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.
The Flood Insurance Rate Zone that corresponds to the one-hundred-year
floodplain where base flood elevations are shown at selected intervals.
The Flood Insurance Rate Zone that corresponds to the one-hundred-year
floodplain where base flood elevations are not shown.
A flood which has a one-percent chance of being equaled or
exceeded in any given year (also called the "one-hundred-year flood"
or one-percent-annual-chance flood).
The volume of water resulting from a base flood as it passes
a given location within a given time, usually expressed in cubic feet
per second (cfs).
The elevation shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)
for Zones AE, AH, A1-30 that indicates the water surface elevation
resulting from a flood that has a one-percent-or-greater chance of
being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
Any area of the building having its floor below ground level
on all sides.
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.
The construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, extension,
expansion, alteration or relocation of a building or structure, including
the placement of mobile homes.
Cost that includes both the structural and finish or labor
and materials, minus those required to meet floodproofing and flood
elevation regulations and the cost of permits. This includes lighting
fixtures, built-in appliances, interior moldings, paneling, tiling,
wall-to-wall carpet over subflooring, built-in cabinets, etc. The
cost to demolish undamaged building components must be established
and included.
Cost that includes both the structural and finish or labor
and materials minus those required to meet floodproofing and flood
elevation regulations and the cost of permits, to reproduce by new
construction the exact form and detail of a structure or a part thereof,
as it appeared at a specific period of time.
Those facilities that are vital to the community in the event
of a hazard event or disaster, that provide essential services to
the general public, are necessary to preserve the welfare and quality
of life in the region, that fulfill important public safety, emergency
response or disaster recovery functions, or contain at-risk or special
needs populations such as the elderly or children. Examples include
emergency shelters, emergency services, hospitals, public utilities,
government buildings, schools, day cares, and elderly housing.
A basis of valuation, which values an asset at the amount
which it would currently cost to obtain.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to the construction, reconstruction, renovation,
repair, expansion, or alteration of buildings or other structures;
the placement of manufactured homes; streets, and other paving; utilities;
filling, grading and excavation; mining; dredging; drilling operations;
storage of equipment or materials; and the subdivision of land.
Construction, placement of fill or similar alteration of
topography in the floodplain that reduces the area available to convey
floodwaters.
A manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction
of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes
are to be affixed (including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities,
the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the
pouring of concrete pads) is completed before the effective date of
the floodplain management regulations adopted by a community.
The preparation of additional sites by the construction of
facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes
are to be affixed (including the installation of utilities, the construction
of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete
pads).
Any clean soil or rock materials (sand or clay) used to raise
the ground elevation.
A temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.
The official map on which the Federal Emergency Management
Agency has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and
the risk premium zones applicable to the community.
The official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency that includes flood profiles, the Flood Insurance Rate Map,
the Flood Boundary and Floodway Map, and the water surface elevation
of the base flood.
See "base flood."
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.
The base flood elevation plus 1.5 feet of freeboard. In areas
where no base flood elevations exist from any authoritative source,
the flood protection elevation can be historical flood elevations
or base flood elevations determined and/or approved by Lower Saucon
Township plus 1.5 feet of freeboard. Also referred to as "regulatory
flood elevation."
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
one foot.
An additional amount of height above a flood elevation used
as a factor of safety (e.g., 1.5 feet above the base flood elevation)
in determining the level at which a structure's lowest floor,
including basement, must be elevated or floodproofed.
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 on 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 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 that have been certified
either:
This term is an umbrella term that includes all of the areas within which the community has selected to enforce floodplain regulations. It will always include the area identified as the special flood hazard area on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps and Flood Insurance Study, but may include additional areas identified by the community. See §§ 90-19 and 90-20 for the specifics on what areas the community has included in the identified floodplain area.
The creation or addition of structural or functional capacity
of a structure that adds to its value and useful life.
The term does not include either:
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
Any improvement of an "historic structure," provided that the
improvement will not preclude the structure's continued designation
as an "historic structure."
A structure that is undamaged in any way; whole.
Any of the following activities:
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts
or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings,
whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential
building on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or
tenure; or
The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially
or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective
occupants by means of, or for the purpose of, streets, common areas,
leaseholds, condominiums, building groups, or other features.
A subdivision of land.
The lowest floor of the lowest fully enclosed area (including
basement). An unfinished, flood-resistant partially enclosed area,
used solely for parking of vehicles, building access, and incidental
storage, in an area other than a basement area is not considered the
lowest floor of a building, provided that such space is not designed
and built so that the structure is 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 attached to the required utilities. The
term includes park trailers, travel trailers, recreational and other
similar vehicles which are placed on a site for more than 180 consecutive
days.
A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two
or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
The animal excrement, including poultry litter, which is
produced at an agricultural operation. It includes materials such
as bedding and raw materials which are co-mingled with that excrement.
A storage pile of manure accumulated for future use that
is not confined within a manure storage facility.
A permanent structure or pond, a portion of a structure or
pond, or a group of structures or ponds at one agricultural operation
utilized for the purpose of containing manure or agricultural process
wastewater. This includes concrete, metal, or other fabricated tanks
and underground structures, as well as earthen and synthetically lined
manure storage ponds.
The most probable price which a property should bring in
a competitive and open market under all conditions requisite to a
fair sale; the buyer and seller, each acting prudently, knowledgeably
and assuming the price is not affected by undue stimulus.
To reduce to the smallest amount or extent possible. "Minimize"
shall not mean complete elimination but shall require that the most
substantial efforts possible under the circumstances have been taken
to reduce the adverse effect(s) of the action required to be minimized.
