For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
BASE FLOOD. The flood having a 1% probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The base flood is also known as the 100-year flood.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE). The elevation in relation to mean sea level of the crest of the base flood. The BASE FLOOD ELEVATION at any location is as defined in § 150.05.
BUILDING. A structure that is principally above ground and is enclosed by walls and a roof, including manufactured homes and prefabricated buildings. The term also includes recreational vehicles and travel trailers to be installed on a site for more than 180 days.
DEVELOPMENT. Any man-made change to real estate, including but not necessarily limited to:
(1) Construction, reconstruction, or placement of a building, or any addition to a building, exceeding 70 square feet in floor area;
(2) Substantial improvement of an existing building;
(3) Installation of a manufactured home on a site, preparing a site for a manufactured home, or installing a travel trailer on a site for more than 180 days;
(4) Installation of utilities, construction of roads, bridges, culverts or similar projects;
(5) Construction or erection of levees, dams, walls, or fences;
(6) Drilling, mining, filling, dredging, grading, excavating, paving, or other alterations of the ground surface;
(7) Storage of materials, including the placement of gas and liquid storage tanks; and
(8) Channel modifications or any other activity that might change the direction, height, or velocity of flood or surface waters.
DEVELOPMENT does not include maintenance of existing buildings and facilities; resurfacing roads; or gardening, plowing, and similar practices that do not involve filling, grading, or construction of levees.
FEMA. Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FLOOD. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow, the unusual and rapid accumulation, or the runoff of surface waters from any source.
FLOOD FRINGE. That portion of the floodplain outside of the regulatory floodway.
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP. A map prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that depicts the floodplain or special flood hazard area (SFHA) within a community. This map includes insurance rate zones and may or may not depict floodways and show base flood elevations.
FLOODPLAIN and SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA) are synonymous. Those lands within the jurisdiction of the city that are subject to inundation by the base flood. The floodplains of the city are generally identified as such on the Flood Insurance Rate Map of the city prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and dated August 5, 2010.
FLOODPROOFING. Any combination of structural or nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate, property and their contents.
FLOODPROOFING CERTIFICATE. A form published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that is used to certify that a building has been designed and constructed to be structurally dry floodproofed to the flood protection elevation.
FLOOD PROTECTION ELEVATION or FPE. The elevation of the base flood plus one foot of freeboard at any given location in the floodplain.
FLOODWAY. That portion of the floodplain required to store and convey the base flood. The floodway for the floodplains of Beaucoup Creek and Railroad Tributary shall be as delineated on the Flood Insurance Rate Map prepared by FEMA and dated September 16, 1982. The floodways for each of the remaining floodplains of the city shall be according to the best data available from federal, state or other sources.
IDNR/OWR. Illinois Department of Natural Resources/Office of Water Resources.
MANUFACTURED HOME. A structure transportable in one or more sections, that is built on a permanent chassis and is designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to required utilities
NFIP. National Flood Insurance Program.
SFHA. See definition of floodplain.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT. Any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure either: (a) before the improvement or repair is started; or (b) if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred. 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 either: (1) 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 living conditions; or (2) any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the Illinois Register of Historic Places.
TRAVEL TRAILER (or RECREATIONAL VEHICLE). A vehicle which is:
(1) Built on a single chassis;
(2) Four hundred square feet of less in size;
(3) Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and
(4) Designed primarily for use as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use, and not as a permanent dwelling.
(Ord. O-2006-13, passed 11-20-06; Am. Ord. O-2007-06, passed 4-16-07; Am. Ord. O-2010-06, passed 6-28-10)