The Legislature of the State of Connecticut has, in Section 7-148(c)(7)
of the General Statutes, delegated the responsibility to local governmental
units to adopt regulations designed to promote the public health, safety and
general welfare of its citizenry. Therefore, the Town Council of the Town
of Tolland, Connecticut, does ordain as follows.
A.
The flood hazard areas of the Town of Tolland are subject
to periodic inundation which 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 and impairment of the
tax base, all of which adversely affect the public health, safety and general
welfare.
B.
These flood losses are caused by the cumulative effect
of obstructions in floodplains causing increases in flood heights and velocities
and by the occupancy in flood hazard areas by uses vulnerable to floods or
hazardous to other lands which are inadequately elevated, floodproofed, or
otherwise unprotected from flood damages.
It is the purpose of this chapter to promote the public health, safety
and general welfare and to minimize public and private losses due to flood
conditions in specific areas by provisions designed to:
A.
Restrict or prohibit uses which are dangerous to health,
safety and property due to water or erosion hazards or which result in damaging
increases in erosion or in flood heights or velocities.
B.
Require that uses vulnerable to floods, including facilities
which serve such uses, be protected against flood damage at the time of initial
construction.
C.
Control the alteration of natural floodplains, stream
channels and natural protective barriers which are involved in the accommodation
of floodwaters.
D.
Control filling, grading, dredging and other development
which may increase erosion or flood damage.
E.
Prevent or regulate the construction of flood barriers
which will unnaturally divert floodwaters or which may increase flood hazards
to other lands.
The objectives of this chapter are:
A.
To protect human life and health.
B.
To minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood
control projects.
C.
To minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated
with flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public.
D.
To minimize prolonged business interruptions.
E.
To minimize damage to public facilities and utilities
such as water and gas mains, electric, telephone and sewer lines, streets
and bridges located in floodplains.
F.
To help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the
sound use and development of flood-prone areas in such a manner as to minimize
flood blight areas.
G.
To ensure that potential home buyers are notified that
property is in a flood area.
Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this chapter
shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage
and to give this chapter its most reasonable application.
Any walled and roofed expansion to the perimeter of a building in
which the addition is connected by a common load-bearing wall other than a
fire wall. Any walled and roofed addition which is connected by a fire wall
or is separated by independent perimeter load-bearing walls is new construction.
A request for a review of the Town Planner's interpretation
of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variance.
A designated AO or VO Zone on a community's Flood Insurance
Rate Map (FIRM), with base flood depths from 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
The land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one-percent
or greater chance of flooding in any given year.
The flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded
in any given year.
That portion of a building having its floor subgrade (below ground
level) on all sides.
A wall that is not part of the structural support of the building
and is intended through its design and construction to collapse under specific
lateral loading forces without causing damage to the elevated portion of the
building or supporting foundation system.
Any structure built for support, shelter or enclosure for any occupancy
or storage.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including
but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling,
grading, paving, excavating, drilling operations or permanent storage of materials.
A nonbasement building built to have the lowest floor elevated above
the ground level by means of fill, solid foundation perimeter walls, pilings,
columns (posts and piers), shear walls or breakaway walls.
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation
of normally dry land areas from:
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.
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.
The official report by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The
report contains flood profiles, as well as the Flood Boundary Floodway Map
and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
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.
The top surface of an enclosed area in a building (including basement),
i.e., top of slab in concrete slab construction or top of wood flooring in
wood frame construction. The term does not include the floor of a garage used
solely for parking vehicles.
A facility which cannot be used for its intended purpose unless it
is located 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.
The highest natural elevation of the ground surface, prior to construction,
next to the proposed walls of a structure.
The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement).
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.
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. The term also includes
park trailers, travel trailers and similar transportable structures placed
on a site for 180 consecutive days or longer and intended to be improved property.
A parcel or contiguous parcels of land divided into two or more manufactured
home lots for rent or sale.
For purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the National
Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or other datum, to which base flood
elevations shown on a community's Flood Insurance Rate Map are referenced.
As corrected in 1929, a vertical control used as a reference for
establishing varying elevations within the floodplain.
Structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after
the effective date of this chapter.
Naturally occurring accumulations of sand in ridges or mounds landward
of the beach.
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 that the actual
start of construction, repair, reconstruction 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 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.
A walled and roofed building that is principally above ground, a
manufactured home, a gas or liquid storage tank or other man-made facilities
or infrastructures.
Any combination of repairs, reconstruction, alteration or improvements
to a structure, taking place during (the life of a structure) (a one-year
period), in which the cumulative cost equals or exceeds 50% of the market
value of the structure. The market value of the structure should be the appraised
value of the structure prior to the start of the initial repair or improvement
or, in the case of damage, the value of the structure prior to the damage
occurring. For the purposes of this definition, "substantial improvement"
is considered to occur when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor
or other structural part of the building commences, whether or not that alteration
affects the external dimensions of the structure. The term does not, however,
include any project for improvement of a structure required to comply with
existing health, sanitary or safety code specifications which are solely necessary
to assure safe living conditions.
A grant of relief from the requirements of this chapter which permits
construction in a manner otherwise prohibited by this chapter where specific
enforcement would result in unnecessary hardship.
The height, in relation to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD)
of 1929, (or other datum, where specified) of floods of various magnitudes
and frequencies in the floodplains of coastal or riverine areas.
