[Amended 8-16-2000 by Ord. No. 00-09]
No structure or land shall hereafter be used and no structure shall be located, relocated, constructed, reconstructed, enlarged, substantially improved or structurally altered except in full compliance with the terms and provisions of this chapter and any other applicable ordinances and regulations which apply to uses within the jurisdiction of this chapter and all other applicable codes and ordinances such as the Middletown Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (Chapter
440) and the Middletown Township Building Code (Chapter
190, Article
II). Zoning and building permits shall be required before any construction or development is undertaken within any area of the Township. In addition, all such uses, activities and development shall be undertaken only in compliance with federal or state law, including Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 33 U.S.C. § 1334. Under no circumstances shall any use, activity and/or development adversely affect the capacity of the channels or floodways of any watercourse, drainage ditch, or any other drainage facility or system.
A. Purpose. The purpose of these provisions is to prevent the loss of property and life, the creation of health and safety hazards, the disruption of commerce and governmental services, the extraordinary and unnecessary expenditure of public funds for flood protection and relief, and to protect the tax base by:
(1) Regulating uses, activities and development which, acting alone or in combination with other existing or future uses, activities and development, will cause unacceptable increases in flood heights, velocities and frequencies.
(2) Restricting or prohibiting certain uses, activities and development from locating within areas subject to flooding.
(3) Requiring all those uses, activities and development that do occur in flood-prone areas to be protected and/or floodproofed against flooding and flood damage.
(4) Protecting individuals from buying lands and structures which are unsuited for intended purposes because of flood hazards.
B. Warning and disclaimer of liability.
(1) The degree of flood protection sought by the provisions of this chapter is considered reasonable for regulatory purposes and is based on acceptable engineering methods of study. Larger floods may occur on rare occasions. Flood heights may be increased by man-made or natural causes. This chapter does not imply that areas outside the floodplain districts or that land uses permitted within such districts will be free from flooding or flood damages.
(2) This chapter shall not create liability on the part of the Township or any officer or employee thereof for any flood damages that result from reliance on this chapter or any administrative decision lawfully made thereunder.
C. Floodplain classification.
(1) Establishment of floodplain. The floodplain shall include those areas subject to inundation by water of the one-hundred-year flood. The basis for this delineation shall be the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) for Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, prepared by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Insurance Administration, dated June 1979, and the accompanying Flood Boundary and Floodway Map, dated May 18, 1999, for areas designated floodway and flood-fringe or as delineated in the most recently adopted Flood Insurance Rate Map Study.
(2) Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the meanings indicated herewith:
MANUFACTURED HOMEA transportable, single-family dwelling intended for permanent occupancy, contained in one unit or in two units designed to be joined into one integral unit, capable of again being separated for repeated towing, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and constructed so that it may be used without a permanent foundation. The term includes park trailers, travel trailers, recreational and other similar vehicles which are placed on a site for more than 180 consecutive days.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARKA parcel of land under single ownership which has been planned and improved for the placement of two or more manufactured homes for nontransient use.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENTAny repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure either before the improvement or repair is started or, if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred.
(3) Boundary definition.
(a) Responsibility for boundary definition. Any applicant for a building permit, preliminary subdivision plan approval or land development plan approval on land in Middletown Township which lies within or partially within the floodplain shall be required to have the area of the floodplain on the subject land defined by a registered professional engineer or land surveyor and shall show such floodplain areas on plans submitted with his application.
(b) Approximate one-hundred-year floodplain areas and floodplain soil areas. The applicant for a proposed use, development or activity in approximate one-hundred-year floodplain areas and floodplain soils areas shall have the opportunity to determine flood profiles and elevations, thereby identifying the floodway and flood-fringe areas, in accordance with hydrologic engineering techniques, as follows:
[1] For all areas within 100 feet of a watercourse, including its bed and banks, the applicant shall provide sufficient documentation to demonstrate that the proposed activity, together with all other existing and anticipated development, uses and activities, will not increase the water surface elevation of the one-hundred-year flood at any point. The method of determination of increase in flood heights shall be at the discretion of the Township Engineer.
[2] 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 Township. The study must be approved by the Board of Supervisors upon the advice of the Township Engineer.
(c) District boundary changes. The delineation of the floodplain may be revised by the Board of Supervisors where natural or man-made changes have occurred and/or more detailed studies conducted or undertaken by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Delaware River Basin Commission, or other qualified agency or individual document the need for such change. However, prior to such change, approval must be obtained from the Federal Insurance Administration.
D. Use regulations.
(1) The following uses and no others shall be permitted on land in the floodplain where such uses are permitted in the zoning district applicable to such lands:
(a) Tilling of the soil, grazing, pasturing.
(b) Forestry and wood production, excluding storage and mill structures.
(c) Flower and vegetable gardening, outdoor plant nurseries.
(d) Parks, playgrounds and golf courses, exclusive of buildings.
(e) Outlet installations for public sewage treatment plants.
(g) Water intakes, subject to pertinent regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
(h) Outlet installations for private and industrial wastewater treatment plants.
(i) Quarrying, sand pit, gravel pit.
(2) Applications for any of the above-listed uses or any other development shall be submitted to the Township for its approval.
(3) None of the uses or development activity listed above shall be permitted in the floodway portion of the floodplain district unless the effect of the proposed activity or development on flood heights is fully offset by accompanying stream improvements.
E. Area and design requirements.
(1) Lot area. For purposes of application of regulations for minimum lot area, maximum building coverage, maximum impervious surface ratio and other area and dimensional requirements of this chapter, land in the floodplain shall be excluded from lot area.
(2) Site area. For purposes of application of regulations for minimum site area, maximum density, maximum impervious surface ratio and other area and design requirements of this chapter, land in the floodplain shall be excluded from base site area.
