The following uses and no others shall be permitted by right
in the Floodplain Conservation District in compliance with the requirements
of this article:
(a) Cultivation and harvesting of crops in accordance with recognized
soil conservation practices;
(b) Pasture and grazing land in accordance with recognized soil conservation
practices;
(c) Outdoor plant nurseries or orchards in accordance with recognized
soil conservation practices;
(d) Wildlife sanctuaries, woodland preserves, arboretums and passive
recreation or parks, including hiking, bicycle and bridle trails,
but not including facilities subject to damage by flooding;
(e) Forestry lumbering and reforestation in accordance with recognized
natural resource conservation practices, but permitting structures;
(f) Utility transmission lines;
(g) Sealed public water supply wells and pipelines, with approval of
proper state agencies;
(h) Sanitary sewers and storm sewers, with approval of proper state agencies
and the Township Engineer;
(i) Front, side and rear yards and the required lot area for any district;
and
(j) Public roadways, with approval of applicable state agencies and the
Board of Supervisors.
Any use or activity not authorized within Section
1290.12, herein, shall be prohibited within the Floodplain Conservation District and the following activities and facilities are specifically prohibited:
(a) Freestanding structures, buildings, mobile homes, manufactured homes,
recreational vehicles, retaining walls and any grading or filling,
with the exception of flood retention dams, as approved by the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection and the Township Engineer;
(b) The relocation of any watercourse, without the approval of the Board
of Supervisors or without a permit from the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection. Where an encroachment permit is required
by the Department, such permit application shall be forwarded to any
affected adjacent municipality, the Pennsylvania Department of Community
and Economic Development and the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) 30 days prior to any hearing or formal Board action;
(c) Sanitary landfills, dumps, junkyards, outdoor storage of vehicles
and miscellaneous materials or storage of any buoyant, toxic or dangerous
materials;
(d) On-site sewage disposal systems;
(e) Private water supply wells;
(f) Paved or all-weather parking lots, private roads and driveways;
(g) Encroachments or any development in the Floodway Area/District that
would cause any rise in the one-hundred-year (one-percent-annual-chance)
base flood elevation; and
(h) Stripping of topsoil, ground cover or vegetation, or the removal
of trees within 20 feet of a stream bank.
The following uses shall be banned in any FP Floodplain Conservation
District and no variance thereto shall be granted:
(a) Any new or substantially improved structure which will be used for
the production or storage of any of the following dangerous materials
or substances, or which will be used for any activity requiring the
maintenance of a supply of more than five gallons, or other comparable
volume, of any other of the following dangerous materials or substances,
on the premises or will involve the production, storage, or use of
any amount of a radioactive substance:
(11)
Nitric acid and oxides of nitrogen.
(12)
Petroleum products (gasoline, fuel oil, etc.).
(16)
Sulfur and sulfur products.
(17)
Pesticides (including insecticides, fungicides, and rodenticides).
(18)
Radioactive substances, insofar as such substances are not otherwise
regulated.
(b) The construction, enlargement or expansion of any structure used
or intended to be used for any of the following:
(c) The
commencement of or any construction of a new manufactured home park
or manufactured home subdivision or any substantial improvement to
an existing manufactured home park or manufactured home subdivision.
All subdivision proposals and development proposals containing
at least 50 lots or at least five acres, whichever is the lesser,
proposed to be entirely or partially located within flood hazard areas
where base flood elevation data are not available, shall be supported
by hydrologic and hydraulic engineering analyses that determine base
flood elevations and floodway information. The analyses shall be prepared
by a licensed professional engineer in a format required by FEMA for
a conditional letter of map revision or letter of map revision. Submittal
requirements and processing fees shall be the responsibility of the
applicant.
The provisions of this Ordinance do not require any changes or improvements to be made to lawfully existing structures. However, when an improvement is made to any existing structure, the provisions of Section
1290.17 of this ordinance and Chapter
1296, Nonconforming Uses, shall apply.
The following provisions shall apply whenever any improvement
is made to an existing structure located within any Floodplain Conservation
District:
(a) No expansion or enlargement of an existing structure shall be allowed
within any Floodway Area that would cause any increase in the elevation
of the base flood elevation and the appropriate permit is obtained
from the Department of Environmental Protection Regional Office.
(b) No expansion or enlargement of an existing structure shall be allowed within any AE Area/District without floodway, as defined in Section
1290.08(b), that would, together with all other existing and reasonably anticipated development, increase the BFE more than one foot at any point.
(c) Within any AE Area/District without a floodway, no new construction
or development shall be located within the area measured 50 feet landward
from the top-of-bank of any watercourse, unless the appropriate permit
is obtained from the Department of Environmental Protection Regional
Office.
(d) Any modification, alteration, reconstruction, or improvement, of
any kind to an existing structure, to an extent or amount of 50% or
more of its market value, shall constitute a substantial improvement
and shall be undertaken only in full compliance with the provisions
of this Ordinance.
(e) Historic structures undergoing repair or rehabilitation that would
constitute a substantial improvement as defined in this ordinance
must comply with all chapter requirements that do not preclude the
structure's continued designation as an historic structure. Documentation
that a specific chapter requirement will cause removal of the structure
from the National Register of Historic Places or the State Inventory
of Historic Places must be obtained from the Secretary of the Interior
or the State Historic Preservation Officer. Any exemption from the
chapter requirements will be the minimum necessary to preserve the
historic character and design of the structure.
(f) The above activity shall also address the requirements of the 34
Pa. Code, as amended, and the 2009 IBC and the 2009 IRC or latest
revisions thereof.
(g) Any modification, alteration, reconstruction or improvement of any
kind to an existing structure, to an extent or amount of less than
50% of its market value, shall be elevated and/or floodproofed to
the greatest extent possible.