A. Variance:
1. An application for a variance must be submitted to the city recorder on the form provided by the city of Umatilla and include, at a minimum, the same information required for a development permit and an explanation for the basis for the variance request.
2. Upon receipt of a completed application for a variance, the variance request will be set for public hearing at the next planning commission meeting in which time is available for the matter to be heard.
3. Prior to the public hearing, notice of the hearing will be published in the official newspaper of the city of Umatilla at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing. In addition to the newspaper publication, written notice shall be provided to all adjoining property owners.
4. The burden to show that the variance is warranted and meets the criteria set out herein is on the applicant.
5. In passing upon such applications, the planning commission shall consider all technical evaluations, all relevant factors, standards specified in other sections of this chapter, and the:
a. Danger that materials may be swept onto other lands to the injury of others;
b. Danger to life and property due to flooding or erosion damage;
c. Susceptibility of the proposed facility and its contents to flood damage and the effect of such damage on the individual owner;
d. Importance of the services provided by the proposed facility to the community;
e. Necessity to the facility of a waterfront location, where applicable;
f. Availability of alternative locations for the proposed use which are not subject to flooding or erosion damage;
g. Compatibility of the proposed use with existing and anticipated development;
h. The relationship of the proposed use to the comprehensive plan and floodplain management program for that area;
i. Safety of access to the property in times of flood for ordinary and emergency vehicles;
j. Expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise, and sediment transport of the floodwaters and the effects of wave action, if applicable, expected at the site; and
k. Costs of providing governmental services during and after flood conditions, including maintenance and repair of public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical, and water systems, and streets and bridges.
6. Upon consideration of the factors of subsection A5 of this section and the purposes of this chapter, the planning commission may attach such conditions to the granting of variances as it deems necessary to further the purposes of this chapter.
7. The floodplain administrator shall maintain a permanent record of all variances and report any variances to the federal emergency management agency upon request.
B. Criteria For Variances:
1. Variances shall not be issued within a designated floodway if any increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge would result.
2. Generally, the only condition under which a variance from the elevation standard may be issued is for new construction and substantial improvements to be erected on a lot of one-half (1/2) acre or less in size contiguous to and surrounded by lots with existing structures constructed below the base flood level, providing subsections A5a through A5k of this section have been fully considered. As the lot size increases the technical justification required for issuing the variance increases.
3. Variances shall only be issued upon a determination that the variance is the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief.
4. Variances shall only be issued upon a:
a. Showing of good and sufficient cause;
b. Determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant; and
c. Determination that the granting of a variance will not result in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisances, cause fraud on or victimization of the public as identified in subsection A5 of this section, or conflict with existing local laws or ordinances.
5. Variances may be issued for a water dependent use provided that the:
a. Criteria of subsections A1 through A4 of this section are met; and
b. Structure or other development is protected by methods that minimize flood damages during the base flood and create no additional threats to public safety.
6. Variances may be issued for the reconstruction, rehabilitation, or restoration of structures listed on the national register of historic places or the statewide inventory of historic properties, without regard to the procedures set forth in this section.
7. Variances as interpreted in the national flood insurance program are based on the general zoning law principle that they pertain to a physical piece of property; they are not personal in nature and do not pertain to the structure, its inhabitants, economic or financial circumstances. They primarily address small lots in densely populated residential neighborhoods. As such, variances from the flood elevations should be quite rare.
8. Variances may be issued for nonresidential buildings in very limited circumstances to allow a lesser degree of floodproofing than watertight or dry floodproofing, where it can be determined that such action will have low damage potential, complies with all other variance criteria and otherwise complies with building codes.
C. Variance Decision: The decision to either grant or deny a variance shall be in writing and shall set forth the reasons for such approval and denial. If the variance is granted, the property owner shall be put on notice along with the written decision that the permitted building will have its lowest floor below the base flood elevation and that the cost of flood insurance likely will be commensurate with the increased flood damage risk.
D. Appeals: The planning commission shall hear and decide appeals from the interpretations of the administrator.
1. An appeal must be filed with the planning commission clerk within ten (10) days of the date of any permit denial or interpretation of the administrator. Failure to timely file an appeal shall be considered a failure to exhaust the administrative remedies. The appeal must set out the interpretation of the administrator and a narrative setting forth the facts relied upon by the appellant and the appellant's claim regarding the error in the interpretation.
2. Upon receipt of a completed appeal, the appeal will be scheduled for the next available planning commission meeting to be heard. The planning commission shall consider criteria set forth in subsection B of this section in evaluating the appeal.
E. Decision: The planning commission decision on appeal shall be in writing and set out the facts, technical information and the legal basis for the decision. (Ord. 760, 8-17-2010)
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