Loading...
12-1-2: FINDINGS OF FACT:
   A.   The flood hazard areas of the city of Lava Hot Springs are subject to periodic inundation which can result 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. (Ord. 2009-4, 7-2-2009, eff. 7-7-2009)
   B.   These flood losses are caused by the cumulative effect of obstructions in areas of special flood hazard which increase flood heights and velocities, and when inadequately anchored, damage uses in other areas. Uses that are inadequately floodproofed, elevated, or otherwise protected from flood damage also contribute to the flood loss. (Ord. 1987-3, 4-8-1987)
12-1-3: STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:
It is the purpose of this chapter to enact measures which require structures to be built at a flood protection elevation and/or with floodproofing in order 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:
   A.   To protect human life and health;
   B.   To minimize expenditure of public money and costly flood control projects;
   C.   To minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public;
   D.   To minimize prolonged business interruptions;
   E.   To minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water and gas mains, electric, telephone and sewer lines, streets, and bridges located in areas of special flood hazard;
   F.   To help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the sound use and development of areas of special flood hazard so as to minimize future flood blight areas;
   G.   To ensure that potential buyers are notified that property is in an area of special flood hazard;
   H.   To ensure that those who occupy the areas of special flood hazard assume responsibility for their actions; and
   I.   To reduce the annual cost of flood insurance. (Ord. 2009-4, 7-2-2009, eff. 7-7-2009)
12-1-4: METHODS OF REDUCING FLOOD LOSSES:
In order to accomplish its purposes, this chapter includes methods and provisions for:
   A.   Restricting or prohibiting uses which are dangerous to health, safety, and property due to water or erosion hazards, or which result in damaging increases in erosion or in flood heights or velocities;
   B.   Requiring that uses vulnerable to floods, including facilities which serve such uses, be protected against flood damage at the time of initial construction;
   C.   Controlling the alteration of natural floodplains, stream channels, and natural protective barriers, which help accommodate or channel floodwaters;
   D.   Controlling filling, grading, dredging, and other development which may increase flood damage; and
   E.   Preventing or regulating the construction of flood barriers which will unnaturally divert floodwaters or may increase flood hazards in other areas. (Ord. 1987-3, 4-8-1987)
12-1-5: DEFINITIONS:
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: (Ord. 1987-3, 4-8-1987)
ACCESSORY STRUCTURES: Low cost buildings that do not exceed five hundred (500) square feet, such as detached two (2) car garages, boathouses, small pole barns and storage sheds, not to be used for human habitation, shall be constructed and placed on the building site so as to offer minimum resistance to the flow of floodwaters; shall be anchored to prevent flotation which may result in damage to other structures; service utilities such as electrical and heating equipment shall be elevated or floodproofed.
APPEAL: A request for a review of the city clerk and/or code enforcement officer's interpretation of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variance.
AREA OF SHALLOW FLOODING: Designated as AO or AH zone on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM). AO zones have base flood depths that range from one to three feet (3') above the natural ground, a clearly defined channel does not exist, the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate, and velocity flow may be evident. AO is characterized as sheet flow; AH indicates ponding, and is shown with standard flood protection elevations.
AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD: The land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent (1%) or greater chance of flooding in any given year. Designation on maps always includes the letters A or V.
BASE FLOOD: The flood having a one percent (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (also referred to as the "100-year flood"). Designated on flood insurance rate maps by the letters A or V.
BASEMENT: Any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.
CRITICAL FACILITY: A facility for which even a slight chance of flooding might be too great. Critical facilities include, but are not limited to, schools, nursing homes, hospitals, police, fire and emergency response installations, and installations which produce, use, or store hazardous materials or hazardous waste.
DEVELOPMENT: 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 or storage of equipment or materials.
ELEVATED BUILDING: For insurance purposes, a nonbasement building that has its lowest elevated floor raised above ground level by foundation walls, shear walls, posts, piers, pilings, or columns.
ELEVATION CERTIFICATE: The official form (FEMA form 81-31) used to track development, provide elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with community floodplain management ordinances, and determine the proper insurance premium rate with section B completed by community officials.
EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION: A manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured 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 before the effective date of the adopted floodplain management regulations.
EXPANSION TO AN EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION: The preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads).
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM): The official map on which the federal insurance administration has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY (FIS): The official report provided by the federal insurance administration that includes flood profiles, the flood boundary-floodway map, and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
FLOOD OR FLOODING: A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:
   A.   The overflow of inland or tidal waters; and/or
   B.   The unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of surface waters from any source.
FLOOD PROTECTION ELEVATION (FPE): An elevation that shall correspond to the elevation of the one percent (1%) chance flood (100-year flood) plus any increased flood elevation due to floodway encroachment, plus any required freeboard.
