Definitions. For the purpose of this article, certain
terms are defined as follows:
APPEAL
A request for a review of the Township Engineer's interpretation
of any provision of this article or a request for a variance.
[Amended 8-27-1981 by Ord. No. 21-1981]
APPLICANT
Any person, partnership, corporation or public agency requesting
permission to engage in land disturbance activity, construction or
development.
APPROVED PLAN
A plan to control surface water runoff which has been approved
by the Planning Board of the Township of East Hanover.
AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD
The land in the floodplain within the community subject to
a one-percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.
BASE FLOOD
The flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or
exceeded in any given year.
CHANNEL
The bed and banks of a river, stream, drainage ditch, watercourse
or any other body of water which conveys the normally occurring flow.
CRITICAL AREA
Any area which should not be disturbed by uses incompatible
with the paramount public interest in the management of surface water
runoff and attendant environmental damage. Examples of critical impact
areas include but are not limited to lakes, ponds, floodplains and
flood hazard areas, designated stream corridors, steep slopes, highly
erodible soils, swamps, marshes, bogs, watercourses, identified aquifer
recharge and discharge areas and heavily wooded areas.
DEVELOPMENT
Any man-made change or disturbance to improved or unimproved
real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures,
mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling
operations located within the critical area or area of special flood
hazard.
DRAINAGEWAY
Any watercourse, trench, ditch, depression or other hollow
space in the ground, natural or artificial, which collects or disburses
surface water from land.
FLOOD or FLOODING
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land areas from:
(1)
The overflow of inland or tidal waters; and
(2)
The unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff
of surface waters from any source.
FLOOD HAZARD AREA
The area of the floodplain that is subject to flood flow
at lesser depths and lower velocities than occurs in the floodway
and that is delineated on the flood map, as further defined herein,
prepared by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal
Insurance Administrator, as "area having special flood hazards: Zones
A-1 to A-10."
FLOOD LEVEL
The base flood elevation as indicated on the flood map. Elevations
below "flood level" are subject to flooding.
FLOOD MAP
The official map and Flood Insurance Study as issued by the
Federal Insurance Administration, Department of Housing and Urban
Development, for the Township of East Hanover, including all accompanying
maps, data, rules and regulations as dated and effective April 16,
1979.
FLOODPLAIN
That area composed of the channel, floodway and flood hazard
area.
FLOODPROOFED
Watertight with walls substantially impermeable to the passage
of water and with structural components having the capability of resisting
hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and effects of buoyancy.
FLOODWAY
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
0.2 foot.
HABITABLE FLOOR
Any floor usable for living purposes, which includes working,
sleeping, eating, cooking and recreation or a combination thereof.
A floor used only for storage purposes is not a "habitable floor."
NEW CONSTRUCTION
Structures for which the start of construction commenced
on or after the effective date of this article,
REVIEWING AGENCY
The Planning Board of the Township of East Hanover is designated
as the reviewing agency and shall grant or deny development applications
in accordance with the provisions of this article.
START OF CONSTRUCTION
The first placement of permanent construction of a structure
on a site, such as the pouring of slabs or footings, or any work beyond
the stage of excavation. Permanent construction does not include land
preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling, nor does it include
the installation of streets and/or sidewalks; nor does it include
excavation for a basement, footings or foundations or the erection
of temporary form; nor does it include the installation on the property
of accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds, not occupied as
a dwelling unit or as part of the main structure. For a structure
without a basement or poured footings, the "start of construction"
includes the first permanent framing or assembly of the structure
or any part thereof on its piling or foundation.
STRUCTURE
A walled and roofed building that is principally above aground.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT
Any repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure
or property, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the value
of the property or structure either before the improvement or repair
is started or, if the structure has been damaged and is being restored,
before the damage occurred. 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 either any project
for the improvement of a structure to comply with existing state and
local health, sanitary or safety code specifications which are solely
necessary to assure safe living conditions or any alteration of a
structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a
State Inventory of Historic Places.
VARIANCE
A grant of relief from the requirements of this article which
permits construction in a manner otherwise prohibited where specific
enforcement would result in unnecessary hardship.
WATERCOURSE
All rivers, streams, brooks, waterways, lakes, ponds, marshes,
swamps, bogs and other bodies of water, natural or artificial, public
or private, which are contained within, flow through or border on
the Township of East Hanover or any portion thereof.