(A) A variance shall only be issued upon a determination that the variance is the minimum allowance necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief from these regulations and provided all of these findings are met:
(1) There is a a good and sufficient cause;
(2) Failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant;
(3) There are no basements nor a residential dwelling that has the lowest floor elevation below the base flood elevation;
(4) Crawl spaces’ floor are no more than two feet below the exterior lowest adjacent grade and must have an inside dimension from interior ground to the bottom of the living floor of less than five feet. The crawl spaces must meet the dry-flood-proofing requirements in § 11-1-103 of this chapter.
(5) Granting of a variance will not result in increased flood heights to existing insurable buildings, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisances, cause fraud on or victimization of the public or conflict with other existing local laws or ordinances;
(6) The proposed use is adequately flood-proofed;
(7) The variance is the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief;
(8) Reasonable alternative locations are not available;
(9) There is no danger to life and property by water that may be backed up or diverted by the obstruction or use;
(10) There is no danger that the obstruction or use will be swept downstream to the injury of others;
(11) Incorporates measures in the construction or alteration of the obstruction or use that lessens the danger;
(12) The permanence of the obstruction or use;
(13) There is no adverse affect to anticipated development in the foreseeable future of the area that may be affected by the obstruction or use;
(14) There is no adverse affect to existing properties or structures; and
(15) Any increase to the base flood elevation in a floodway has been approved by FEMA for flood insurance purposes and any increase to the base flood elevation in the floodway or floodplain of more than one-half feet is an alteration of the regulated flood hazard area has been duly amended pursuant to §§ 11-1-45 through 11-1-47 of this chapter.
(B) Special considerations for variance approval.
(1) If the new construction or substantial improvements on a lot of one-half acres or less is contiguous to and surrounded by lots of existing structures constructed below the base flood elevation, a variance may be approved. However, as lot sizes increase beyond one-half acre additional technical justification may be required.
(2) Variances may be issued for the repair or rehabilitation of historic structures upon a determination that the proposed repair or rehabilitation will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as a historic structure and the variance is the minimum relief necessary to preserve the historic character and design of the structure.
(Ord. 2013-01, passed 1-30-2013)
Federal law reference:
Variances and exceptions, see 44 C.F.R. 60.6(a), 60.6(a)(3), 60.6(a)(4)
Statutory reference:
Variance criteria, MCA 76-5-406(2), 76-5-406(4), 76-5-406(5), 76-5-406(6)
Variances generally, see ARM 36.15.218