A. Duties: The Zoning Administrator or other official designated by the City Council must administer and enforce these regulations.
B. Permit Application Requirements:
1. Application For Permit: Permit applications must be submitted to the Zoning Administrator on forms provided by the Zoning Administrator. The permit application must include the following, as applicable:
a. A site plan showing all pertinent dimensions existing or proposed buildings, structures, and significant natural features having an influence on the permit.
b. Location of fill or storage of materials in relation to the stream channel.
c. Copies of any required Municipal, County, State or Federal permits or approvals.
d. Other relevant information requested by the Zoning Administrator as necessary to properly evaluate the permit application.
2. Certification: The applicant is required to submit certification by a registered professional engineer, registered architect or registered land surveyor that the finished fill and building elevations were accomplished in compliance with these provisions. Floodproofing measures must be certified by a registered professional engineer or registered architect. Accessory structures designed in accordance with subsection 11.55B2 of this chapter are exempt from certification, provided sufficient documentation is provided and approved by the City Engineer.
3. Certificate Of Zoning Compliance For A New, Altered Or Nonconforming Use: No building, land or structure may be occupied or used in any manner until a certificate of zoning compliance has been issued by the Zoning Administrator stating that the use of the building or land conforms to the requirements of this chapter.
4. Record Of First Floor Elevation: The Zoning Administrator must maintain a record of the elevation of the lowest floor, including basement, of all new structures and alterations or additions to existing structures in the floodplain. The Zoning Administrator must also maintain a record of the elevation to which structures and alterations or additions to structures are floodproofed.
5. Notifications For Watercourse Alterations: Before authorizing any alteration or relocation of a river or stream, the Zoning Administrator must notify adjacent communities. If the applicant has applied for a permit to work in public waters pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 103G.245, this will suffice as adequate notice. A copy of the notification must also be submitted to the Chicago Regional Office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA.
6. Notification To FEMA When Physical Changes Increase Or Decrease Base Flood Elevations: As soon as is practicable, but not later than six (6) months after the date such supporting information becomes available, the Zoning Administrator must notify the Chicago Regional Office of FEMA of the changes by submitting a copy of the relevant technical or scientific data.
C. Variances:
1. Variance Applications: An application for a variance to these provisions will be processed and reviewed in accordance with applicable State Statutes and these regulations.
2. Adherence To State Floodplain Management Standards: A variance must not allow a use that is not allowed in that district, permit a lower degree of flood protection than the regulatory flood protection elevation for the particular area, or permit standards lower than those required by State law.
3. Additional Variance Criteria: The following additional variance criteria of the Federal Emergency Management Agency must be satisfied:
a. Variances must not be issued by the City within any designated regulatory floodway if any increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge would result.
b. Variances may only be issued by the City upon: 1) a showing of good and sufficient cause; 2) a determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant; and 3) a determination that the granting of a variance will not result in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisances, cause fraud on or victimization of the public, or conflict with existing local laws or ordinances.
c. Variances may only be issued upon a determination that the variance is the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief.
4. Flood Insurance Notice: The Zoning Administrator must notify the applicant for a variance that: 1) the issuance of a variance to construct a structure below the base flood level will result in increased premium rates for flood insurance up to amounts as high as twenty five dollars ($25.00) for one hundred dollars ($100.00) of insurance coverage; and 2) such construction below the base or regional flood level increases risks to life and property. Such notification must be maintained with a record of all variance actions.
5. General Considerations: The City may consider the following factors in granting variances and imposing conditions on variances and conditional uses in floodplains:
a. The potential danger to life and property due to increased flood heights or velocities caused by encroachments;
b. The danger that materials may be swept onto other lands or downstream to the injury of others;
c. The proposed water supply and sanitation systems, if any, and the ability of these systems to minimize the potential for disease, contamination and unsanitary conditions;
d. The susceptibility of any proposed use and its contents to flood damage and the effect of such damage on the individual owner;
e. The importance of the services to be provided by the proposed use to the community;
f. The requirements of the facility for a waterfront location;
g. The availability of viable alternative locations for the proposed use that are not subject to flooding;
h. The compatibility of the proposed use with existing development and development anticipated in the foreseeable future;
i. The relationship of the proposed use to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Floodplain Management Program for the area;
j. The safety of access to the property in times of flood for ordinary and emergency vehicles; and
k. The expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise and sediment transport of the flood waters expected at the site.
6. Submittal Of Hearing Notices To The Department Of Natural Resources (DNR): The Zoning Administrator must submit hearing notices for proposed variances to the DNR sufficiently in advance to provide at least ten (10) days' notice of the hearing. The notice may be sent by electronic mail or United States mail to the respective DNR area hydrologist.
7. Submittal Of Final Decisions To The DNR: A copy of all decisions granting variances must be forwarded to the DNR within ten (10) days of such action. The notice may be sent by electronic mail or United States mail to the respective DNR area hydrologist.
8. Recordkeeping: The Zoning Administrator must maintain a record of all variance actions, including justification for their issuance, and must report such variances in an annual or biennial report to the Administrator of the National Flood Insurance Program, when requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
D. Conditional Uses:
1. Administrative Review: An application for a conditional use permit under these provisions will be processed and reviewed in accordance with these regulations.
2. Factors Used In Decision Making: In passing upon conditional use applications, the City Council must consider all relevant factors specified in other sections of this chapter, and those factors identified in subsection C5 of this section.
3. Conditions Attached To Conditional Use Permit: The City Council may attach such conditions to the granting of conditional use permits as it deems necessary to fulfill the purposes of these regulations. Such conditions may include, but are not limited to, the following:
a. Modification of waste treatment and water supply facilities.
b. Limitations on period of use, occupancy and operations.
c. Imposition of operational controls, sureties and deed restrictions.
d. Requirements for construction of channel modifications, compensatory storage, dikes, levees and other protective measures.
e. Floodproofing measures, in accordance with the State Building Code and these regulations. The applicant must submit a plan or document certified by a registered professional engineer or architect that the floodproofing measures are consistent with the regulatory flood protection elevation and associated flood factors for the particular area.
4. Submittal Of Hearing Notices To The Department Of Natural Resources: The Zoning Administrator must submit hearing notices for proposed conditional uses to the DNR sufficiently in advance to provide at least ten (10) days' notice of the hearing. The notice may be sent by electronic mail or United States mail to the respective DNR area hydrologist.
5. Submittal Of Final Decisions To The DNR: A copy of all decisions granting conditional uses must be forwarded to the DNR within ten (10) days of such action. The notice may be sent by electronic mail or United States mail to the respective DNR area hydrologist. (Ord. 10, 7th Series, eff. 7-2-2018)