For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates, or requires, a different meaning.
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE(S). A structure that is on the same parcel of property as a principal structure and the use of which is incidental to the use of the principal structure; an ACCESSORY STRUCTURE specifically excludes structures used for human habitation.
AGRICULTURAL STRUCTURE(S). A structure that is used exclusively in connection with the production, harvesting, storage, raising, or drying of agricultural commodities and livestock; AGRICULTURAL STRUCTURE specifically excludes any structure used for human habitation.
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 § 154.612.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE). The elevation in relation to mean sea level of the crest of the base flood.
BASEMENT. The portion of a building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.
BUILDING. A walled and roofed structure, including a 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, or hazardous or toxic substances).
DEVELOPMENT.
(1) Any human-made change to real estate including, but not necessarily limited to:
(a) Demolition, construction, reconstruction, repair, placement of a building, or any structural alteration to a building;
(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; and
(g) Storage of materials including the placement of gas and liquid storage tanks.
(2) DEVELOPMENT does not include routine maintenance of existing buildings and facilities, resurfacing roads, or gardening, plowing, and similar practices that do not involve filling, grading, or construction of levees.
ELEVATION CERTIFICATE. A FEMA form used to record the elevations of a building. Completing the form requires that a survey be conducted by a registered professional engineer or land surveyor. The ELEVATION CERTIFICATE is used to determine insurance rates for post-FIRM structures and can be used to support a letter of map amendment (LOMA) application.
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. 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 (SFHS) 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 determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations.
FLOOD-RESISTANT MATERIAL. Any building material capable of withstanding direct and prolonged contact with floodwaters without sustaining significant damage. Examples given in FEMA TB 2, 4, and 7, FEMA 348, ASCE 24, and the like.
FLOODPLAIN AND SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA). These two terms are synonymous. Those lands within the jurisdiction of the county that are subject to inundation by the base flood. The floodplains of the Rock River, North Channel Rock River, Coal Creek, Coal Creek Tributary, Eckhart Creek, Kyte Creek, Meridosia Ditch Creek, Mississippi River, Mill Creek, Shaffer Creek, Sylvan Slough, and un-named creek and tributary to un-named creek numbers 1, 2, and 3 are generally identified on the countywide flood insurance rate map prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and dated April 5, 2010. FLOODPLAIN also includes those areas of known flooding as identified by the county.
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 (FPE). The elevation of the base flood plus two feet of freeboard at any given location in the floodplain.
FLOODWAY. The portion of the floodplain required to store and convey the base flood. The floodway for the floodplains of the Rock River, North Channel Rock River, Coal Creek, Coal Creek Tributary, Eckhart Creek, Kyte Creek, Meridosia Ditch Creek, Mississippi River, Mill Creek, Shaffer Creek, Sylvan Slough, and un-named creek and tributary to un-named creek numbers 1 and 2, and shall be as delineated on the countywide flood insurance rate map prepared by FEMA and dated April 5, 2010. The FLOODWAYS for each of the remaining floodplains of the county shall be according to the best data available from the 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 State Historic Preservation Agency; and
(4) Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places that has been certified by the State Historic Preservation Agency, or a historic landmark designated by the city under its authority as a certified local government.
IDNR/OWR. Illinois Department of Natural Resources/Office of Water Resources.
LOWEST FLOOR. The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement) of a structure. 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 or altered so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable non-elevation design requirements of § 154.616.
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 and is registered with the state as a MANUFACTURED HOME.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION. A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more lots for rent or sale designed for the placement of manufactured homes.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION, EXISTING. 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.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION, EXPANSION TO AN EXISTING. 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).
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION, NEW. 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.
NEW CONSTRUCTION. Structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of floodplain management regulations adopted by a community and includes any subsequent improvements of such structures.
NFIP. National Flood Insurance Program.
NON-CONVERSION AGREEMENT. A form provided by the Floodplain Administrator to be signed by the owner and recorded in the public records stating the owner agrees to not convert or modify the following in any manner that is inconsistent with the terms of the building permit and this chapter:
(1) An enclosure below an elevated building;
(2) Crawl/underfloor spaces that are more than five feet in height (measured from the lowest interior grade or floor to the bottom of the floor system above); and
(3) A detached structure that is not elevated and is larger than 70 square feet in area.
PROLONGED CONTACT. At least 72 hours.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE or TRAVEL TRAILER. A vehicle which is:
(1) Built on a single chassis;
(2) Four hundred square feet or less in size; and
(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 STRUCTURE. A structure having flood related damages 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 FLOODPLAIN.
SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. Any damage requiring more than low-cost cosmetic repair (such as painting).
START OF CONSTRUCTION.
(1) 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.
(2) 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 BUILDING.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cumulative percentage of damage during a ten-year period ending on the date of the last damage event equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred regardless of actual repair work performed. The term includes REPETITIVE LOSS STRUCTURES (see definition).
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT.
(1) Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or improvement of a structure taking place during the life of the structure in which the cumulative percentage of improvements equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure before the improvement or repair is started, or increases the floor area by more than 20%.
(2) (a) 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.
(b) This term includes structures which have incurred repetitive loss or substantial damage, regardless of the actual repair work done.
(3) 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 State 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.
(Ord. passed 5-16-2023)