ACCESSORY USE OR STRUCTURE - a use or structure on the same lot with, and of a nature customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use or structure.
BASEMENT - any area of the building having its floor below ground level on all sides.
BUILDING - a combination of materials to form a permanent structure having walls and a roof. Included shall be all manufactured homes and trailers to be used for human habitation.
BUILDING PERMIT OFFICER - the individual or agency designated by the Board of Supervisors.
COMPLETELY DRY SPACE - a space which will remain totally dry during flooding; the structure is designed and constructed to prevent the passage of water and water vapor.
DEVELOPMENT - any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate including, but not limited to, the construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, expansion, or alteration of buildings or other structures; the placement of manufactured homes; streets, and other paving; utilities; filling, grading and excavation; mining; dredging; drilling operations; storage of equipment or materials; and the subdivision of land.
ESSENTIALLY DRY SPACE - a space which will remain dry during flooding, except for the passage of some water vapor or minor seepage; the structure is substantially impermeable to the passage of water.
FLOOD - a temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.
FLOODPLAIN AREA - a relatively flat or low land area which is subject to partial or complete inundation from an adjoining or nearby stream, river or watercourse; and/or any area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation of surface waters from any source.
FLOODPROOFING - any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures and their contents.
FLOODWAY - the designated area of a floodplain required to carry and discharge flood waters of a given magnitude. For the purposes of this Chapter, the floodway shall be capable of accommodating a flood of the 100-year magnitude.
HISTORIC STRUCTURE - any structure that is:
A. Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of Interior) or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on 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 Interior.
D. Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:
(1) By an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior.
(2) Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.
IDENTIFIED FLOODPLAIN AREA - the floodplain area specifically identified in this Chapter as being inundated by the 100-year flood.
LAND DEVELOPMENT - any of the following activities:
A. The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts, or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
(1) A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings, whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential building on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or tenure.
(2) The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective occupants by means of, or for the purpose of streets, common areas, leaseholds, condominiums, building groups or other features.
B. A subdivision of land.
LOWEST FLOOR - the lowest floor of the lowest fully enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished, flood resistant partially enclosed area, used solely for parking of vehicles, building access, and incidental storage, in an area other than a basement area is not considered the lowest floor of a building, provided that such space is not designed and built so that the structure is in violation of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of this Chapter.
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 includes park trailers, travel trailers, recreational and other similar vehicles which are placed on a site for more than 180 consecutive days.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK - a parcel of land under single ownership, which has been planned and improved for the placement of two or more manufactured homes for nontransient use.
MINOR REPAIR - the replacement of existing work with equivalent materials for the purpose of its routine maintenance and upkeep, but not including the cutting away of any wall, partition or portion thereof, the removal or cutting of any structural beam or bearing support, or the removal or change of any required means of egress, or rearrangement of parts of a structure affecting the exitway requirements; nor shall minor repairs include addition to, alteration of, replacement or relocation of any standpipe, water supply, sewer, drainage, drain leader, gas, soil, waste, vent, or similar piping, electric wiring or mechanical or other work affecting public health or general safety.
NEW CONSTRUCTION - structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after May 30, 1989, and includes any subsequent improvements thereto.
ONE HUNDRED YEAR FLOOD - a flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every 100 years (i.e., that has 1 percent chance of occurring each year, although the flood may occur in any year).
PERSON - an individual, partnership, public or private association or corporation, firm, trust, estate, municipality, governmental unit, public utility or any other legal entity whatsoever, which is recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE -a vehicle which is (A) built on a single chassis; (B) not more than 400 square feet, measured at the largest horizontal projections; (C) designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty truck; (D) not designed for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.
REGULATORY FLOOD ELEVATION - the 100-year flood elevation plus a freeboard safety factor of 1½ feet.
REPETITIVE LOSS -flood related damages sustained by a structure on two separate occasions during a 10-year period for which the cost of repairs at the time of each such flood event, on average, equals or exceeds 25 percent of the market value of the structure before the damages occurred.
SPECIAL PERMIT -a special approval which is required for hospitals, nursing homes, jails, and new manufactured home parks and subdivisions and substantial improvements to such existing parks, when such development is located in all, or a designated portion of a floodplain.
STRUCTURE - anything constructed or erected on the ground or attached to the ground including, but not limited to, buildings, sheds, manufactured homes, and other similar items.
SUBDIVISION - the division or redivision of a lot, tract, or parcel of land by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions of land including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for distribution to heirs, or devisees, transfer of ownership or building or lot development: Provided, however, that the subdivision by lease of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres, not involving any new street or easement of access or any residential dwelling, shall be exempted.
SUBSTANTIAL ADDITIONS TO MANUFACTURED HOME PARKS - any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of an existing manufactured home park or manufactured home subdivision, where such repair, reconstruction, or improvement of the streets, utilities, and pads will equal or exceed 50 percent of the value of the streets, utilities, and pads before the repair, reconstruction, or improvement is started.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE - damage from any cause sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent or more 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 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the “start of construction” of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred “substantial damage” or “repetitive loss” 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.
B. Any alteration of a “historic structure”; provided, that the alteration will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as a “historic structure.”
TOWNSHIP - the geographical area included within the Township of Penn, Centre County, Pennsylvania and/or the Board of Supervisors of Penn Township (the governing body of Penn Township).
UNIFORM CONSTRUCTION CODE - the Statewide building code adopted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1999, applicable to new construction in all municipalities whether administered by the municipality, a third party, or the Department of Labor and Industry. Applicable to residential and commercial buildings, the Code adopted the International Residential Code (IRC) and International Building Code (IBC) of 2003 by reference as the construction standard applicable with the Commonwealth floodplain construction. For coordination purposes, references to the above are made specifically to various sections of the IRC and the IBC.
(Ord. 78, 3/5/2009, § 8.01)