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. The base flood elevation at any location is as defined in § 155.03 of this chapter.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE). The elevation in relation to mean sea level of the crest of the base flood.
BASEMENT. That portion of a building having its floor sub-grade (below ground level) on all sides.
BUILDING. A walled or roofed structure, including gas or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground including manufactured homes, prefabricated buildings and gas or liquid storage tanks. The term also includes recreational vehicles and travel trailers installed on a site for more than 180 days per year.
CRITICAL FACILITY. Any facility which is critical to the health and welfare of the population and, if flooded, would create an added dimension to the disaster. Damage to these critical facilities can impact the delivery of vital services, can cause greater damage to other sectors of the community, or can put special populations at risk. Examples of critical facilities where flood protection should be required include: emergency services facilities (such as fire and police stations), schools, hospitals retirement homes and senior care facilities, major roads and bridges, critical utility sites (telephone switching stations or electrical transformers, and hazardous material storage facilities (chemicals, petrochemicals, hazardous or toxic substances).
DEVELOPMENT.
(1) Any manmade change to real estate including, but not necessarily limited to:
(a) Demolition, construction, reconstruction, repair, placement of a building or any structural alteration to;
(b) Substantial improvement of an existing building;
(c) 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 per year;
(d) Installation of utilities, construction of roads, bridges, culverts or similar projects;
(e) Construction or erection of levees, dams, walls or fences;
(f) Drilling, mining, filling, dredging, grading, excavating, paving or other alterations of the ground surface;
(g) Storage of materials including the placement of gas or liquid storage tanks; and
(h) Channel modifications or any other activity that might change the direction, height or velocity of flood or surface waters.
(2) 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.
EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION. 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 or buildings to be constructed (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 the floodplain management regulations adopted by a community.
EXPANSION TO AN EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION. The preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lots 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).
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 usual and rapid accumulation, or the runoff or surface waters from any source.
FLOOD FRINGE. The 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.
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY. An examination, evaluation and de-termination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations.
FLOOD PROTECTION ELEVATION (FPE). The elevation of the base flood plus one foot of freeboard at any given location in the flood-plain.
FLOODPLAIN and SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA). Are synonymous. Those lands within the jurisdiction of the city, the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city, or that may be annexed into the city that are subject to inundation by the base flood. The floodplains of the city are generally identified as such on panel numbers 0308D, 0309D, 0310D, 0316E, 0317D, 0319E, 0328D, 0329D, 0336D, and 0340D of the county wide Flood Insurance Rate Map of Adams County, Illinois prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and dated July 5, 2018. FLOODPLAIN also includes those areas of known flooding as identified by the community. The floodplains of those parts of unincorporated Adams County that are within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city or that may be annexed into the city are generally identified as such on the Flood Insurance Rate Map prepared for Adams County by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and dated July 5, 2018.
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 CERTIFICATES. 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 flood-proofed to the flood protection elevation.
FLOODWAY. The portion of the floodplain required to store and convey the base flood. The floodway for the floodplains of Mississippi River Cedar Creek, Curtis Creek, Tributary No. 1 to Curtis Creek, Unnamed Tributary to Tributary No, 1 of Curtis Creek, Emery Creek, Tributary No. 2 to Curtis Creek, Tributary No. 3 to Cedar Creek and Tributary No. 3 to Curtis Creek shall be as delineated on the countywide Flood Insurance Rate Map of Adams County, Illinois prepared by FEMA and dated July 5, 2018. 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.
FREEBOARD. An increment of elevation added to the base flood elevation to provide a factor of safety for uncertainties in calculations, future watershed development, unknown localized conditions, wave actions and unpredictable effects such as those caused by ice or debris jams.
HISTORIC STRUCTURE. Any structure that is:
(1) Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places 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 historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district.
(3) Individually listed on the state inventory of historic places by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
(4) Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places that has been certified by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
IDNR/OWR. Illinois Department of Natural Resources/Office of Water Resources.
IDNR/OWR JURISDICTIONAL STREAM. Illinois Department of Natural Resource Office of Water Resources has jurisdiction over any stream serving a tributary area of 640 acres or more in an urban area, or in the floodway of any stream serving a tributary area of 6,400 acres or more in a rural area. Construction on these streams requires a permit from the Department. (Ill Admin. Code Tit. 17, pt. 3700.30). The Department may grant approval for specific types of activities by issuance of a statewide permit which meets the standards defined in § 155.06.
LOWEST FLOOR. 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 § 155.07.
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.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION. A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more lots for rent or sale.
NEW CONSTRUCTION. Structures for which the start of construction commenced or after the effective date of floodplain management regulations adopted by a community and includes any subsequent improvements of such structures.
NEW MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION. 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 or buildings to be constructed (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 the floodplain management regulations adopted by a community.
NFIP. National Flood Insurance Program.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE or TRAVEL TRAILER. A vehicle which is:
(1) Built on a single chassis;
(2) Four hundred (400) square feet or less in size;
(3) Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck and designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use.
REPETITIVE LOSS. Flood related damages sustained by a structure on two separate occasions during a ten year period for which the cost of repairs at the time of each such flood event on the average equals or exceeds 25% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
SFHA. See definition of FLOODPLAIN.
START OF CONSTRUCTION. Includes substantial improvement and means the date the building permit was issued. This, 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 of 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 placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. For a substantial improvement, 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.
STRUCTURE. See definition of BUILDING.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cumulative percentage of damage during a ten-year period equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred regardless of actual repair work performed. Volunteer labor and materials must be included in this determination. The term includes REPETITIVE LOSS BUILDINGS (see definition).
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT.
(1) Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or improvement of a structure taking place during a ten-year period in which the cumulative percentage of improvements:
(a) Equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure before the improvement or repair is started; or
(b) Increases the floor area by more than 20%. 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. This term includes structures which have incurred repetitive loss or substantial damage, regardless of the actual repair work done.
(2) The term does not include:
(a) 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
(b) Any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the Illinois Register of Historic Places.
VIOLATION. The failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with the community’s floodplain management regulations. A structure or other development without the required federal, state, and/ or local permits and elevation certification is presumed to be in violation until such time as the documentation is provided.
(1980 Code, § 23.602) (Ord. 8926, passed 11-13-2001; Ord. 9183, passed 5-16-2011; Ord. 9336, passed 6-11-2018)