FLOODWAY: The channel of the river or stream and those portions of the floodplain adjoining the channel required to discharge and store the floodwater or flood flows associated with the regulatory flood.
INCREASED COST OF COMPLIANCE: A flood insurance claim payment up to thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00) directly to a property owner for the cost to comply with floodplain management regulations after a direct physical loss caused by a flood. Eligibility for an ICC claim can be through a single instance of "substantial damage" or as a result of "cumulative substantial damage".
LOWEST FLOOR: The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access or storage, in an area other than a basement area, is not considered a building's lowest floor; provided, that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of this chapter found at subsection 12-1-9B1b (i.e., provided there are adequate flood ventilation openings).
MANUFACTURED HOME: A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when attached to the required utilities. The term "manufactured home" does not include a "recreational vehicle".
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION: A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two (2) or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
NEW CONSTRUCTION: Structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date hereof.
NEW MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION: A manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured 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 adopted floodplain management regulations.
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 temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.
REGULATORY FLOOD: A flood determined to be representative of large floods known to have occurred in Idaho and which may be expected to occur on a particular stream because of like physical characteristics. The regulatory flood is based upon a statistical analysis of stream flow records available for the watershed or an analysis of rainfall and runoff characteristics in the watershed. In inland areas, the flood frequency of the regulatory flood is once in every one hundred (100) years; this means that in any given year there is a one percent (1%) chance that a regulatory flood may occur or be exceeded.
REPETITIVE LOSS: Flood related damages sustained by a structure on two (2) separate occasions during a ten (10) year period for which the cost of repairs at the time of each such flood event, on the average, equals or exceeds twenty five percent (25%) of the market value of the structure before damage occurred.
START OF CONSTRUCTION: Includes substantial improvement and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, placement or other improvement was within one hundred eighty (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 the pouring of slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation; or the placement of a manufactured 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 foundation or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory building, 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 a building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.
STRUCTURE: A walled and roofed building including a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally aboveground.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE: Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed fifty percent (50%) of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT: Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the market value of the structure before the "start of construction" of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred "substantial damage", regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either:
   A.   Any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions or
   B.   Any alteration of a "historic structure", provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a "historic structure".
VARIANCE: A grant of relief from the requirements of this chapter that permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this chapter.
WATER DEPENDENT: A structure for commerce or industry that cannot exist in any other location and is dependent on the water by reason of the intrinsic nature of its operations. (Ord. 2009-4, 7-2-2009, eff. 7-7-2009; amd. Ord. 2015-12, 12-10-2015)
12-1-6: APPLICATION AND INTERPRETATION OF PROVISIONS:
   A.   Lands To Which Chapter Applies: This chapter shall apply to all areas of special flood hazard within the jurisdiction of city. (Ord. 1987-3, 4-8-1987)
   B.   Basis For Establishing Areas Of Special Flood Hazard: The areas of special flood hazard identified by the federal insurance administration in a scientific and engineering report entitled "The Flood Insurance Study", Bannock County, Idaho, and incorporated areas, dated July 7, 2009, with the accompanying flood insurance rate map (FIRM) are hereby adopted by reference and declared to be a part of this chapter. The flood insurance study and the FIRM are on file at city hall, 115 West Elm, Lava Hot Springs, ID 83246. (Ord. 2009-4, 7-2-2009, eff. 7-7-2009)
   C.   Abrogation And Greater Restrictions: This chapter is not intended to repeal, abrogate, or impair any existing easements, covenants, or deed restrictions. However, where this chapter and another ordinance, easement, covenant, or deed restriction conflict or overlap, whichever imposes the more stringent restrictions shall prevail.
   D.   Minimum Requirements: In the interpretation and application of this chapter, all provisions shall be considered as minimum requirements, liberally construed in favor of the city council, and deemed neither to limit nor repeal any other powers granted under state statutes. (Ord. 1987-3, 4-8-1987)
12-1-7: ADMINISTRATION OF PROVISIONS:
   A.   Administrative Authority: The city clerk-treasurer and code enforcement officer are hereby appointed to administer and implement this chapter by granting or denying development permit applications in accordance with its provisions. Any conflict between decisions of the city clerk-treasurer and the code enforcement officer shall be resolved by the city council, whose decision shall be final.
