(a) "Appeals Authority" means City Council.
(b) "Base flood" means the flood which has been selected to serve as the basis upon which the flood plain management provision of this and other ordinances have been prepared; for purposes of this article, the 100 year flood.
(c) "Basement" means any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.
(d) "City" means the City of Princeton, West Virginia.
(e) "Development" means any man-made 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.
(f) "Existing Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision" means a manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lot 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 this article.
(g) "Expansion to an existing Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision" means the preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lot 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).
(h) "Flood" means a general and temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.
(i) "Flood Plain" means a relatively flat or low land area adjoining a river, stream, or watercourse which is subject to partial or complete inundation; or, an area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.
(j) "Floodway" means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land area that must be reserved to discharge the base flood without increasing the water surface elevation of that flood more than one foot at any point.
(k) "Floodproofing" means any combination of structural and non-structural 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.
(l) "Historic Structure" means any structure that is:
(1) 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;
(2) 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;
(3) Individually listed on a State inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior; or,
(4) Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:
A. By an approved State program as determined by Secretary of the Interior; or,
B. Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.
(m) "Lowest floor" means 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 non-elevation design requirements of this article.
(n) "Manufactured Home" means 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 connected to the required utilities. The term "manufactured home" does not include a "recreational vehicle".
(o) "Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision" means a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
(p) "New construction" means structures for which the start of construction as herein defined commenced on or after the effective date of this article and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.
(q) "New Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision" means 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 this article.
(r) "100 year flood" means a flood that has one chance in one hundred or a one percent (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
(s) "Person" means any individual or group of individuals, corporation, partnership, association or other entity, including State and local governments and agencies.
(t) "Principally above ground" means where at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the actual cash value of a structure, less land value, is above ground.
(u) "Recreational vehicle" means a vehicle which is:
(1) Built on a single chassis;
(2) 400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;
(3) Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and
(4) Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use.
(v) "Start of construction" means for other than new construction or substantial improvements under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act, Pub Law 97-348, includes substantial improvements, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, placement or other improvement was within 180 days of the permit date. The actual start means either the first placement of permanent construction or 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 foundations or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings, 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.
(w) "Structure" means a walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage tank, that is principally above ground, as well as a manufactured home.
(x) "Substantial damage" means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
(y) "Substantial improvement" means any repair, 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", as defined herein, regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either:
(1) 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
(2) Any alteration of a "historic structure", provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a "historic structure." (Passed 5-7-90)