[Amended 7-8-1991 by Ord. No. 627, approved 7-8-1991; 7-14-2014 by Ord. No. 773, approved 7-14-2014]
The identified floodplain area shall be:
A. Any areas of the Borough of Wilson, 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. The above-referenced FIS and FIRMs, and
any subsequent revisions and amendments, are hereby adopted by the
Borough of Wilson and declared to be a part of this chapter.
B. 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.
(1) Within any floodway area, no encroachments, including fill, new construction,
substantial improvements, or other development shall be permitted
unless it has been demonstrated through hydrologic and hydraulic analysis
performed in accordance with standard engineering practice that the
proposed encroachment would not result in any increase in flood levels
within the community during the occurrence of the base flood discharge.
(2) Within any floodway area, no new construction or development shall
be allowed, unless the appropriate permit is obtained from the Department
of Environmental Protection Regional Office.
C. 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.
(1) 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.
D. 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 floodplain
area which is nearest the construction site. In lieu of the above,
the municipality may require the applicant to determine the elevation
with hydrologic and hydraulic engineering techniques. Hydrologic and
hydraulic analyses shall be undertaken only by professional engineers
or others of demonstrated qualifications, who shall certify that the
technical methods correctly reflect currently accepted technical concepts.
Studies, analyses, computations, etc., shall be submitted in sufficient
detail to allow a thorough technical review by the municipality.
[Amended 7-14-2014 by Ord. No. 773, approved 7-14-2014]
Should a dispute arise concerning the identification
of any flood-prone area, an initial determination shall be made by
the floodplain administrator, and any person aggrieved by such decision
may appeal to the Wilson Borough Zoning Hearing Board. The burden
of proof shall be on the appellant.