[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting of the Town
of Wolfeboro 3-13-1990 by Art. 10; amended in its entirety 3-13-2012 ATM by Art. 8. Subsequent amendments
noted where applicable.]
The following regulations shall apply to all lands designated
as special flood hazard areas by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency in its Flood Insurance Study for the Town of Wolfeboro, N.H.,
dated May 17, 1989, together with the associated Flood Insurance Rate
Maps (FIRM), dated May 17, 1989, which are declared to be a part of
this chapter.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The land in the floodplain within the Town subject to a one-percent
or greater possibility of flooding in any given year. The area is
designated on the FIRM as Zones A and AE.
The flood level having a one-percent possibility of being
equaled or exceeded in any given year.
Any area of a building having its floor subgrade on all sides.
See "structure."
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.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency.
An official map of the Town on which FEMA has delineated
both the special flood hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable
to the Town.
An examination, evaluation, and determination of flood hazards
and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, or an
examination and determination of mudslide or flood-related erosion
hazards.
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land areas from:
Any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from
any source. (See "flooding.")
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.
See "regulatory floodway."
The highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior
to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.
Any structure that is:
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 historic significance of the registered
historic district or 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 or flood-resistant enclosure usable solely for the 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 an enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation
of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of this chapter.
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. For
floodplain management purposes, the term "manufactured home" includes
park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles placed on
site for greater than 180 consecutive days. This includes manufactured
homes located in a manufactured home park or subdivision.
A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two
or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
The National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or other
datum to which base flood elevations shown on the Town's Flood
Insurance Rate Map are referenced.
For the purposes of determining insurance rates, structures
for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective
date of an initial FIRM or after December 31, 1974, whichever is later,
and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures. For floodplain
management purposes, "new construction" means structures for which
the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date
of a floodplain management regulation adopted by a community and includes
any subsequent improvements to such structures.
See "base flood."
A vehicle which is:
Built on a single chassis;
Four hundred square feet or less when measured at the largest
horizontal projection;
Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light
truck; and
Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as
temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal
use.
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
a designated height.
An area having flood and/or flood-related erosion hazards
and shown on a FIRM as Zone A, AO, A1-A30, AE, A99, AH, M or E. (See
"area of special flood hazard.")
Includes substantial improvements and means the date the
building permit was issued, provided that the actual start of construction,
repair, reconstruction, placement or other improvement was within
180 days of the permit date. The "actual start" means either the first
placement of permanent construction of a structure on site, such as
the pouring of the slab or footings, the installation of piles, the
construction of columns or any work beyond the stage of excavation
or the 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 part of
the main structure.
For floodplain management purposes, a walled and roofed building,
including a gas or liquid storage tank, that is principally above
ground, as well as a manufactured home.
Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the
cost 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.
Any combination of repairs, reconstruction, alteration or
improvements to a structure 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 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 or any alteration
of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with the community's floodplain management regulations. A structure or other development without the elevation certificate, other certifications, or other evidence of compliance required under § 65-6, 65-9B(2), or 65-8C and D of this chapter is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.
The height, in relation to the National Geodetic Vertical
Datum (NGVD) of 1929, North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988,
or other datum, where specified, of floods of various magnitudes and
frequencies in the floodplains.
All proposed development in any special flood hazard areas shall
require a permit.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall review all building permit
applications for new construction or substantial improvements to determine
whether proposed building sites will be reasonably safe from flooding.
If a proposed building site is in a flood-prone area, all new construction
or substantial improvement shall be:
A.
Designed (or modified) and adequately anchored to prevent flotation,
collapse or lateral movement of the structure resulting from hydrodynamic
and hydrostatic loads, including the effects of buoyancy.
B.
Constructed with materials resistant to flood damage.
C.
Constructed by methods and practices that minimize flood damages.
D.
Constructed with electrical, heating, ventilation, plumbing and air-conditioning
equipment and other service facilities that are designed and/or located
so as to prevent water from entering or accumulating within the components
during conditions of flooding.
Where new or replacement water and sewer systems, including
on-site systems, are proposed in flood-prone areas, the applicant
shall provide the Code Enforcement Officer with assurance that these
systems will be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of
floodwaters into the systems and discharges from the systems into
floodwaters, and on-site waste disposal systems will be located to
avoid impairment to them or contamination from them during periods
of flooding.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall maintain for public inspection,
and furnish upon request, any certification of floodproofing and the
as-built elevation in relation to mean sea level of the lowest floor,
including basement, of all new or substantially improved structures,
and include whether or not such structures contain a basement. If
the structure has been floodproofed, the as-built elevation (in relation
to mean sea level) to which the structure was floodproofed shall be
provided. This information must be furnished by the applicant.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall review proposed developments
to assure that all necessary permits have been received from those
governmental agencies from which approval is required by federal or
state law, including Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act Amendments of 1972, 33 U.S.C. § 1334. It shall be the
responsibility of the applicant to certify these assurances to the
Code Enforcement Officer.
A.
In riverine situations, prior to the alteration or relocation of
a watercourse the applicant for such authorization shall notify the
Wetlands Bureau of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
and submit copies of such notification to the Code Enforcement Officer
in addition to the copies required by RSA 482-A:3. Further, the applicant
shall be required to submit copies of said notification to those adjacent
communities as determined by the Code Enforcement Officer, including
notice of all scheduled hearings before the Wetlands Bureau.
