Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this title shall be interpreted to give them the meaning they have in common usage and to give these regulations the most reasonable application:
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE: A structure that is accessory to, or in addition to, any use that is permitted in this title (e.g., a picnic shelter would be accessory to a campground). An accessory structure is secondary to the primary use that is permitted and complies with all other conditions imposed by this title and otherwise provided for by law. Accessory structures are also referred to as appurtenant structures. An accessory structure is a structure which is in the same property ownership as a principal structure and the use which is incidental to the use of the principal structure. For example, a residential structure may have a detached garage or storage shed for garden tools as accessory structures. Other examples of accessory structures include gazebos, picnic pavilions, boathouses, small pole barns, storage sheds, and similar buildings.
ACT: The statutes authorizing the national flood insurance program that are incorporated in 42 USC 4001-4128, or Montana floodplain and floodway management act, Montana code title 76, chapter 5.
ALTERATION: Any change or addition to a structure that either increases its external dimensions or increases its potential flood hazard.
APPEAL: A request for a review of the city of Whitefish floodplain administrator's interpretation of any provisions of this title or a request for a variance.
AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD: The land in the floodplain within the community subject to inundation by a one percent (1%) or greater chance of flooding in any given year; also commonly referred to as the 100-year floodplain. The area may be designated as zone A on the DFIRM. After detailed ratemaking has been completed in preparation for publication of the flood insurance rate map, zone A usually is refined into zones A, AO, AH, A1-30, AE, A99, AR, AR/A1-30, AR/AE, AR/AO, AR/AH, AR/A, VO, or V1-30, VE, or V. For purposes of this title the term "regulated flood hazard area" is synonymous in meaning with the phrase "area of special flood hazard" and "special flood hazard area".
ARTIFICIAL OBSTRUCTION/DEVELOPMENT: Any obstruction or development which is not natural and includes any dam, diversion, wall, riprap, embankment, levee, dike, pile, abutment, projection, revetment, excavation, channel rectification, road, bridge, conduit, culvert, building, refuse, automobile body, fill or other analogous structure or matter in, along, across or projecting into any regulated flood hazard area which may impede, retard or alter the pattern of flow of water, either in itself or by catching or collecting debris carried by the water, or that is placed where the natural flow of water would carry the same downstream to the damage or detriment of either life or property.
BASE FLOOD (FLOOD OF 100-YEAR FREQUENCY): A flood having a one percent (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. A base flood may also be referred to as a 100-year flood. A 100-year flood has nearly a twenty three percent (23%) chance of occurring in a twenty five (25) year period.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE): The elevation above sea level of the base flood in relation to the North American vertical datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). Previous FIRMs may have been published in the national geodetic vertical datum of 1929 (NGVD 29).
BASEMENT: Any area of the building, except a crawl space, having its lowest floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.
BUILDING: Any walled and roofed enclosure, including a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground, as well as a manufactured home.
CHANNEL: The geographical area within either the natural or artificial banks of a watercourse or drainway.
CHANNELIZATION PROJECT: The excavation and/or construction of an artificial channel for the purpose of diverting the entire flow of a stream from its established course.
COMMUNITY: Any state or area or political subdivision thereof, or any Indian tribe or authorized tribal organization or authorized native organization, which has authority to adopt and enforce floodplain management regulations for the areas within its jurisdiction.
CRAWL SPACE: An enclosure that has its interior floor no more than five feet (5') below the top of the next highest floor.
CRITICAL FACILITY: An activity or facility where, even a slight chance of flooding is too great a threat. Typical critical facilities include hospitals, retirement facilities, nursing homes, fire stations, police stations, storage of critical records, and similar facilities.
DNRC: Montana department of natural resources and conservation.
DESIGNATED FLOODPLAIN: A floodplain whose limits have been delineated and designated by order of the department of natural resources and conservation, pursuant to Montana Code Annotated 76-5-201 et seq.
