(a) The Planning Commission shall hear and decide appeals and requests for variances from the requirements of this chapter pursuant to its rules and regulations and the provisions of Chapter 1137 of the City’s Codified Ordinances and all applicable provisions of Ohio law.
(b) The Commission shall hear and decide appeals when it is alleged there is an error in any requirement, decision or determination made by the City Engineer in the enforcement or administration of this chapter.
(c) Those aggrieved by the decision of the Commission or any taxpayer, may appeal such decision to the Washington County Court of Common Pleas, as provided by the Ohio Revised Code.
(d) In passing upon such applications, the Commission shall consider all technical evaluations, all relevant factors, standards specified in other sections of this chapter and the:
(1) Danger that materials may be swept onto other lands to the injury of others;
(2) Danger to life and property due to flooding or erosion danger;
(3) Susceptibility of the proposed facility and its contents to flood damage and the effect of such damage on the individual owner;
(4) Importance of the services provided by the proposed facility to the community;
(5) Availability of alternative locations, for the proposed use which are not subject to flooding or erosion damage;
(6) Necessity to the facility of a waterfront location, where applicable;
(7) Compatibility of the proposed use with existing and anticipated development;
(8) Relationship of the proposed use to comprehensive plan and floodplain management program for that area;
(9) Safety of access to the property in times of flood for ordinary and emergency vehicles;
(10) Expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise and sediment transport of the flood waters, and the effects of wave action, if applicable, expected at the site; and,
(11) Costs of providing governmental services during and after flood conditions, including maintenance and repair of public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical and water systems, and streets and bridges.
(e) Upon consideration of the factors of this section and the purposes of this chapter, the Commission may attach such conditions to the granting of variances as it deems necessary to further the purposes of this chapter.
(f) The City Engineer shall maintain the records of all appeal actions and report any variances to the Federal Emergency Management Agency upon request.
(g) Conditions for Variances.
(1) Generally, variances may be issued for new construction and substantial improvements to be erected on a lot of one-half acre or less in size contiguous to and surrounded by lots with existing structures constructed below the base flood level, providing items in (1) – (11) in Section 1311.12(d) hereof have been fully considered. As the lot size increases beyond the one-half acre, the technical justification required for issuing the variance increases.
(2) Variances may be issued for the repair or rehabilitation of historic structures upon a determination that the proposed repair or rehabilitation shall not preclude the structure’s continued designation as a historic structure and the variance is the minimum necessary to preserve the historic character and design of the structure.
(3) Variances shall not be issued within any designated floodway if any increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge would result.
(4) Variances shall only be issued upon a determination that the variance is the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief.
(5) Variances shall only be issued upon:
A. A showing of good and sufficient cause;
B. A determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant; and,
C. A determination that the granting of a variance shall not result in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisances, cause fraud on or victimization of the public as identified in Section 1311.12(d) or in conflict with existing local laws or ordinances.
D. A determination that the structure or other development is protected by methods to minimize flood damages.
(6) Any applicant to whom a variance is granted shall be given written notice that the structure shall be permitted to be built with a lowest floor elevation below the base flood elevation and that the cost of flood insurance shall commensurate with the increased risk resulting from the reduced lowest floor elevation.
(7) Variances may only be issued where due to physical characteristics of the property compliance with the requirements of this chapter creates an exceptional hardship. Increased cost or inconvenience in meeting the requirements of this chapter do not constitute an exceptional hardship.
(Ord. 2(06-07). Passed 2-2-06.)
(h) For each application to the Commission for a flood plain variance there shall be paid a fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) and for each certificate of flood plain variance issued by the Commission hereunder there shall be a fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and for each duplicate copy thereof issued there shall be a fee of one dollar ($1.00).
(Ord. 176(08-09). Passed 1-15-09.)
(i) Unless otherwise specified by the Planning Commission, a flood variance shall expire if the applicant fails to obtain the Certificate of Variance and Flood Development Permit within six months after the date of authorization thereof, or abandons such development for a period of two years.
(Ord. 2(06-07). Passed 2-2-06.)