B.
The applicant shall submit to the Code Enforcement Officer certification
provided by a registered professional engineer assuring that the flood-carrying
capacity of an altered or relocated watercourse can and will be maintained.
C.
Along watercourses with a designated regulatory floodway, no encroachments,
including fill, new construction, substantial improvements and other
development, are allowed within the floodway unless it has been demonstrated
through hydrologic and hydraulic analyses performed in accordance
with standard engineering practices that the proposed encroachment
would not result in any increase in flood levels within the community
during the base flood discharge.
D.
Along watercourses that have not had a designated regulatory floodway
designated, no new construction, substantial improvements or other
development, including fill, shall be permitted within Zone AE on
the FIRM, unless it is demonstrated that the cumulative effect of
the proposed development, when combined with all existing and anticipated
development, will not increase the water surface elevation of the
base flood more than one foot at any point within the community.
E.
In Zone A, the Code Enforcement Officer shall obtain, review and
reasonably utilize any floodway data available from federal, state
or other sources as criteria for requiring that all development meet
the following floodway requirement: No encroachments, including fill,
new construction, substantial improvements, and other development,
are allowed within the floodway that would result in any increase
in flood levels within the community during the base flood discharge.
A.
In special flood hazard areas the Code Enforcement Officer shall
determine the one-hundred-year-flood elevation in the following order
of precedence according to the data available:
(1)
In Zone AE, refer to the elevation data provided in the community's
Flood Insurance Study and accompanying FIRM.
(2)
In Zone A, the Code Enforcement Officer shall obtain, review and
reasonably utilize any one-hundred-year-flood elevation data available
from federal, state, development proposals submitted to the community
(i.e., subdivisions, site approvals) or other sources.
B.
The Code Enforcement Officer's one-hundred-year-flood elevation
determination will be used as criteria for requiring in Zones A and
AE that:
(1)
All new construction or substantial improvement of residential structures
have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated to or above the
one-hundred-year-flood elevation.
(2)
All new construction or substantial improvement of nonresidential
structures have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated to
or above the one-hundred-year-flood level, or, together with attendant
utility and sanitary facilities, shall:
(a)
Be floodproofed so that below the one-hundred-year-flood elevation
the structure is watertight with walls substantially impermeable to
the passage of water;
(b)
Have structural components capable of resisting hydrostatic
and hydrodynamic loads and the effects of buoyancy; and
(c)
Be certified by a registered professional engineer or architect
that the design and methods of construction are in accordance with
accepted standards of practice for meeting the provisions of this
section.
(3)
Recreational vehicles placed on sites within Zones A and AE shall
either be on the site for fewer than 180 consecutive days, be fully
licensed and ready for highway use or meet all standards of Section
60.3(b)(1) of the National Flood Insurance Program Regulations and
the elevation and anchoring requirements for manufactured homes in
Paragraph (c)(6) of Section 60.3.
(4)
All manufactured homes to be placed or substantially improved within
special flood hazard areas shall be elevated on a permanent foundation
such that the lowest floor of the manufactured home is at or above
the base flood level and be securely anchored to resist flotation,
collapse or lateral movement. Methods of anchoring may include but
are not limited to use of over-the-top or frame ties to ground anchors.
This requirement is in addition to applicable state and local anchoring
requirements for resisting wind forces.
(5)
For all new construction and substantial improvements, fully enclosed
areas below the lowest floor that are subject to flooding are permitted,
provided that they meet the following requirements: the enclosed area
is unfinished or flood-resistant, usable solely for the parking of
vehicles, building access or storage; the area is not a basement;
and the area shall be designed to automatically equalize hydrostatic
flood forces on exterior walls by allowing for the entry and exit
of floodwaters. Designs for meeting this requirement must either be
certified by a registered professional engineer or architect or must
meet or exceed the following minimum criteria: A minimum of two openings
having a total net area of not less than one square inch for every
square foot of enclosed area subject to flooding shall be provided.
The bottom of all openings shall be no higher than one foot above
grade. Openings may be equipped with screens, louvers or other coverings
or devices, provided that they permit the automatic entry and exit
of floodwaters.
A.
Any other requirement, decision or determination of the Code Enforcement
Officer made under this chapter may be appealed to the Zoning Board
of Adjustment as set forth in RSA 676:5.
B.
If the applicant, upon appeal, requests a variance as authorized
by RSA 674:33, I(b), the applicant shall have the burden of showing,
in addition to the usual variance standards under state law, that:
(1)
The variance will not result in increased flood heights, additional
threats to public safety or extraordinary public expense.
(2)
If the requested variance is for activity within a designated regulatory
floodway, no increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge
will result.
(3)
The variance is the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard,
to afford relief.
C.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall notify the applicant in writing
that:
(1)
The issuance of a variance to construct below the base flood level
will result in increased premium rates for flood insurance, up to
amounts as high as $25 for $100 of insurance coverage.
(2)
Such construction below the base flood level increases risks to life
and property. Such notification shall be maintained with a record
of all variance actions.
D.
The community shall maintain a record of all variance actions, including
their justification for their issuance, and report such variances
issued in its annual or biennial report submitted to FEMA's Federal
Insurance Administrator.
