As used in this chapter, unless specifically defined in this section, words or phrases shall be interpreted so as to give them the same meaning they have in common usage and so as to give this chapter its most reasonable application:
(1) "Actuarial rates" or "risk premium rates" means those rates established by the Federal Insurance Administrator pursuant to individual community studies and investigations which are undertaken to provide flood insurance in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 4014 and the accepted actuarial principles. Actuarial rates or risk premium rates include provisions for operating costs and allowances.
(2) "Appeal" means a request for a review of the City Inspector's interpretation of any of the provisions of this chapter or a request for a variance.
(3) "Area of shallow flooding" means a designated AO or All Zone on the City's Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) with a one percent or greater annual chance of flooding to an average depth of one to three feet, where a clearly defined channel is unpredictable and where velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.
(4) "Area of special flood hazard" means the land in the flood plain within a community subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in a given year.
(5) "Base flood elevation" means elevation indicated in the official Flood Plain Study as the elevation of the 100-year flood.
(6) "Base flood protection elevation" means an elevation one foot higher than the water surface elevation of the base flood.
(7) "Channel" means a natural or artificial watercourse of perceptible extent, with a definite bed and banks to confine and conduct continuously or periodically flowing water. "Channel flow" thus means that water which is flowing within the limits of a defined channel.
(8) "Community" means a state, area or political subdivision thereof which has the authority to adopt and enforce flood plain management regulations for the areas within its jurisdiction.
(9) "Development" means man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures or mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations.
(10) "Existing construction" means (for the purposes of determining rates) structures for which the start of construction commenced before the effective date of the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) or before January 1, 1975, for a FIRM that is effective before that date. "Existing construction" may also be referred to as "existing structures."
(11) "Flood" or "flooding" means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from A. The overflow of inland or tidal waters; or B . The unusual and rapid accumulation or run-off of surface waters from any source.
(12) "Flood Insurance Rate Map" (FIRM) means an official map of a community, on which the Flood Insurance Study has delineated the flood hazard boundaries and the zones establishing insurance rates applicable to the community.
(13) "Flood Insurance Study" means the official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The report contains flood profiles as well as the Flood Boundary Floodway Map and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
(14) "Flood plain management" means the operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damage, including, but not limited to, emergency preparedness plans, flood control works and flood plain management regulations.
(15) "Flood protection system" means those physical structural works constructed specifically to modify flooding in order to reduce the extent of the area within a community subject to a special flood hazard. Such a system typically includes levees or dikes. Such specialized modifying works are those constructed in conformity with sound engineering standards.
(16) "Flood proofing" means any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes or adjustments to structures, including utility and sanitary facilities, which would preclude the entry of water. Structural components shall have the capability of resisting hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and the effect of buoyancy.
(17) "Floodway" means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent portion of the flood plain that must be reserved in order to discharge the 100-year flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot at any point, assuming equal conveyance reduction outside the channel from the two sides of the flood plain.
(18) "Floodway fringe" means that area of the flood plain, outside of the floodway, that on the average is likely to be flooded once every 100 years (i. e. that has a one percent chance of flood occurrence in any one year).
(19) "Freeboard" means a factor of safety usually expressed in feet above a flood level for purposes of flood plain management. "Freeboard" tends to compensate for the many unknown factors that could contribute to flood heights greater than the height calculated for a selected size flood and floodway conditions, such as wave actions, clogged bridge openings and the hydrological effect of urbanization of the watershed.
(20) "Highest adjacent grade" means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.
(21) "Lowest floor" means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including the 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 nonelevation design requirements of this chapter.
(22) "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 required utilities. For flood plain management purposes, "manufactured home" also includes park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles placed on a site for longer than 180 consecutive days. For insurance purposes, "manufactured home" does not include park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles.
(23) "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.
(24) "New construction" means those structures for which the start of construction or substantial improvement is begun on or after the effective date of the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).
(25) "One-hundred year flood" means the base flood having a one percent chance of annual occurrence.
(26) "Overlay district" means a district which acts in conjunction with the underlying zoning district.
(27) "Start of construction" includes (for other than new construction or substantial improvements under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (P.L. 9?348 ) ) substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided that the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, placement or other improvement was within 180 days of the permit date. "Actual start" means 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 the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling; the installation of streets and/or walkways; excavation for a basement, footings or foundations or the erection of temporary forms; or 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.
(28) "Structure" means a walled and roofed building that is principally above ground, a manufactured home and a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground.
(29) "Substantial improvement" means any repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent of the market value of the structure either before the improvement or repair is started or, 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. "Substantial improvement" does not, however, include either a project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing State or local health, sanitary or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to ensure safe living conditions, or an alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a State Inventory of Historic Places.
(30) "Variance" means a grant of relief from the requirement of this chapter which permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this chapter where specific enforcement would result in unnecessary hardship.
(Ord. 1114. Passed 2-23-88.)