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City of Easton, PA
Northampton County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
Zoning Map New Laws (10) Index Notes (15)
A. 
The identified flood hazard area shall be any areas of the City of Easton, classified as special flood hazard areas (SFHAs) in the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) and the accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) dated July 16, 2014, and issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or the most recent revision thereof, including all digital data developed as part of the Flood Insurance Study and any community-identified flood hazard areas. The above-referenced FIS and FIRMs, and any subsequent revisions and amendments are hereby adopted by the City of Easton and declared to be a part of this chapter.
B. 
The identified flood hazard area shall consist of the following specific areas:
(1) 
The Floodway Area shall be those areas identified in the FIS and the FIRM as floodway and which represent the channel of a watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without increasing the water surface elevation by more than one foot at any point. This term shall also include floodway areas which have been identified in other available studies or sources of information for those special flood hazard areas where no floodway has been identified in the FIS and FIRM.
(2) 
The AE Area/District shall be those areas identified as an AE Zone on the FIRM included in the FIS prepared by FEMA for which base flood elevations have been provided. The AE Area adjacent to the floodway shall be those areas identified as an AE Zone on the FIRM included in the FIS prepared by FEMA for which base flood elevations have been provided and a floodway has been delineated.
(3) 
The A Area/District shall be those areas identified as an A Zone on the FIRM included in the FIS prepared by FEMA and for which no base flood elevations have been provided. For these areas, elevation and floodway information from other federal, state, or other acceptable sources shall be used when available. Where other acceptable information is not available, the base flood elevation shall be determined by using the elevation of a point on the boundary of the identified flood hazard area which is nearest the construction site.
(4) 
The AO and AH Area/District shall be those areas identified as Zones AO and AH on the FIRM and in the FIS. These areas are subject to inundation by one-percent-annual-chance shallow flooding where average depths are between one and three feet. In Zones AO and AH, drainage paths shall be established to guide floodwaters around and away from structures on slopes.
(5) 
Community-identified flood hazard areas shall be those areas where the City of Easton has identified local flood hazard or ponding areas, as delineated and adopted on a "Local Flood Hazard Map" using best available topographic data and locally derived information such as flood of record, historic high-water marks, soils or approximate study methodologies.
C. 
Should a dispute concerning any identified floodplain boundary arise, an initial determination shall be made by the Floodplain Administrator, and any party aggrieved by this decision or determination may appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board. The burden of proof shall be on the appellant.
The flood hazard area may be revised or modified by the City of Easton where studies or information provided by a qualified agency or person documents the need for such revision. However, prior to any such change, approval must be obtained from FEMA.