   B.   Duties Of City Clerk-Treasurer And Code Enforcement Officer: Duties of the city clerk-treasurer and code enforcement officer shall include, but not be limited to: (Ord. 1987-3, 4-8-1987; amd. Ord. 2015-12, 12-10-2015)
      1.   Permit Review:
         a.   Review all development permits to determine that the permit requirements of this chapter have been satisfied.
         b.   Review all development permits to determine that all necessary permits have been obtained from those federal, state, or local governmental agencies from which prior approval is required.
         c.   Review all development permits to determine if the proposed development is located in the floodway. If located in the floodway, assure that the encroachment provisions of subsection 12-1-9C1 of this chapter are met. (Ord. 1987-3, 4-8-1987)
      2.   Use Of Other Base Flood Data (In A Zones): When flood protection elevation data has not been provided (in A zones) in accordance with subsection 12-1-6B, "Basis For Establishing Areas Of Special Flood Hazard", of this chapter, the city clerk and/or code enforcement officer shall obtain, review, and reasonably utilize any flood protection elevation and floodway data available from a federal, state or other source, in order to administer subsections 12-1-9B, "Specific Standards", and C, "Floodways", of this chapter. (Ord. 2009-4, 7-2-2009, eff. 7-7-2009; amd. Ord. 2015-12, 12-10-2015)
      3.   Information To Be Obtained And Maintained:
         a.   Where flood protection elevation data is provided through the flood insurance study, FIRM or required as in subsection B2 of this section, verify and record the actual (as built) elevation (in relation to mean sea level) of the lowest floor (including basement) of all new construction or substantially improved structures, and whether or not the structure contains a basement. Record of the same shall be made on a current elevation certificate (FF 81-31) with section B completed by the local official.
         b.   For all new or substantially improved floodproofed nonresidential structures where flood protection elevation data is provided through the FIS, FIRM, or as required in subsection B2 of this section:
            (1) Verify and record the elevation, in relation to mean sea level, to which any new or substantially improved structures have been floodproofed, and
            (2) Maintain the floodproofing certifications required in subsection 12-1-8B3 of this chapter. When floodproofing is utilized, certification of design criteria from a registered professional engineer or architect is required.
            (3) Require engineering certification (as built information) as to the constructed flood protection elevation.
         c.   Maintain for public inspection all records pertaining to the provisions of this chapter in the city hall located in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho.
      4.   Alteration Of Watercourses:
         a.   Notify the Idaho department of water resources, adjacent communities and the Bannock County land use board prior to any alteration or relocation of a watercourse, and submit evidence of such notification to the federal insurance administration.
         b.   Assure flood carrying capacity of any altered or relocated waterway is maintained.
      5.   Interpretation Of FIRM Boundaries: Make interpretations where needed, as to exact location of the boundaries of the areas of special flood hazard (for example, where there appears to be a conflict between a mapped boundary and actual field conditions). The person contesting the location of the boundary shall be given a reasonable opportunity to appeal the interpretation as provided in section 12-1-10 of this chapter. Such appeals shall be granted consistent with the standards of section 60.6 of the rules and regulations of the national flood insurance program (44 CFR 59-76). (Ord. 2009-4, 7-2-2009, eff. 7-7-2009)
12-1-8: DEVELOPMENT PERMIT:
   A.   Permit Required: A development permit shall be obtained before construction or development begins within any area of special flood hazard established in subsection 12-1-6B of this chapter. The permit shall be for all structures including manufactured homes, as set forth in section 12-1-5 of this chapter, and for all development including fill and other activities, also as set forth in section 12-1-5 of this chapter. (Ord. 1987-3, 4-8-1987)
   B.   Application For Development Permit: Application for a development permit shall be made on forms furnished by the city clerk-treasurer and/or code enforcement officer and may include, but not be limited to: plans in duplicate drawn to scale showing the nature, location, dimensions, and elevations of the area in question; existing or proposed structures, fill, storage of materials, drainage facilities, and the location of the foregoing. Specifically, the following information is required: (Ord. 1987-3, 4-8-1987; amd. Ord. 2015-12, 12-10-2015)
      1.   Elevation in relation to mean sea level, of the lowest floor (including basement) of all structures recorded on a current elevation certificate (FF 81-31) with section B completed by the city clerk and/or code enforcement officer; (Ord. 2009-4, 7-2-2009, eff. 7-7-2009; amd. Ord. 2015-12, 12-10-2015)
      2.   Elevation in relation to mean sea level to which any structure has been floodproofed;
      3.   Certification by a registered professional engineer or architect that the floodproofing methods for any nonresidential structure meet the floodproofing criteria in subsection 12-1-9B2 of this chapter; and
      4.   Description of the extent to which a watercourse will be altered or relocated as a result of proposed development. (Ord. 1987-3, 4-8-1987)
Loading...