Borough of Denver, PA Article IV Identification of Floodplain Areas

§ 114-16 Identification of areas.

A. The identified floodplain area shall be:

(1) Any areas of the Borough of Denver classified as special flood hazard areas (SFHAs) in the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) and the accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), dated April 5, 2016, and issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), or the most-recent revision thereof, including all digital data developed as part of the Flood Insurance Study; and

(2) Any community-identified flood hazard areas.

B. The above-referenced FIS and FIRMs, and any subsequent revisions and amendments, are hereby adopted by the Borough of Denver and declared to be a part of this chapter.

§ 114-17 Description and special requirements of identified floodplain areas.

The identified floodplain area shall consist of the following specific areas:

A. The Floodway Area shall be those areas identified in the FIS and the FIRM as floodway and which represent the channel of a watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without increasing the water surface elevation by more than one foot at any point. This term shall also include floodway areas which have been identified in other available studies or sources of information for those special flood hazard areas where no floodway has been identified in the FIS and FIRM.

(1) Within any Floodway Area, no encroachments, including fill, new construction, substantial improvements, or other development, shall be permitted unless it has been demonstrated through hydrologic and hydraulic analysis performed in accordance with standard engineering practice that the proposed encroachment would not result in any increase in flood levels within the community during the occurrence of the base flood discharge.

(2) Within any Floodway Area, no new construction or development shall be allowed, unless the appropriate permit is obtained from the Department of Environmental Protection's regional office.

B. The AE Area/District shall be those areas identified as an AE Zone on the FIRM included in the FIS prepared by FEMA for which base flood elevations have been provided.

(1) The AE Area adjacent to the floodway shall be those areas identified as an AE Zone on the FIRM included in the FIS prepared by FEMA for which base flood elevations have been provided and a floodway has been delineated.

C. The A Area/District shall be those areas identified as an A Zone on the FIRM included in the FIS prepared by FEMA and for which no base flood elevations have been provided. For these areas, the municipality may require the applicant to determine the elevation with hydrologic and hydraulic engineering techniques. Hydrologic and hydraulic analyses shall be undertaken only by professional engineers or others of demonstrated qualifications, who shall certify that the technical methods used correctly reflect currently accepted technical concepts. Studies, analyses, computations, etc., shall be submitted in sufficient detail to allow a thorough technical review by the municipality.

D. Community-identified flood hazard areas shall be those areas where Borough of Denver has identified local flood hazard or ponding areas, as delineated and adopted on a local flood hazard map using best available topographic data and locally derived information, such as flood of record, historic high-water marks, soils or approximate study methodologies, including but not limited to:

(1) All land within the one-hundred- and five-hundred-year floodplain identified on the latest FIRM by the United States Geological Survey or the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

(2) All land delineated by the soil survey as possessing alluvial or floodplain soils. The following soils (listed by map symbol and mapping unit name) are the soils indicated as alluvial by the United States Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service in maps and data comprising the Soil Survey, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, issued May, 1985, or any subsequent revision thereto:

	Ac	Alluvial land
	BfA	Bowmansville silt loam, slopes of 0% to 6%
	CfA	Chewacla silt loam, slopes of 0% to 3%
	CmA	Congaree silt loam, slopes of 0% to 3%
	HcA	Huntingdon fine sandy loam, slopes of 0% to 3%
	HdA	Huntingdon silt loam, slopes of 0% to 3%
	HeA	Huntingdon silt loam, local alluvium, slopes of 0% to 3%
	LnA	Lindside silt loam, slopes of 0% to 3%
	LoA	Lindside silt loam, local alluvium, slopes of 0% to 3%
	LoB	Lindside silt loam, slopes 3% to 6%, except colluviums
	MfA	Melvin silt loam, slopes of 0% to 3%
	Rb	Riverwash
	RcA	Roland and Bermudian silt loams, slopes of 0% to 3%
	WcA	Wehadkee silt loam, slopes of 0% to 3%

(3) All land which has been flooded by floods of record.

(4) All additional land delineated by the following Subsection E.

E. Where the complete and definitive information necessary to delineate the boundary of the floodplain area is not available to the Zoning Officer in his consideration of an application for a permit, he shall require such on-site studies and/or surveys to be made as are necessary to fix the precise boundaries of the floodplain area as defined in §§ 114-16 and 114-17 above. Such studies and surveys shall be signed, sealed and certified by a licensed professional registered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to perform such studies and surveys. Such certification shall acknowledge the accuracy of the study or survey and the qualification of the individual to perform such study or survey. Copies of such studies and surveys shall be submitted by the Zoning Officer to the Borough Engineer and the United States Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service, who shall have 30 days to comment. Any property owner whose property is so studies and/or surveyed to justify an application for a permit shall pay all costs of these studies and surveys, except for work done under retainer to or on behalf of the Borough.

§ 114-18 Changes in identification of area.

The identified floodplain area may be revised or modified by the Council where studies or information provided by a qualified agency or person documents the need for such revision. However, prior to any such change to the special flood hazard area, approval must be obtained from FEMA. Additionally, as soon as practicable, but not later than six months after the date such information becomes available, a community shall notify FEMA of the changes to the special flood hazard area by submitting technical or scientific data. See § 114-21B for situations where FEMA notification is required.

§ 114-19 Boundary disputes.

A. Should a dispute concerning any identified floodplain boundary arise, an initial determination shall be made by the floodplain administrator, and any party aggrieved by this decision or determination may appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board. The burden of proof shall be on the appellant. The appellant shall pay all costs associated with the hearing before the Zoning Hearing Board, including all costs for advertising public notice, for fees to the Zoning Hearing Board members, for fees to the Borough Solicitor, and for all stenographic records, including the attendance of a stenographer and, when necessary, the transcription of the records.

B. All changes to the boundaries of the floodplain area which affect areas identified in § 114-16A(1) of this chapter are subject to the review and approval of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for compliance with the rules and regulations of the National Flood Insurance Program.

§ 114-20 Jurisdictional boundary changes.

Prior to development occurring in areas where annexation or other corporate boundary changes are proposed or have occurred, the community shall review flood hazard data affecting the lands subject to boundary changes. The community shall adopt and enforce floodplain regulations in areas subject to annexation or corporate boundary changes which meet or exceed those in 44 CFR 60.3.