"Minimize" shall include but not be limited to the requirement that
the placement of dwellings and other structures and the locations
of roads, stormwater management facilities, and other land disturbance
shall be planned and designed to reduce the adverse effect(s) of the
activity in question to the smallest amount possible under the circumstances
consistent with otherwise permitted development.
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,
oil, waste, vent, or similar piping, electric wiring, mechanical or
other work affecting public health or general safety.
See "manufactured home."
See "manufactured home park."
Structures for which the start of construction commenced
on or after the effective start date of this floodplain management
chapter and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.
Any construction started after the September 28, 1979, and before
the effective start date of this floodplain management chapter is
subject to the ordinance in effect at the time the permit was issued,
provided the start of construction was within 180 days of permit issuance.
A manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction
of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes
are to be affixed (including at a minimum, the installation of utilities,
the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the
pouring of concrete pads) is completed on or after the effective date
of floodplain management regulations adopted by a community.
A description for a use or structure, which use does not
conform to the applicable regulations, either at the time of the enactment
of an ordinance or as a result of subsequent amendment of an ordinance
or as a result of subsequent amendments thereto, but which did not
violate such regulations prior to the enactment of the ordinance or
amendments.
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 which is placed where the flow of the water might carry the same
downstream to the damage of life and property.
A structure that has sustained damage from any cause whereby
the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition
is less than 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage
occurred.
An individual, partnership, public or private association
or corporation, firm, trust, estate, municipality, governmental unit,
public utility or any other legal entity whatsoever, which is recognized
by law as the subject of rights and duties.
Is a structure for which construction or substantial improvement
occurred after December 31, 1974, or on or after the community's
initial Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) dated September 28, 1979,
whichever is later, and, as such, would be required to be compliant
with the regulations of the National Flood Insurance Program.
Is a structure for which construction or substantial improvement
occurred on or before December 31, 1974, or before the community's
initial Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) dated September 28, 1979,
whichever is later, and, as such, would not be required to be compliant
with the regulations of the National Flood Insurance Program.
The act or process of reproducing by new construction the
exact form and detail of a structure or a part thereof, as it appeared
at a specific period of time.
A vehicle which is:
Built on a single chassis;
Not more than 400 square feet, measured at the largest horizontal
projections;
Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty
truck;
Not designed for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary
living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.
The removal and replacement, rehabilitation, or adaptive
reuse of an existing structure or structures, or of vacant but formerly
developed land.
As determined by FEMA, structures for which two or more claims
of more than $1,000 were paid by the National Flood Insurance Program
(NFIP) within any rolling ten-year period, since 1978. At least two
of the claims must be more than 10 days apart but within 10 years
of each other.
A structure regularly used by its occupants as a permanent
place of abode, which is made one's home as opposed to one's
place of business.
As determined by FEMA, a residential structure that is covered
under flood insurance by the NFIP and has incurred flood-related damage
for which four or more separate claim payments have been paid since
1978 under flood insurance coverage with the amount of each claim
payment exceeding $5,000 and with cumulative amount of such claim
payments exceeding $20,000; or for which at least two separate claim
payments have been made since 1978 with the cumulative amount of such
claims exceeding the reported value of the property.
An area in the floodplain subject to a one-percent-or-greater
chance of flooding in any given year. It is shown on the FIRM as Zone
A, AO, A1-A30, AE, A99 or AH.
A special approval which is required for hospitals, nursing
homes, jails, and new manufactured home parks/subdivisions and substantial
improvements to such existing parks, when such development is located
in all, or a designated portion of a floodplain.
Includes substantial improvement and other proposed new development
and means the date the permit was issued, provided the actual start
of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition,
placement, or other improvement was within 180 days after the date
of the permit and shall be completed within 18 months after the date
of issuance of the permit unless a time extension is granted, in writing,
by the Floodplain Administrator. The "actual start" means either the
first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site,
such as the pouring of 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 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 not part
of the main structure. For a substantial improvement, the actual start
of construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor,
or other structural part of a building, whether or not that alteration
affects the external dimensions of the building.
A walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage
tank that is principally aboveground, as well as a manufactured home.
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, partition by the court
for distribution to heirs, or devises, transfer of ownership or building
or lot development; provided, however, that the subdivision by lease
of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres,
not involving any new street or easement of access or any residential
dwelling, shall be exempted.
Damage from any cause sustained by a structure whereby the
cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would
equal or exceed 50% or more of the market value of the structure before
the damage occurred.
Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement
of a structure, of which the cost 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"
or "repetitive loss" regardless of the actual repair work performed.
The term does not, however, include 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.
The statewide building code adopted by the Pennsylvania General
Assembly in 1999 applicable to new construction in all municipalities
whether administered by the municipality, a third party or the Department
of Labor and Industry. Applicable to residential and commercial buildings,
the Code adopted the International Residential Code (IRC) and the
International Building Code (IBC), by reference, as the construction
standard applicable with the state floodplain construction. For coordination
purposes, references to the above are made specifically to various
sections of the IRC and the IBC.
Land from which previous improvements have been removed.
A grant of relief by a community from the terms of a floodplain
management regulation.
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 in
44 CFR 60.3(b)(5), (c)(4), (c)(10), (d)(3), (e)(2), (e)(4), or (e)(5)
is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation
is provided.
A channel or conveyance of surface water having defined bed
and banks, whether natural or artificial, with perennial or intermittent
flow. Man-made swales, constructed specifically for stormwater management
purposes, are excluded from this definition.
