As used in chapter 5, article J, "Floodplain Management Standards", of this title, the following definitions shall apply. The general definitions contained in article A of this chapter shall apply to all terms used in chapter 5, article J of this title that are not defined in this section.
BASEMENT: Any enclosed area of a building that has its floor or lowest level below ground level (subgrade) on all sides (see definition of Lowest Floor).
CLASS 1 CRITICAL FACILITIES: Facilities that must remain accessible during the 0.2% flood event because they are the base of operations for emergency responders, are particularly difficult to evacuate during a flood event, or facilities that provide services essential to the life, health, and safety of the community. Class 1 critical facilities include police and fire stations, emergency medical centers, communication centers, hospitals, jails, nursing homes, and other residential uses for persons with limited mobility and/or dependency upon life sustaining medical equipment.
CRITICAL FACILITIES: Structures that store public records; museums and libraries; schools; and other buildings that store rare and/or valuable items and information that sustain the history and public records of a community. These structures are not expected to remain accessible or functioning during a flood event, though in many instances their functions must resume as soon as possible after a flood event. Critical facilities also include public infrastructure such as water distribution and wastewater treatment facilities, which are expected to remain functioning during a flood event although they may be temporarily inaccessible or accessible only by watercraft during a flood event.
DEVELOPMENT: Any humanmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, the placement of manufactured housing, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, streambank erosion control measures, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations. Development is considered to commence with either the first placement or 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.
FLOOD: 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.
FLOOD CONTROL STRUCTURAL WORKS: Barriers or storage areas constructed to control floodwater, modify or redirect a channel.
FLOOD ELEVATION: The elevation which floodwaters would reach at a particular site during the occurrence of a specific frequency flood. For instance, the 1% flood elevation is the elevation of floodwaters with a one percent (1%) likelihood of occurring in any given year. The 0.2% flood elevation is the elevation of floodwaters with a two-tenths percent (0.2%) likelihood of occurring in any given year. In areas of shallow flooding, there is a one percent (1%) or greater annual chance of flooding to an elevation specified on the flood insurance rate map.
FLOOD EVENT:
500-Year Flood Event: A flood, the magnitude of which has a two-tenths percent (0.2%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year or which, on the average, will be equaled or exceeded at least once every five hundred (500) years.
100-Year Flood Event: A flood, the magnitude of which has a one percent (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year or which, on the average, will be equaled or exceeded at least once every one hundred (100) years.
1% Annual Flood Event: The predicted level of flooding with a one percent (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (formerly known as the 100-year flood event).
0.2% Annual Flood Event: The predicted level of flooding with a two-tenths percent (0.2%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (formerly known as the 500-year flood event).
FLOOD HAZARD AREA: Land that is shaded and identified as "AE", "X" or "AH" on the flood insurance rate map.
FLOOD HAZARD ELEVATION: In AE zones, the elevation of the 0.2% flood as profiled in the flood insurance study for Johnson County, Iowa. In areas of shallow flooding, the elevation of the flood as illustrated on the flood insurance rate map.
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP: 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.
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY: A study initiated, funded and published by the federal insurance administration for the purpose of evaluating, in detail, the existence and severity of flood hazards, providing the city with the necessary information for adopting a floodplain management program and establishing actuarial flood insurance rates.
FLOODPLAIN: Any land area susceptible to being inundated by water as a result of a specific frequency flood. For instance, the 1% floodplain is the area of land that, in any given year, has a one percent (1%) likelihood of flooding. The 0.2% floodplain is the area of land that, in any given year, has a two-tenths percent (0.2%) likelihood of flooding. In areas of shallow flooding, there is a one percent (1%) or greater annual chance of flooding to a specified elevation, but a clearly defined channel does not exist, and the path of flooding is unpredictable.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT: An overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damages and for promoting the wise use of floodplains, including, but not limited to, emergency preparedness plans, flood control works, floodproofing and floodplain management regulations.
FLOODPROOFING: 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.
FLOODWAY: The channel of a river or stream and those portions of the floodplains adjoining the channel which are reasonably required to carry and discharge floodwaters so that confinement of floodwaters to the floodway area will not result in substantially higher flood elevation.
FLOODWAY FRINGE: Those portions of the floodplain, other than the floodway, which can be filled, leveed or otherwise obstructed without causing substantially higher flood elevations.
LOWEST FLOOR: 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 subsection 14-5J-7E of this title; 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 (1') above the flood hazard elevation; and
D. The floor is not below grade on all sides.
MANUFACTURED HOUSING: 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 purposes of chapter 5, article J, "Floodplain Management Standards", of this title, manufactured housing includes factory built homes, mobile homes, manufactured homes and modular homes and also includes park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days.
MANUFACTURED HOUSING PARK: A parcel or contiguous parcels of land divided into two (2) or more manufactured housing lots for rent or sale.
NEW CONSTRUCTION OF NEW BUILDINGS, MANUFACTURED HOUSING PARKS: Those structures or development that began construction after May 2, 1977.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE: 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.
SHALLOW FLOOD HAZARD AREA: Areas of special flood hazards having shallow water depths and/or unpredictable flow paths between one and three feet (3'), and with water surface elevations determined.
STRUCTURE: Anything constructed or installed on the ground or attached to the ground, including, but not limited to, buildings, factories, sheds, cabins, manufactured housing, storage tanks and similar.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE: Damage of any origin sustained by a structure where the cost of restoring the structure to its predamaged condition would equal or exceed fifty percent (50%) of the assessed or market value as established by an appraisal paid for at the owner's expense, whichever is greater.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT: Any improvement to a structure that satisfies either of the following criteria:
A. Any repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the assessed or market value as established by an appraisal paid for at the owner's expense, whichever is greater, of the structure either before the improvement or repair is started or, if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred. For the purposes of this definition, 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. 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.
B. Any addition which increases the original floor area of a building by twenty five percent (25%) or more. All additions constructed after May 2, 1977, shall be added to any proposed addition in determining whether the total increase in original floor space would exceed twenty five percent (25%). (Ord. 10-4414, 11-16-2010)