The intent of this chapter is:
A.
The floodplain area includes the areas of the Borough which are subject
to periodic inundation by floodwaters. This inundation results in
loss of life and property, health and safety hazards, disruption of
commerce and governmental services, extraordinary public expenditures
for flood protection and relief, impairment of the tax base, and other
adverse effects on the public health, safety, and general welfare.
B.
In the interest of public health, safety and welfare, the regulations
of the floodplain area are designed and intended to protect floodplain
areas subject to and necessary for floodwaters, to permit and encourage
the retention of open land uses so located and utilized as to constitute
a harmonious and appropriate part of the physical development of the
Borough as provided for in its Comprehensive Plan, and to guide incompatible
development into more-appropriate zoning districts.
C.
In advancing these principles and the general purposes of this chapter,
the Comprehensive Plan, and the Borough Zoning Ordinance,[1] the specific intent of this chapter with respect to the
floodplain district includes the following:
(1)
To combine with present regulations, certain restrictions necessary
for the control of floodplains for the health, safety and welfare
of the community.
(2)
To prevent the erection of structures in areas unfit for human usage
by reason of damage from flooding.
(3)
To minimize danger to public health by protecting water quality and
promoting safe and sanitary drainage.
(4)
To control development which, acting alone or in combination with
similar development, will create and impose additional unjustified
burdens on the community, its governmental units, and its individuals
for the costs of flood-control work, rescue, relief, emergency preparedness
measures, sandbagging, pumping, and temporary dikes or levees, as
well as business interruptions, factory closings, disruptions of transportation
routes, and interference with utility services, as well as other factors
that result in loss of wages, sales, and production and generally
adversely affect the economic well being of the community.
(5)
To maintain a stable tax base through the preservation or enhancement
of property values adjacent to the floodplain, as well as by preventing
the creation of future flood-blighted areas on floodplains.
(6)
To permit certain uses which can appropriately be located in the
floodplain as herein defined without impeding the flow of floodwaters
or otherwise causing danger or damage to life or property at, above,
or below their locations in the floodplain.
(7)
To permit certain uses in the floodplain in ways that preserve natural
conditions conducive to the maintenance of ecological balance, wildlife
and productive wildlife habitat, marine life and productive marine
habitat, other healthy biotic systems, scenic and natural values,
constant rates of water flow throughout the year, and areas for groundwater
absorption for sustaining the subsurface water supply.
(8)
To provide sufficient unimpeded drainagecourses and prohibit the
restriction of their carrying capacities so as to safely carry abnormal
flows of stormwater from periods of heavy precipitation.
(9)
To encourage the utilization of appropriate construction practices
that will minimize flood damage in the future.
(10)
To prevent the placement of materials which might be swept by
floods onto other lands or downstream causing injury to others.
(11)
To provide for public awareness of flooding potential and to
discourage and protect unwary individuals from buying land and structures
that are unsuited for intended purposes because of flood hazards.
(12)
To regulate uses, activities, development, and structures which,
acting alone or in combination with existing or future uses, activities,
development, or structures, will cause increases in flood heights,
velocities, and frequencies.
(13)
To provide areas for the deposition of sediment.
(14)
To protect people and property in other municipalities within
the same watershed from the impact of improper development in floodplains
and the consequent increased potential for flooding.
D.
To comply with federal and state floodplain management requirements.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person, partnership, business or corporation
to undertake, or cause to be undertaken, any construction or development
anywhere within the Borough of Denver unless a permit has been obtained
from the floodplain administrator.
B.
A permit shall not be required for minor repairs to existing buildings
or structures.
This chapter supersedes any other conflicting provisions which
may be in effect in identified floodplain areas. However, any other
ordinance provisions shall remain in full force and effect to the
extent that those provisions are more restrictive. If there is any
conflict between any of the provisions of this chapter, the more restrictive
shall apply.
If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, or
phrase of this chapter shall be declared invalid for any reason whatsoever,
such a decision shall not affect the remaining portions of the chapter,
which shall remain in full force and effect, and for this purpose
the provisions of this chapter are hereby declared to be severable.
A.
The degree of flood protection sought by the provisions of this chapter
is considered reasonable for regulatory purposes and is based on accepted
engineering methods of study. Larger floods may occur, or flood heights
may be increased by man-made or natural causes, such as ice jams and
bridge openings restricted by debris. This chapter does not imply
that areas outside any identified floodplain areas, or that land uses
permitted within such areas, will be free from flooding or flood damages.
B.
This chapter shall not create liability on the part of the Borough
of Denver or any officer or employee thereof for any flood damages
that result from reliance on this chapter or any administrative decision
lawfully made thereunder.
