As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
ADDITION (TO AN EXISTING BUILDING)
Any walled and roofed expansion to the perimeter of a building
in which the addition is connected by a common load-bearing wall other
than a fire wall. Any walled and roofed addition which is connected
by a fire wall or is separated by independent perimeter load-bearing
walls is new construction.
APPEAL
A request for a review of the Town Engineer's interpretation
of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variance.
AREA OF SHALLOW FLOODING
A designated AO or VO Zone on a community's Flood Insurance
Rate Map (FIRM) with base flood depths from one to three feet where
a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding
is unpredictable and indeterminate, and where velocity flow may be
evident.
AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD
The land in the floodplain within a community subject to
one-percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.
BASE FLOOD
The flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or
exceeded in any given year.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE)
The elevation of the crest of the base flood or one-hundred-year
flood. The height in relation to mean sea level expected to be reached
by the waters of the base flood at pertinent points in the floodplains
of coastal and riverine areas.
BASEMENT
That portion of a building having its floor subgrade (below
ground level) on all sides.
BREAKAWAY WALL
A wall that is not part of the structural support of the
building and is intended through its design and construction to collapse
under specific lateral loading forces without causing damage to the
elevated portion of the building or the supporting foundation system.
BUILDING
Any structure built for support, shelter or enclosure for
any occupancy or storage.
COASTAL AE ZONE
The portion of the Coastal High Hazard Area with wave heights
between 1.5 feet and 3.0 feet during the base flood and seaward of
the line labeled the "Limit of Moderate Wave Action" (LiMWA) on a
Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).
[Added 4-10-2019]
COASTAL HIGH HAZARD AREA
An area of special flood hazard extending from offshore to
the inland limit of a primary frontal dune along an open coast and
any other area subject to high velocity wave action from storms or
seismic sources. Coastal High Hazard Areas are designated as Zones
VE and Coastal AE on a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).
[Amended 4-10-2019]
COST
As related to substantial improvements, the cost of any reconstruction,
rehabilitation, addition, alteration, repair or other improvement
of a structure shall be established by a detailed written contractor's
estimate. The estimate shall include, but not be limited to, the cost
of materials (interior finishing elements, structural elements, utility
and service equipment); sales tax on materials, building equipment
and fixtures, including heating and air-conditioning and utility meters;
labor; built-in appliances; demolition and site preparation; repairs
made to damaged parts of the building worked on at the same time;
contractor's overhead; contractor's profit; and grand total.
Items to be excluded include cost of plans and specifications, survey
costs, permit fees, outside improvements such as septic systems, water
supply wells, landscaping, sidewalks, fences, yard lights, irrigation
systems and detached structures such as garages, sheds and gazebos.
DEVELOPMENT
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including, but not limited to, the construction of buildings or structures;
the construction of additions, alterations or substantial improvements
to buildings or structures; the placement of buildings or structures;
mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavating or drilling
operations or storage of equipment; the storage, deposition, or extraction
of materials; and the installation, repair or removal of public or
private sewage disposal systems or water supply facilities.
ELEVATED BUILDING
A nonbasement building built to have the lowest floor elevated
above the ground level by means of fill, solid foundation perimeter
walls, pilings, columns (posts and piers), shear walls or breakaway
walls.
EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION
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, as a minimum, the installation of utilities,
the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the
pouring of concrete pads) is completed before December 14, 1977, the
effective date of the floodplain management regulations adopted by
a community.
EXPANSION TO AN EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION
The preparation of additional sites by the construction 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).
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM)
An official map of a community, on which the Federal Emergency
Management Agency has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard
and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY
The official report by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The report contains flood profiles and the water surface elevation
of the base flood.
FLOOD or FLOODING
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land areas from:
(1)
The overflow of inland or tidal water.
(2)
The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters
from any source.
FLOODPROOFING
Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions,
changes or adjustments to structures, which reduce or eliminate risk
of flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and
sanitation facilities or structures with their contents.
[Added 4-10-2019]
FLOODWAY
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.
[Amended 4-10-2019]
FLOOR
The top surface of an enclosed area in a building (including
basement), e.g., top of slab in concrete slab construction or top
of wood flooring in wood frame construction. The term does not include
the floor of a garage used solely for parking vehicles.
FUNCTIONALLY DEPENDENT USE OR FACILITY
A use or facility that cannot perform its intended purpose
unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water. The
term 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. The term does not include seafood processing
facilities, long-term storage, manufacturing, sales or service facilities.
HIGHEST ADJACENT GRADE
The highest natural elevation of the ground surface, prior
to construction, next to the proposed walls of a structure.
HIGH-TIDE LINE
(1)
A line or mark left upon tide flats, beaches or along shore
objects that indicates the intersection of land with the water's
surface at the maximum heights reached by a rising tide. The mark
may be determined by:
(a)
A line of oil or scum along shore objects;
(b)
A more or less continuous deposit of fine shell or debris on
the foreshore or berm;
(c)
Physical markings or characteristics, vegetation lines, tidal
gauge; or
(d)
By any other suitable means delineating the general height reached
by a rising tide.
