Unless specifically defined below, words and phrases used in
this chapter shall be interpreted so as to give this chapter its most
reasonable application.
ACCESSORY USE OR STRUCTURE — A use or structure
on the same lot with and of a nature customarily incidental and subordinate
to the principal use or structure.
Any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below
ground level) on all sides.
[Added 4-20-1994]
A combination of materials to form a permanent structure
having walls and a roof. Included shall be all manufactured homes
and trailers to be used for human habitation.
[Amended 2-27-1991]
The construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, extension,
expansion, alteration or relocation of a building or structure, including
the placement of a manufactured home.
[Amended 2-27-1991]
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining,
dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations,
or storage of equipment or materials, and the subdivision of land.
[Amended 4-20-1994]
The temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.
A relatively flat or low land area which is subject to partial
or complete inundation from an adjoining or nearby stream, river or
watercourse, and/or any area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation
of surface waters from any source.
Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions,
changes or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood
damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary
facilities, structures and their contents.
Any structure that is:
[Added 4-20-1994]
Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places
(a listing maintained by the Department of the Interior) or preliminarily
determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements
for individual listing on the National Register;
Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the
Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered
historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary
to qualify as a registered historic district;
Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places
in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved
by the Secretary of the Interior; or
Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places
in communities with historic preservation programs that have been
certified either:
The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement).
An unfinished, 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, provided that
such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation
of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of this chapter.
[Added 4-20-1994]
A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which
is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without
a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. The
term includes park trailers, travel trailers, recreational and other
similar vehicles placed on a site for more than 180 consecutive days.
[Amended 2-27-1991]
A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land which has been planned
and improved for the placement of two or more manufactured homes.
[Amended 2-27-1991]
The replacement of existing work with equivalent materials
for the purpose of its routine maintenance and upkeep, but not including
the cutting away of any wall, partition or portion thereof, the removal
or cutting of any structural beam or bearing support, or the removal
or change of any required means of egress or rearrangement of parts
of a structure affecting the exitway requirements; nor shall "minor
repairs" include addition to, alteration of, replacement or relocation
of any standpipe, water supply, sewer, drainage, drain leader, gas,
soil, waste, vent or similar piping, electrical wiring or mechanical
or other work affecting the public health or general safety.
For floodplain management purposes, "new construction" means
structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after
the effective date of this chapter adopted by Independence Township
and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.
[Added 4-20-1994]
Any wall, dam, wharf, embankment, levee, dike, pile abutment,
projection, excavation, channel, rectification, culvert, building,
fence, stockpile, refuse, fill, structure or matter in, along, across
or projecting into any channel, watercourse or flood-prone area, which
may impede, retard or change the direction of the flow of water either
in itself or by catching or collecting debris carried by such water
or is placed where the flow of the water might carry the same downstream
to the damage of life and property.
A flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every
100 years (i.e., that has a one-percent chance of occurring each year,
although the flood may occur in any year).
A vehicle which is: a) built on a single chassis; b) 400
square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;
c) designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light
duty truck; and d) designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling
but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel
or seasonal use.
[Added 4-20-1994]
The one-hundred-year flood elevation plus a freeboard safety
factor of 1 1/2 feet.
A special approval which is required for hospitals, nursing
homes, jails and new manufactured home parks and substantial improvements
to such existing parks, when such development is located in all or
a designated portion of a floodplain.
[Amended 2-27-1991]
A walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage
tank, that is principally above ground, as well as a manufactured
home.
[Amended 4-20-1994]
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land
by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions
of land, including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose,
whether immediate or future, of lease, transfer of ownership, or building
or lot development. The division of land for agricultural purposes
into parcels of more than 10 acres, not involving any new street or
easement of access, shall be exempted.
Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the
costs of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would
equal or exceed 50% of the market value of the structure before the
damage occurred.
[Added 4-20-1994]
Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other improvement
of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market
value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement.
This term includes structures which have incurred substantial damage,
regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not,
however, include either: a) any project for improvement of a structure
to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary
or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local
code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary to assure
safe living conditions; or b) any alteration of a historic structure,
provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's
continued designation as a historic structure.
[Added 4-20-1994]
