which is incidental to the use of the principal structure.
2. “Base flood” means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. (See “100-year flood.”)
3. “Base flood elevation” means the elevation floodwaters would reach at a particular site during the occurrence of a base flood event.
4. “Basement” means any enclosed area of a building which has its floor or lowest level below ground level (subgrade) on all sides. Also see “lowest floor.”
5. “Development” means any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations. Development does not include minor projects or routine maintenance of existing buildings and facilities as defined in this section. It also does not include gardening, plowing, and similar practices that do not involve grading.
6. “Existing construction” means any structure for which the start of construction commenced before the effective date of the community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map, and may also be referred to as “existing structure.”
7. “Existing factory-built home park or subdivision” means a factory-built home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the factory-built 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) was completed before the effective date of these flood plain management regulations.
8. “Expansion of existing factory-built home park or subdivision” means the preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the factory-built 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).
9. “Factory-built home” means any structure designed for residential use which is wholly or in substantial part made, fabricated, formed or assembled in manufacturing facilities for installation or assembly and installation on a building site. For the purpose of this chapter, factory-built homes include mobile homes, manufactured homes and modular homes and also includes “recreational vehicles” which are placed on a site for greater than 180 consecutive days and not fully licensed for and ready for highway use.
10. “Factory-built home park” means a parcel or contiguous parcels of land divided into two or more factory-built home lots for sale or lease.
11. “Flood” means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas resulting from the overflow of streams or rivers or from the unusual and rapid runoff of surface waters from any source.
12. “Flood elevation” means the elevation floodwaters would reach at a particular site during the occurrence of a specific flood. For instance, the 100-year flood elevation is the elevation of floodwaters related to the occurrence of the 100-year flood.
13. “Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)” means the official map prepared as part of (but published separately from) the Flood Insurance Study which delineates both the flood hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.
14. “Flood Insurance Study” means an examination, evaluation and determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations.
15. “Flood plain” means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water as a result of a flood.
16. “Flood plain management” means an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damages and promoting the wise use of flood plains, including but not limited to emergency preparedness plans, flood control works, floodproofing and flood plain management regulations.
17. “Floodproofing” means any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures, including utility and sanitary facilities which will reduce or eliminate flood damage to such structures.
18. “Floodway” means the channel of a river or stream and those portions of the flood plains adjoining the channel, which are reasonably required to carry and discharge flood waters or flood flows so that confinement of flood flows to the floodway area will not cumulatively increase the water surface elevation of the base flood by more than one foot.
19. “Floodway fringe” means those portions of the Special Flood Hazard Area outside of the floodway.
20. “Highest adjacent grade” means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed wall of a structure.
21. “Historic structure” means any structure that is:
A. Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places, maintained by the Department of Interior, or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing in the National Register;
B. Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;
C. Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior; or
D. Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified by either: (i) an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior; or (ii) directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.
22. “Lowest floor” means the floor of the lowest enclosed area in a building including a basement except when all the following criteria are met:
A. The enclosed area is designed to flood to equalize hydrostatic pressure during floods with walls or openings that satisfy the provisions of Section 161.14(4)(A); and
B. The enclosed area is unfinished (not carpeted, drywalled, etc.) and used solely for low damage potential uses such as building access, parking or storage; and
C. Machinery and service facilities (e.g., hot water heater, furnace, electrical service) contained in the enclosed area are located at least one foot above the 100-year flood level; and
D. The enclosed area is not a basement, as defined in this section.
In cases where the lowest enclosed area satisfies criteria A, B, C and D above, the lowest floor is the floor of the next highest enclosed area that does not satisfy the criteria above.
23. “Maximum damage potential development” means hospital and like institutions; buildings or building complexes containing documents, data, or instruments of great public value; buildings or building complexes containing materials dangerous to the public or fuel storage facilities; power installations needed in emergency or other buildings or building complexes similar in nature or use.
24. “Minor projects” means small development activities, except for filling, grading, and excavating valued at less than $500.00.
25. “New construction” (new buildings, factory-built home parks) means those structures or development for which the start of construction commenced on or after July 7, 1987.
26. “New factory-built home park or subdivision” means a factory-built home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the factory-built 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 these flood plain management regulations.
27. “Official Flood Plain Zoning Map” means the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) for Linn County and Incorporated Areas, City of Hiawatha, Panels 19113C0279E, 0280E, 0283E, 0287E, 0291E, dated July 20, 2021, which were prepared as part of the Flood Insurance Study for Linn County.
28. “Principally above ground” means at least 51 percent of the actual cash value of the structure, less land value, is above ground.
29. “Recreational vehicle” means a vehicle which is:
A. Built on a single chassis;
B. Four hundred (400) square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;
C. Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and
D. Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as a temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.
30. “Routine maintenance of existing structures” means repairs necessary to keep a structure in a safe and habitable condition that do not trigger a building permit, provided they are not associated with a general improvement of the structure or repair of a damaged structure. Such repairs include:
A. Normal maintenance of structures such as re-roofing, replacing roofing tiles and replacing siding;
B. Exterior and interior painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, counter tops and similar finish work;
C. Basement sealing;
D. Repairing or replacing damaged or broken window panes;
E. Repairing plumbing systems, electrical systems, heating or air conditioning systems and repairing wells or septic systems.
31. “Special flood hazard area” means the land within a community subject to the base flood. This land is identified as Zone A, A1-30, AE, AH, AO, AR, and/or A99 on the community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map.
32. “Start of construction” includes substantial improvement, and means the date the development 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 pouring of a slab or footings, the installation of pile, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation; or the placement of a factory-built home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling; nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers, or foundations or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure. For a substantial improvement, the actual start of construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of the building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.
33. “Structure” means anything constructed or erected on the ground or attached to the ground, including, but not limited to, buildings, factories, sheds, cabins, factory-built homes, storage tanks, grain storage facilities and other similar uses.
34. “Substantial damage” means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damage condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. Volunteer labor and donated materials shall be included in the estimated cost of repair. Substantial damage also includes flood-related damage sustained by a structure on two separate occasions during a ten-year period for which the cost of repairs at the time of such flood event, on the average, equals or exceeds 25 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
35. “Substantial improvement” means any improvement to a structure which satisfies any of the following criteria:
A. Any repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure taking place during a 10-year period, the cumulative cost of which, equals or exceeds fifty (50) percent of the market value of the structure either (i) before the “start of construction” of the first improvement of the structure, or (ii) if the structure has been “substantially damaged” and is being restored, before the damage occurred. The term does not, however, include 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 conditions for the existing use. The term also does not include any alteration of a historic structure, provided the alteration will not preclude the structure’s designation as a historic structure.
B. Any addition which increases the original floor area of a building by 25 percent or more.
All additions constructed after the FIRM date shall be added to any proposed addition in determining whether the total increase in original floor space would exceed 25 percent.
36. “Variance” means a grant of relief by a community from the terms of the flood plain management regulations.
37. “Violation” means the failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with this chapter.