DESIGNATED FLOODWAY: A floodway whose limits have been delineated and designated by order of the department of natural resources and conservation, pursuant to Montana Code Annotated 76-5-201 et seq.
DEVELOPMENT: Any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials.
DIGITAL FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (DFIRM): The map on which FEMA has delineated the special flood hazard areas, the base flood elevations (BFE) and the risk premium zones.
DRAINWAY: Any depression two feet (2') or more below the surrounding land serving to give direction to a current of water less than nine (9) months of the year and having a bed and well defined banks.
DWELLING: A permanent building for human habitation, a place for living purposes.
ELEVATED BUILDING: A building that has no basement and that has its lowest elevated floor raised above ground level by foundation walls, shear walls, posts, piers, pilings, or columns. A building on a crawl space is considered an elevated building.
ELIGIBLE COMMUNITY OR PARTICIPATING COMMUNITY: A community for which the federal insurance administrator has authorized the sale of flood insurance under the national flood insurance program.
ENCLOSURE: That portion of an elevated building below the lowest elevated floor that is either partially or fully shut in by rigid walls including a crawl space, sub grade crawl space, stairwell, elevator or a garage below or attached.
ENCROACHMENT: Activities or construction within the regulated flood hazard area including fill, new construction, substantial improvements, or other development.
ENCROACHMENT ANALYSIS: A hydrologic and hydraulic analysis performed by an engineer to assess the effects of the proposed artificial obstruction or nonconforming use on base flood elevation, flood flows and flood velocities.
EROSION: The process of the gradual wearing away of land masses. This peril is not per se covered under the flood insurance program.
ESTABLISH: To construct, place, insert or excavate.
EXISTING ARTIFICIAL OBSTRUCTION OR NONCONFORMING USE: An artificial obstruction or nonconforming use that was established before land use regulations were adopted pursuant to Montana Code Annotated section 76-5-301(1).
EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION: A manufactured home park or subdivision where the construction of facilities for servicing the manufactured home lots is completed before the effective date of the floodplain management regulations. This includes, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads.
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).
FEDERAL AGENCY: Any department, agency, corporation, or other entity or instrumentality of the executive branch of the federal government, and includes the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.
FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA): The agency that manages compliance with the national flood insurance program (NFIP) and provides flood hazard studies and maps.
FINISHED (HABITABLE) AREA: An enclosed area having more than twenty (20) linear feet of finished walls (paneling, etc.) or used for any purpose other than solely for parking of vehicles, building access, or storage.
FLOOD FRINGE: The identified portion of the floodplain of the regulated flood hazard area outside the limits of the floodway.
FLOOD INSURANCE: The insurance coverage provided under the national flood insurance program.
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM): See definition of Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM).
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY: The report in which FEMA has provided flood profiles, as well as the flood boundary/floodway map and the water surface profiles.
FLOOD OF 100-YEAR FREQUENCY (BASE FLOOD): A flood magnitude expected to recur on the average of once every one hundred (100) years or a flood magnitude that has a one percent (1%) chance of occurring in any given year; commonly referred to as the base flood.
FLOOD OR FLOODING: A. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:
1. The overflow of inland or tidal waters.
2. The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.
3. Mudslides (i.e., mudflows) which are proximately caused by flooding as defined in subsection A2 of this definition and are akin to a river of liquid and flowing mud on the surfaces of normally dry land areas, as when earth is carried by a current of water and deposited along the path of the current.
B. The collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in subsection A1 of this definition.
FLOOD PRONE AREA: The area of special flood hazard as identified on FEMA's flood insurance rate maps and flood insurance study.
FLOOD PROTECTION SYSTEM: Those physical structural works for which funds have been authorized, appropriated, and expended and which have been constructed specifically to modify flooding in order to reduce the extent of the area within a community subject to a "special flood hazard" and the extent of the depths of associated flooding. Such a system typically includes tidal barriers, dams, reservoirs, levees or dikes. These specialized flood modifying works are those constructed in conformance with sound engineering standards.
