For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE. Structures that are located on the same parcel of property as the principal structure and the use of which is incidental to the use of the principal structure. ACCESSORY STRUCTURES should constitute a minimal investment, may not be used for human habitation, and be designed to have minimal flood damage potential. Examples of ACCESSORY STRUCTURES are detached garages, carports, storage sheds, pole barns, and hay sheds.
ADDITION (TO AN EXISTING BUILDING). An extension or increase in the floor area or height of a building or structure. ADDITIONS TO EXISTING BUILDINGS shall comply with the requirements for new construction regardless as to whether the addition is a substantial improvement or not. Where a firewall or load-bearing wall is provided between the addition and the existing building, the addition(s) shall be considered a separate building and must comply with the standards for new construction.
AGRICULTURE STRUCTURE. A structure used solely for agricultural purposes in which the use is exclusively in connection with the production, harvesting, storage, drying, or raising of agricultural commodities, including the raising of livestock. AGRICULTURAL STRUCTURES are not exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
APPEAL. A request for a review of the local administrator’s interpretation of any provision of this chapter.
AREA OF SHALLOW FLOODING. A designated AO or VO Zone on a community’s flood insurance rate map (FIRM) with base flood depths of one to three feet where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate, and where velocity flow may be evident.
AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD. The land in the floodplain within a community subject to a 1% or greater chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
BASE FLOOD. The flood having a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
BASEMENT. Means any enclosed area of a building that is below grade on all sides.
BUILDING. Any structure built for support, shelter, or enclosure for any occupancy or storage.
CRITICAL DEVELOPMENT. Development that is critical to the community’s public health and safety, is essential to the orderly functioning of a community, store or produce highly volatile, toxic or water-reactive materials, or house occupants that may be insufficiently mobile to avoid loss of life or injury. Examples of CRITICAL DEVELOPMENT include jails, hospitals, schools, fire stations, nursing homes, wastewater treatment facilities, water plants, and gas/oil/propane storage facilities.
DEVELOPMENT. Any man-made 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.
ELEVATED BUILDING. A non-basement building built to have the lowest floor elevated above the ground level by means of fill, solid foundation perimeter walls, pilings, columns, piers, or shear walls parallel to the flow of water.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11988 (FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT). Issued by President Carter in 1977, this order requires that no federally assisted activities be conducted in or have the potential to affect identified special flood hazard areas, unless there is no practicable alternative.
EXISTING CONSTRUCTION. Means, for the purposes of determining rates, structures for which the start of construction commenced before February 3, 1993 (initial FIRM date, or before January 1, 1975, for FIRMs effective before that date).
EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR MANUFACTURED HOME 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 before the initial ordinance date of November 4, 1981.
EXPANSION TO AN EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR MANUFACTURED HOME 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 slabs).
FLOOD. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow of inland or tidal waters, or the unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of surface waters from any source.
FLOOD HAZARD BOUNDARY MAP (FHBM). An official map of a community, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where the boundaries of the areas of special flood hazard have been defined as Zone A.
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM). An official map of a community, on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY. The official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The report contains flood profiles, as well as the flood boundary floodway maps, non-encroachment area maps and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
FLOOD-RESISTANT MATERIAL. Any building material capable of withstanding direct and prolonged contact (minimum 72 hours) with floodwaters without sustaining damage that requires more than low-cost cosmetic repair. Any material that is water-soluble or is not resistant to alkali or acid in water, including normal adhesives for above-grade use, is not flood-resistant. Pressure-treated lumber or naturally decay-resistant lumbers are acceptable flooring materials. Sheet-type flooring coverings that restrict evaporation from below and materials that are impervious, but dimensionally unstable are not acceptable. Materials that absorb or retain water excessively after submergence are not flood-resistant. Please refer to Technical Bulletin 2-93, Flood-Resistant Materials for Buildings Located in Special Flood Hazard Areas in Accordance with the National Flood Insurance Program, document number FIA-TB-2, dated 4/93, and available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Class 4 and 5 materials, referenced therein, are acceptable FLOOD-RESISTANT MATERIALS.
FLOODWAY. The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot.
FREEBOARD. 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 action, bridge openings, and the hydrological effect of urbanization of the watershed.
FUNCTIONALLY DEPENDENT FACILITY. A facility which cannot be used for its intended purpose unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water, such as a docking or port facility necessary for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers, shipbuilding, ship repair, or seafood processing facilities. The term does not include long-term storage, manufacture, sales, or service facilities.
HIGHEST ADJACENT GRADE. The highest natural elevation of the ground surface, prior to construction, next to the proposed walls of the structure.