(2)
The term includes spring high tides and other high tides that
occur with periodic frequency but does not include storm surges in
which there is a departure from the normal or predicted reach of the
tide due to the piling up of water against a coast by strong winds
such as those accompanying a hurricane or other intense storm.
HISTORIC STRUCTURE
Any structure that is:
(1)
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;
(2)
Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the
Interior as contributing to the historic significance of a registered
historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary
to qualify as a registered district;
(3)
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
(4)
Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places
in communities with historic preservation programs that have been
certified by either:
(a)
An approved state program as determined by the Secretary of
the Interior; or
(b)
Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without
approved programs.
LIMIT OF MODERATE WAVE ACTION (LIMWA)
The landward limit of the 1.5 foot breaking wave within a
Coastal AE Zone. These areas are seaward of the line labeled "Limit
of Moderate Wave Action" (LiMWA) on a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).
[Added 4-10-2019]
LOWEST FLOOR
The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement).
An unfinished or 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.
MANUFACTURED HOME
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 also includes park trailers, travel trailers, recreational vehicles
and other similar vehicles or transportable structures placed on a
site for 180 consecutive days or longer and intended to be improved
property.
MARKET VALUE
The market value of the structure shall be determined by
the appraised value of the structure 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. If an appraisal is not available
then the depreciated value of the structure only from the assessors
field card will be utilized.
MEAN SEA LEVEL
For purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the
North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988 or other datum to which
base flood elevations shown on a community's Flood Insurance
Rate Map are referenced.
NEW CONSTRUCTION
Structures for which the start of construction commenced
on or after December 14, 1977, the effective date of this chapter
(not the revision date), and includes any subsequent improvements
to such structures.
NEW MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION
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 December 14, 1977,
the effective date of the floodplain management regulation adopted
by this community.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
(1)
A vehicle which is:
(a)
Built on a single chassis.
(b)
Four hundred square feet or less when measured at the largest
horizontal projections.
(c)
Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty
truck.
(d)
Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as
temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal
use.
(2)
Recreational vehicles and similar transportable structures placed
on a site for 180 consecutive days or longer shall be considered manufactured
homes for the purpose of this chapter.
SAND DUNES
Naturally occurring accumulations of sand in ridges or mounds
landward of the beach.
SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA)
The land in the floodplain within a community subject to
a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year. SFHAs are determined
utilizing the base flood elevations (BFE) provided on the flood profiles
in the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) for a community. BFEs provided
on Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) are only approximate (rounded up
or down) and should be verified with the BFEs published in the FIS
for a specific location. SFHAs include, but are not necessarily limited
to, the land shown as Zones A, AE, and the Coastal High Hazard Areas
shown as Zones VE and Coastal AE on a FIRM. The SFHA is also called
the Area of Special Flood Hazard.
[Added 4-10-2019]
START OF CONSTRUCTION
For other than new construction or substantial improvements
under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (P.L. 97-348), includes substantial improvement and means the date the
building permit was issued, provided that the actual start of construction,
repair, reconstruction or improvement was within 180 days of the permit
date. The "actual start" means the first placement of permanent construction
of a structure (including a manufactured home) on a site, such as
the pouring of slabs or footings, installation of piles, construction
of columns or any work beyond the stage of excavation or 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 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.
STRUCTURE
A walled and roofed building that is principally above ground,
a manufactured home, or gas or liquid storage tank.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE
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. "Substantial damage" also means flood-related damages
sustained by a structure on two separate occasions during a ten-year
period for which the cost of repairs at the time of each such flood
event, on the average, equals or exceeds 25% of the market value of
the structure before the damaged occurred.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT
(1)
Any combination of repairs, reconstruction, alteration or improvements
to a structure, taking place during a five-year period beginning on
January 1, 2013, in which the cumulative 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, regardless of the actual repair work performed.
The market value of the structure should be:
(a)
The market value of the structure prior to the start of the
initial repair or improvement; or
(b)
In the case of damage, the value of the structure prior to the
damage occurring.
(2)
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 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.
VARIANCE
A grant of relief from the requirements of this chapter which
permits construction in a manner otherwise prohibited by this chapter
where specific enforcement would result in unnecessary hardship.
VIOLATION
The failure of a structure or other development to be fully
compliant with the community's floodplain management ordinance.
A structure or other development without required permits, lowest
floor elevation documentation, floodproofing certificates or required
floodway encroachment calculations is presumed to be in violation
until such time as that documentation is provided.
WATER SURFACE ELEVATION
The height, in relation to the North American Vertical Datum
(NAVD) of 1988 (or other datum, where specified), of floods of various
magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of coastal or riverine
areas.