FLOOD RELATED EROSION: The collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as a flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding.
FLOOD RELATED EROSION AREA MANAGEMENT: The operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood related erosion damage, including, but not limited to, emergency preparedness plans, flood related erosion control works, and floodplain management regulations.
FLOOD RELATED EROSION AREA OR FLOOD RELATED EROSION PRONE AREA: A land area adjoining the shore of a lake or other body of water, which due to the composition of the shoreline or bank and high water levels or wind driven currents, is likely to suffer flood related erosion damage.
FLOODPLAIN: The areas subject to this title, generally the channel of a river or stream and the area adjoining a river or stream, which would be covered by floodwater of a base flood except for designated shallow flooding areas that receive less than one foot (1') of water per occurrence. The floodplain consists of a floodway and flood fringe where specifically designated. See definition of Regulated Flood Hazard Area.
FLOODPLAIN ADMINISTRATOR: Community official or representative appointed to administer and implement the provisions of this title.
FLOODPLAIN DEVELOPMENT PERMIT: A permit that is required before construction or development begins within any regulated flood hazard area. Permits are required to ensure that proposed development projects meet the requirements of the NFIP and the community's floodplain management ordinance.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT: 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 floodplain management regulations.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS: The term describes such state or local regulations, in any combination thereof, which provide standards for the purpose of flood damage prevention and reduction.
FLOODPROOFING: Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, HVAC systems, structures and their contents (e.g., elevating a furnace and/or electrical outlets within a structure 2 feet or more above the BFE). The term includes wet floodproofing, dry floodproofing and elevation of structures.
FLOODWAY: The identified portion of the floodplain of the regulated flood hazard area that is the channel and the area adjoining the channel that is reasonably required to carry the discharge of the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface by more than one-half foot (1/2').
FLOODWAY ENCROACHMENT LINES: The lines marking the limits of floodways on federal, state and local floodplain maps.
FREEBOARD: A factor of safety usually expressed in feet above a flood level for purposes of floodplain 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 action, bridge openings, and the hydrological effect of urbanization of the watershed.
HIGHEST ADJACENT GRADE (HAG): The highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.
HYDRAULICS: The depth of water (elevation) in a drainageway, watercourse, river or stream channel.
HYDROLOGY: The discharge in cubic feet per second (CFS) of water in a drainageway, watercourse, river or stream channel.
LETTER OF MAP AMENDMENT (LOMA): A LOMA is an official amendment, by letter, issued by FEMA to an effective NFIP map. A LOMA establishes a property's location in relation to the regulated flood hazard area. LOMAs are usually issued because a property has been inadvertently mapped as being in the floodplain. The material submitted and response from FEMA may be considered by the floodplain administrator for determining if a property or structure is within the regulated flood hazard area and subject to this title.
LETTER OF MAP CHANGE (LOMC): An official response from FEMA that amends or revises the FEMA special flood hazard area and FEMA flood insurance study for flood insurance purposes and/or flood risk hazard. They include letter of map amendment (LOMA), letter of map revision (LOMR), letter of map revision based on fill (LOMR-F), and conditional letter of map revision (CLOMR).
LETTER OF MAP REVISION (LOMR): An official FEMA amendment to the currently effective FEMA flood insurance rate map based on a physical change to the floodplain of the regulated flood hazard area. It is issued by FEMA and changes flood zones, delineations, and elevations on the FEMA flood insurance rate map and may amend the FEMA flood insurance study. It must be preceded by an approved alteration of the designated floodplain from DNRC and subsequently an amendment to the regulated flood hazard area.
LETTER OF MAP REVISION BASED ON FILL (LOMR-F): A letter of approval from FEMA removing the mandatory requirement for flood insurance on property based on placement of fill or an addition. Placement of fill or an addition must be preceded by a permit pursuant to these regulations. Placement of fill does not remove the development from the regulated flood hazard area or these regulations.
