Definitions. The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation
and enforcement of this section:
BASE FLOOD
A flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded
in any given year.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION
The Federal-Emergency-Management-Agency- designated one-hundred-year
water surface elevation.
BASEMENT
Any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below
ground level) on all sides.
DEVELOPMENT
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, the
placement of manufactured homes, street and other paving, utilities,
mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling
operations or storage of equipment or materials.
ELEVATED BUILDING
A no-basement building built to have the lowest floor elevated
above the ground level by means of fill, solid foundation perimeter
walls, pilings, or columns (posts and piers).
ENCROACHMENT
The advance or infringement of uses, plant growth, fill,
excavation, buildings, permanent structures or development into a
floodplain, which may impede or alter the flow capacity of a floodplain.
FLOOD or FLOODING
(1)
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation
of normally dry land areas from the overflow of inland waters or the
unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any
source; or
(2)
The collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as a flash flood, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in Subsection
(1) of this definition.
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 more than
one foot.
FREEBOARD
A factor of safety usually expressed in feet above a flood
level for purposes of floodplain management. "Freeboard" tends to
compensate for the many unknown factors that could contribute to flood
heights greater than the height calculated for a selected size flood
and floodway conditions, such as bridge openings and the hydrological
effect of urbanization in the watershed.
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 requirement
for individual listing on the National Register;
(2)
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; or
(3)
Individually listed on the Virginia State Inventory of Historic
Places.
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, provided that such
enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation
of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of Federal Code
44 CFR § 60.3.
MANUFACTURED HOME
A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which
is eight feet or more in width and 40 feet or more in length, or when
erected is 320 or more square feet in area, and which is built on
a permanent chassis and is designed to be used with or without a permanent
foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes
the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained
therein. For the purposes of this section, the term includes park
trailers, travel trailers, and recreational and other similar vehicles
which are placed on site for more than 180 consecutive days.
MANUFACTURED HOME PARK/SUBDIVISION, EXISTING
A parcel or contiguous parcels of land divided into two or
more lots for rent or sale for which the construction of facilities
for servicing the lot on which the manufactured home is to be affixed,
including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, either final
site grading or the pouring of concrete pads, and the construction
of streets, is completed before the effective date of the ordinance
codified in this section.
NEW CONSTRUCTION
For the purposes of determining insurance rates, structures
for which the start of construction commenced on or after June 15,
1978, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.
For floodplain management purposes, new construction means structure
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 structure.
ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR FLOOD
A flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every
100 years (i.e., that has a one-percent chance of occurring each year,
although the flood may occur in any year).
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
A vehicle which is built on a single chassis, is 400 square
feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection, is
designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty
truck, and which is designed not for use as a permanent dwelling but
as temporary living quarters for recreational camping, travel, or
seasonal use.
SHALLOW FLOODING AREA
A special flood hazard area 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. Such flooding is characterized by ponding
or sheet flow.
SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA
The land in the floodplain subject to a one-percent or greater
chance of being flooded in any given year.
START OF CONSTRUCTION
The date the building permit was issued, provided that the
actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation,
addition, placement, substantial improvement 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 a
site, such as the pouring of slabs or footings, the installation of
piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of
excavation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation,
such as clearing, grading and filling; 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 the 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.
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 IMPROVEMENT
Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other improvement
of a structure, the cost of which 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 term does not,
however, include either:
(1)
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
(2)
Any alteration of an historic structure, provided that the alteration
will not preclude the structure's continued designation as an historic
structure.
WATERCOURSE
A lake, river, creek, stream, wash, channel, or other topographic
feature on or over which waters flow at least periodically. "Watercourse"
includes specifically designated areas in which substantial flood
damage may occur.