F. Existing structures.
(1) Any existing structure which is to undergo substantial improvement and which is located in the floodplain shall be designed and constructed in accordance with the W1 or W2 floodproofing classes contained in the publication "Flood-Proofing Regulations," United States Army Corps of Engineers, June 1972. Said structure shall also be firmly anchored to prevent flotation, collapse and lateral movement.
(2) No expansion or improvement of an existing structure shall be allowed in the floodway portion of the floodplain district unless the effect of the proposed development on flood heights is fully offset by accompanying stream improvements.
G. Development which may endanger human life. 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 (more than 550 gallons or other comparable volume or any amount of radioactive substances) of any of the following dangerous materials or substances on the premises shall not be permitted in the floodplain:
| Acetone |
| Ammonia |
| Benzene |
| Calcium carbide |
| Carbon disulfide |
| Celluloid |
| Chlorine |
| Hydrochloric acid |
| Hydrocyanic acid |
| Magnesium |
| Nitric acid and oxides of nitrogen |
| Petroleum products (gasoline, fuel, oil, etc.) |
| Phosphorous |
| Potassium |
| Sodium |
| Sulphur and sulphur products |
| Pesticides (including insecticides, fungicides and rodenticides) |
| Radioactive substances, insofar as such substances are not otherwise regulated |
H. Prohibited activities in the floodplain. The construction, placement, enlargement or expansion of any structure used or intended to be used for any of the following activities shall be prohibited within any identified floodplain area:
(4) Manufactured homes and manufactured home parks.
I. General floodplain regulations.
(1) Installation of fill materials. Fill may be placed within the limits of the floodplain, subject to the following conditions:
(a) Fill shall consist of soil or rock materials only.
(b) Satisfactory evidence shall be submitted indicating that the cross-sectional area of the floodplain will not be reduced.
(c) Satisfactory evidence shall be submitted indicating that there will be no increase in the potential flood height or increase in flood velocity at, above or below the site due to the proposed fill.
(d) Permission has been obtained for the proposed fill from the Division of Dams and Encroachments of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to the state regulations of water obstructions and from the Township Engineer.
(2) Obstructions. The following shall not be placed in any stream channel or floodplain:
(a) Fences, except two-wire fences.
(b) Other structures or other matter which may impede, retard or change the direction of the flow of water in such stream channel or floodplain, or that will catch or collect debris carried by such water, or that is placed where the natural flow of the stream or floodwaters would carry the same downstream to the damage or detriment of property adjacent to the stream or floodplain.
(3) State regulations. No encroachment into or alteration or relocation of any watercourse shall take place unless a permit has been secured from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Dam Safety, Obstructions and Stormwater Management, and notification of the proposed alteration, encroachment or relocation has been given to all adjacent communities, and copies of the notification(s) have been sent to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and the Federal Insurance Administration.
(4) For any new structure or substantially improved structure located on a parcel, if that parcel is located in part or in whole within the floodplain, then, upon completion of construction, there shall be filed with the Township Zoning Officer a flood elevation certificate, prepared by a licensed engineer and/or licensed surveyor, and an as-built plan showing the structure on the parcel, with vertical datum and elevations.
J. Disposition.
(1) Land in the floodplain classification may be:
(a) Included in the property area of any lot or site held in or proposed for private ownership, provided the lot area of any land not in such classification shall equal or exceed the minimum lot area or site area requirements set forth by this chapter for such lot or site, unless the subject land has been reclaimed in accordance with Subsection
H above.
(b) Offered for dedication to the Township, county or other public entity or agency thereof for uses permitted by this chapter on such land.
(c) Placed in ownership of nonprofit homeowners' or property owners' associations, condominium or cooperative corporation or other such agency as may be approved by the Supervisors under the provisions of this chapter.
(2) Restrictions on nonpublic ownership. Covenants shall be recorded with the deeds to land in the floodplain classification to be held in other than public ownership permitting the municipality, after proper legal notice, to enter on such land to perform maintenance or rehabilitation work on any drainage or erosion control facility thereon which the owner of such land has failed to perform and to lien the property for the cost of such work.
K. Variances. If compliance with any of the requirements of this section would result in an exceptional hardship for a prospective builder, developer or landowner, the Zoning Hearing Board may, upon request, grant relief from the strict application of the requirements. Requests for variances shall be considered by the Zoning Hearing Board in accordance with the following:
(1) No variance shall be granted for any construction, development, use or activity within any floodway area that would cause any increase in the one-hundred-year flood elevation.
(2) No variance shall be granted for any of the requirements pertaining to §
500-2603G, Development which may endanger human life, or §
500-2603H, Prohibited activities.
(3) If granted, a variance shall involve only the least modification necessary to provide relief.
(4) In granting any variance, the Zoning Hearing Board shall attach whatever reasonable conditions and safeguards it considers necessary in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare and to achieve the objectives of this chapter.
(5) Whenever a variance is granted, the Zoning Hearing Board shall notify the applicant in writing that:
(a) The granting of the variance may result in increased premium rates for flood insurance.
(b) Such variances may increase the risks of life and property.
(6) In reviewing any request for a variance, the Zoning Hearing Board shall consider, but shall not be limited to, the following:
(a) That there is good and sufficient cause.
(b) That failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant.
(c) That the granting of the variance will not result in an unacceptable or prohibited increase in flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisances, cause fraud on or victimize the public, or conflict with any other applicable state statute or regulation, or local ordinance or regulation.
(7) A complete record of all variance requests and related actions shall be maintained by the Zoning Hearing Board. In addition, a report of all variances granted during the year shall be included in the annual report to the Federal Insurance Administration.
(8) Notwithstanding any of the above, however, all structures shall be designed and constructed so as to have the capability of resisting the one-hundred-year flood.