LETTER OF MAP REVISION CONDITIONAL (CLOMR): A FEMA letter of approval for a proposed physical change that when completed would propose to change the flood zones, delineation or elevations on the FEMA flood insurance rate maps and may amend the FEMA flood insurance study through a subsequent LOMR. The CLOMR may be considered in an evaluation by DNRC and the floodplain administrator during consideration of a proposed alteration to the regulated flood hazard area.
LEVEE: A manmade embankment, usually earthen, designed and constructed in accordance with sound engineering practices to contain, control or divert the flow of water to provide protection from temporary flooding. For a levee structure to be reflected on the FEMA DFIRMs as providing flood protection, the levee structure must meet the requirements set forth in 44 CFR 65.10.
LEVEE SYSTEM: A flood protection system that consists of a levee, or levees, and associated structures, such as drainage and closure devices, which are constructed and operated in accordance with sound engineering practices.
LOWEST ADJACENT GRADE (LAG): Required on the elevation certificate showing the elevation of the lowest grade adjacent to an existing or proposed development for flood insurance purposes.
LOWEST FLOOR: The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement) used for living purposes which includes working, storage, sleeping, cooking and eating, or recreation or any combination thereof. This includes any floor that could be converted to such a use such as a basement or crawl space. (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.)
LOWEST FLOOR ELEVATION (LFE): The measured distance of a building's lowest floor above the North American vertical datum (NAVD) or other datum specified on the FIRM for that location.
MTDEQ: Montana department of environmental quality.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION: A parcel or contiguous parcels of land divided into two (2) or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale. Includes the construction of facilities for servicing the manufactured home lots and at a minimum includes the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads.
MANUFACTURED OR MOBILE HOME: A structure that may be residential or nonresidential, that is transportable in one or more sections, built on a permanent chassis, and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. This includes park trailers, travel trailers, and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days.
MEAN SEA LEVEL: The North American vertical datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) or other datum to which base flood elevations are referenced.
MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION (MTDNRC): The department responsible for the comprehensive program for the delineation of designated floodplains and designated floodways for each watercourse and drainway in the state.
MUDSLIDE (MUDFLOW): A condition where there is a river, flow or inundation of liquid mud down a hillside usually as a result of a dual condition of loss of brush cover, and the subsequent accumulation of water on the ground preceded by a period of unusually heavy or sustained rain. A mudslide (i.e., mudflow) may occur as a distinct phenomenon while a landslide is in progress, and will be recognized as such by the administrator only if the mudflow, and not the landslide, is the proximate cause of damage that occurs.
NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM (NFIP): 44 CFR chapter I, parts 59-79. The NFIP is a federal program enabling property owners in participating communities to purchase insurance as a protection against flood losses in exchange for state and community floodplain management regulations that reduce future flood damages. Participation in the NFIP is based on an agreement between communities and the federal government. If a community adopts and enforces a floodplain management ordinance to reduce future flood risk to new construction in floodplains, the federal government will make flood insurance available within the community as a financial protection against flood losses. This insurance is designed to provide an insurance alternative to disaster assistance to reduce the escalating costs of repairing damage to buildings and their contents caused by floods.
NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM OF 1929 (NGVD 29): Formerly the official vertical datum for the United States; has been replaced with NAVD 88.
NEW CONSTRUCTION: For floodplain management purposes, new construction means structures for which the start of construction (including clearing, grading, filling, or excavating to prepare the site for construction) commenced on or after the effective date of these regulations and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures. Structures include, new "stick built", manufactured homes, mobile homes, or "moved onto site" 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 (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 floodplain management regulations adopted by the community.
NONRESIDENTIAL: Buildings including manufactured homes that are not residential including commercial, agricultural, industrial buildings and accessory buildings. See definition of Residential Building.
NORTH AMERICAN VERTICAL DATUM OF 1988 (NAVD 88): The official vertical datum for the United States.
