A. 
The Calvert County Board of Appeals shall hear and decide appeals and requests for variances from the requirements of this chapter. Conditions may be attached to the variance action, and variance actions must be consistent with sound floodplain management. Variances may not be issued except as specified below.
B. 
Variances shall only be issued upon:
(1) 
A showing of good and sufficient cause;
(2) 
A determination that failure to grant a variance would result in exceptional hardship (other than economic) to the applicant; and
(3) 
A determination that the granting of a variance will not result in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisances, cause fraud or victimization of the public, or conflict with existing local and state laws or ordinances.
C. 
The variance action shall be the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief. In considering a variance action, comments from the State Coordinating Office of the Water Resources Administration must be taken into account and maintained with the permit file.
A. 
Variances may not be granted for placement of fill in the coastal high-hazard area for structural support.
B. 
For any variance issued, a letter shall be sent to the applicant indicating the terms and conditions of the variance, the increased risk to life and property in granting the variance, and the increased premium rates for National Flood Insurance coverage. The applicant shall be notified in writing of the requirement for recordation of these conditions on the deed or memorandum of land restriction prior to obtaining a permit, and of the need to secure all necessary permits as conditions for granting a variance. The memorandum is described in §§ 3-102 and 3-103 of the Real Property Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. The local permitting official shall maintain a record of all variance actions and the justification for their issuance, as well as all correspondence.
Variances may be issued for new construction and substantial improvements for the conduct of a functionally dependent use. A functionally dependent use cannot perform its intended purpose unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water. It includes only docking facilities, port facilities that are necessary for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers and ship building and ship repair facilities, but does not include long-term storage or related manufacturing facilities. The variance may be issued only upon sufficient proof of the functional dependence. The provisions of §§ 46-40 and 46-41 must be met and the structure must be protected by methods that minimize flood damage up to the flood protection elevation and must create no additional threats to public safety. This may require methods of "wet floodproofing" which allow the structure to flood without significant damage. Methods of floodproofing must not require human intervention.