HISTORIC STRUCTURE. Any structure that is:
(1) Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)) 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 historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;
(3) Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places;
(4) Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified:
(a) By an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of Interior; or
(b) Directly by the Secretary of Interior in states without approved programs. Some structures or districts listed on the state or local inventories may not be “historic” as cited above, but have been included on the inventories because it was believed that the structures or districts have the potential for meeting the “historic” structure criteria of the DOI. In order for these structures to meet NFIP historic structure criteria, it must be demonstrated and evidenced that the South Carolina Department of Archives and History has individually determined that the structure or district meets DOI historic structure criteria.
INCREASED COST OF COMPLIANCE (ICC). Applies to all new and renewed flood insurance policies effective on and after June 1, 1997. The NFIP shall enable the purchase of insurance to cover the cost of compliance with land use and control measures established under Section 1361. It provides coverage for the payment of a claim to help pay for the cost to comply with state or community floodplain management laws or ordinances after a flood event in which a building has been declared substantially or repetitively damaged.
LIMITED STORAGE. An area used for storage and intended to be limited to incidental items that can withstand exposure to the elements and have low flood damage potential. Such an area must be of flood resistant or breakaway material, void of utilities except for essential lighting and cannot be temperature controlled. If the area is located below the base flood elevation in an A, AE and Al -A30 zone it must meet the requirements of § 151.35(D).
LOWEST ADJACENT GRADE (LAG). An elevation of the lowest ground surface that touches any of the exterior walls of a building or proposed building walls.
LOWEST FLOOR. The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area. Any 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 an enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of other provisions of this chapter.
MANUFACTURED HOME. A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. MANUFACTURED HOME does not include a recreational vehicle.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION. A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
MEAN SEA LEVEL. The Nations Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929, North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988, or other datum, to which the base flood elevations shown on a community's Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) are shown.
NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM (NGVD). As corrected in 1929, elevation reference points set by National Geodetic Survey based on mean sea level.
NEW CONSTRUCTION.
Structure for which the start of construction commenced after November 4, 1981. The term also includes any subsequent improvements to such structure.
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 slabs) is completed on or before November 4, 1981.
NON-ENCROACHMENT AREA (NEA). The channel of a river or other watercourse, including the area above a bridge or culvert when applicable, and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot as designated in the Flood Insurance Study report.
NORTH AMERICAN VERTICAL DATUM (NAVD) OF 1988. Vertical control, as corrected in 1988, used as the reference datum on Flood Insurance Rate Maps.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE. A vehicle which is:
(1) Built on a single chassis;
(2) Four hundred square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;
(3) Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and
(4) Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling, but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.
REPETITIVE LOSS. A building covered by a contract for flood insurance that has incurred flood-related damages on two occasions during a ten-year period ending on the date of the event for which a second claim is made, in which the cost of repairing the flood damage, on the average, equaled or exceeded 25% of the market value of the building at the time of each such flood event.
SECTION 1316 OF THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE ACT OF 1968. The act provides that no new flood insurance shall be provided for any property found by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to have been declared by a state or local authority to be in violation of state or local ordinances.
SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA). Is defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as an area having special flood, mudflow or flood-related erosion hazards and shown on a Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM) or a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Zone A, AO, A1-A30, AE, A99, AH, AR, AR/A, AR/AE, AR/AH, AR/AO, AR/A1-A30, V1-V30, VE or V. The SFHA is the area where the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP’s) floodplain management regulations must be enforced and the area where the mandatory purchase of flood insurance applies. For the purpose of determining Community Rating System (CRS) premium discounts, all AR and A99 zones are treated as non-SFHAs.
START OF CONSTRUCTION. For other than new construction or substantial improvements under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (P.L. 97-348), includes substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or improvement was within 180 days of the permit date. The ACTUAL START means the first placement of permanent construction of a structure (including a manufactured home) on a site, such as the pouring of slabs or footings, installation of piles, 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 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 the building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.
STRUCTURE. A walled and roofed building, a manufactured home, including a gas or liquid storage tank, or other man-made facility or infrastructure that is principally above ground.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. Such repairs may be undertaken successively and their costs counted cumulatively. Please refer to the definition of SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT. Any repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement. This term includes structures that have incurred substantial damage, regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either:
(1) Any project of improvement to a structure to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions (does not include American with Disabilities Act compliance standards); or
(2) Any alteration of a historic structure, provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as a historic structure.
(3) Permits shall be cumulative for a period of five years, If the improvement project is conducted in phases, the total of all costs associated with each phase, beginning with the issuance of the first permit, shall be utilized to determine whether SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT will occur.
SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVED EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION. Where the repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation or improvement of the streets, utilities and pads equals or exceeds 50% of the value of the streets, utilities and pads before the repair, reconstruction, or improvement commenced.
VARIANCE. Is a grant of relief from a term or terms of this chapter.
VIOLATION. The failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with these regulations.
(Ord. 2508, passed 6-2-08; Am. Ord. 114, passed 1-21-14; Am. Ord. 417, passed 3-6-17; Am. Ord. 2221, passed 5-17-21)