OFFICIAL FLOODPLAIN MAPS: The flood insurance rate maps (DFIRMs) and flood boundary/floodway maps adopted and provided by the federal emergency management agency (FEMA) and/or MTDNRC for the city of Whitefish.
100-YEAR FLOOD: One percent (1%) annual chance flood. A 100-year flood has nearly a twenty three percent (23%) chance of occurring in a twenty five (25) year period. A 100-year flood is the same as a base flood. See definition of Base Flood (Flood Of 100-Year Frequency).
OWNER: Any person who has dominion over, control of, or title to an artificial obstruction.
PERMIT ISSUING AUTHORITY: The city council of the city of Whitefish.
PERSON: Includes any individual or group of individuals, corporation, partnership, association, or any other entity, including state and local governments and agencies.
REASONABLY SAFE FROM FLOODING: The community must review all permit applications to determine whether the proposed building sites will be reasonably safe from flooding as one of the minimum NFIP floodplain management requirements established by NFIP regulations. If the community determines that a site is not reasonably safe from flooding, it must require mitigation actions be undertaken to reduce the structure's flood damage potential.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE: A park trailer, travel trailer, or other similar vehicle which is: a) built on a single chassis; b) four hundred (400) square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projections; c) designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and d) designed primarily for use as temporary living quarters for recreation, camping, travel or seasonal use, not for use as a permanent dwelling.
REGULATED FLOOD HAZARD AREA: A floodplain whose limits have been designated pursuant to part 2, chapter 5 of title 76, Montana Code Annotated, and is determined to be the area adjoining the watercourse that would be covered by the floodwater of a base flood. The regulated flood hazard area consists of the floodway and flood fringe where specifically designated. For purposes of this title the term "regulated flood hazard area" is synonymous in meaning with the phrase "area of special flood hazard" and "special flood hazard area".
RESIDENTIAL BUILDING: A dwelling or building for living purposes or places of assembly or permanent use by human beings and including any mixed use of residential and nonresidential use. All other buildings are nonresidential.
RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURE TYPES: A. Nonresidential: Includes, but is not limited to: small business concerns, churches, schools, farm buildings (including grain bins and silos), pool houses, clubhouses, recreational buildings, mercantile structures, agricultural and industrial structures, warehouses, hotels and motels with normal room rentals for less than six (6) months' duration, and nursing homes.
B. Single-Family Residence: A residential single- family dwelling. Incidental office, professional, private school, or studio occupancies, including a small service operation, are permitted if such incidental occupancies are limited to less than fifty percent (50%) of the building's total floor area as per zoning regulations.
C. Two- To Four-Family Residence: A residential building (excluding hotels and motels with normal room rentals for less than 6 months' duration) containing no more than four (4) dwelling units. Incidental occupancies such as office, professional, private school, or studio space are permitted if the total area of such occupancies is limited to less than twenty five percent (25%) of the total floor area within the building per the zoning regulations.
D. Other Residential: Hotels or motels where the normal occupancy of a guest is six (6) months or more; a tourist home or rooming house which has more than four (4) roomers. A residential building (excluding hotels and motels with normal room rentals for less than 6 months' duration) containing more than four (4) dwelling units. Incidental occupancies such as office, professional private school, or studio occupancy, are permitted if the total area of such incidental occupancies is limited to less than twenty five percent (25%) of the total floor area within the building.
RIPRAP: Stone, rocks, concrete blocks or analogous material that is placed along the banks or bed of a stream to alleviate erosion.
RIVERINE: Relating to, formed by, or resembling a river (including tributaries), stream, brook, etc.
SCOUR DEPTH: The maximum depth of streambed scour caused by erosive forces of the base flood.
SECTION 1316: Section of the national flood insurance act of 1968, as amended, which states that no new flood insurance coverage shall be provided for any property that FEMA finds has been declared by a duly constituted state or local zoning authority or other authorized public body to be in violation of state or local laws, regulations, or ordinances that are intended to discourage or otherwise restrict land development or occupancy in flood prone areas.
SETBACK: The amount of distance between the stream bank of the river or stream and the proposed use, where the stream bank is the 100-year flood boundary.
SHEET FLOW HAZARD: A type of flood hazard with flooding depths of one to three feet (3') that occurs in areas of sloping land. The sheet flow hazard is represented by the zone designation AO on the FIRM.
SINGLE STRUCTURE (SINGLE BUILDING): A building that is separated from other structures by intervening clear spell or solid, vertical, load bearing division walls.
SOLID PERIMETER FOUNDATION WALLS: Walls that are used as a means of elevating a building in A zones and that must contain sufficient openings to allow for the unimpeded flow of floodwaters more than one foot (1') deep.
SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA: Land area which has been specifically identified by FEMA as the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent (1%) or greater chance of flooding in any given year. It is useful for the purposes of identifying flood hazards by local governments for regulatory purposes as well as use by the NFIP for establishing risk zones and flood insurance premium rates. The FEMA flood hazard area zone designation or flood risk potential is illustrated on FEMA's flood insurance rate map. For purposes of this title the term "regulated flood hazard area" is synonymous in meaning with the phrase "area of special flood hazard" and "special flood hazard area".
START OF CONSTRUCTION: Commencement of clearing, grading, filling, or excavating to prepare a site for construction. It includes substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition placement, or other improvement was within one hundred eighty (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 the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling; nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers, or foundations or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include 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. For a substantial improvement, the 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. In those jurisdictional areas not requiring a building permit these regulations shall apply as to the date to the actual start of either the first placement of permanent construction or placement of a manufactured home on a foundation as described above.
STRUCTURE: Any artificial obstruction.
SUBGRADE CRAWL SPACE: A crawl space foundation enclosure that has its interior floor no more than five feet (5') below the top of the next highest floor and no more than two feet (2') below the lowest adjacent grade on all sides. A foundation exceeding either dimension is a basement.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE: Damage sustained by a structure where the cost of restoring the structure to its condition before damage would equal or exceed fifty percent (50%) of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT: Any repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the market value of the structure either: a) before the improvement or repair is started; or b) if the structure has been damaged, and is being restored, before the damage occurred. For the purposes of this definition, substantial improvement is considered to occur when the first construction to any wall, ceiling, floor or other structural part of the building commences. 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 state inventory of historic places.
SUITABLE FILL: Fill material which is stable, compacted, well graded, pervious, generally unaffected by water and frost, devoid of trash or similar foreign matter, devoid of tree stumps, or other organic material; and is fitting for the purpose of supporting the intended use and/or permanent structure.
UTILITIES: If a proposed building site is in a regulated flood hazard area, the building support utility systems for all new construction and substantial improvements shall:
A. Be constructed with electrical, heating, ventilation, plumbing, and air conditioning equipment and other service facilities that are designed and/or located so as to prevent water from entering or accumulating within the components during conditions of flooding;
B. Require within flood prone areas new and replacement water supply systems to be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of floodwaters into the systems;
C. Require within flood prone areas new and replacement sewage systems be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of floodwaters into the systems and discharges from the systems into floodwaters; and
D. Require on site water disposal systems be located to avoid impairment to them or contamination from them during flooding.
If a subdivision proposal or other proposed new development is in a flood prone area, any such proposals shall be reviewed to assure that all public utilities and facilities, such as sewer, gas, electrical, and water systems are located and constructed to minimize or eliminate flooding.
VARIANCE: A grant of relief from the development requirements of this title that would permit construction in a manner otherwise prohibited by this title.
VIOLATION: The failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with this title or the floodplain permit issued. A structure or other development without a floodplain permit, an elevation certificate, certification by a licensed engineer or architect of compliance with this title, or other evidence of compliance is presumed to be in violation until such time as documentation is provided.
WATER SURFACE ELEVATION: The height, in relation to the North American vertical datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) (or other datum, where specified), of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of riverine areas. (Ord. 15-16, 10-5-2015)