The Legislature of the State of New Jersey has, in N.J.S.A.
40:48-1 et seq., delegated the responsibility to local governmental
units to adopt regulations designed to promote public health, safety,
and general welfare of its citizenry.
A.
The flood hazard areas of the Township of Verona are subject to periodic
inundation which results in loss of life and property, health and
safety hazards, disruption of commerce and governmental services,
extraordinary public expenditures for flood protection and relief,
and impairment of the tax base, all of which adversely affect the
public health, safety, and general welfare.
B.
These flood losses are caused by the cumulative effect of obstructions
in areas of special flood hazard which increase flood heights and
velocities, and when inadequately anchored, causes damage in other
areas. Uses that are inadequately floodproofed, elevated or otherwise
protected from flood damage also contribute to the flood loss.
It is the purpose of this chapter to promote the public health,
safety, and general welfare, and to minimize public and private losses
due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed to:
A.
Protect human life and health;
B.
Minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects;
C.
Minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding
and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public;
D.
Minimize prolonged business interruptions;
E.
Minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water
and gas mains, electric, telephone and sewer lines, streets, bridges
located in areas of special flood hazard;
F.
Help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the sound use and
development of areas of special flood hazard so as to minimize future
flood blight areas;
G.
Ensure that potential buyers are notified that the property is in
an area of special flood hazard; and
H.
Ensure that those who occupy the areas of special flood hazard assume
responsibility for their actions.
In order to accomplish its purposes, this chapter includes methods
and provisions for:
A.
Restricting or prohibiting uses which are dangerous to health, safety,
and property due to water or erosion hazards, or which result in damaging
increases in erosion or in flood heights or velocities;
B.
Requiring that uses vulnerable to floods, including facilities which
serve such uses, be protected against flood damage at the time of
initial construction;
C.
Controlling the alteration of natural floodplains, stream channels,
and natural protective barriers, which help accommodate or channel
floodwaters;
D.
Controlling filling, grading, dredging, and other development which
may increase flood damage; and
E.
Preventing or regulating the construction of flood barriers which
will unnaturally divert floodwaters or which may increase flood hazards
in other areas.
Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in
this chapter shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they
have in common usage and to give this chapter its most reasonable
application.
Areas subject to inundation by one-percent-annual-chance
shallow flooding (usually areas of ponding) where average depths are
between one foot and three feet. Base flood elevations (BFEs) derived
from detailed hydraulic analyses are shown in this zone.
Areas subject to inundation by one-percent-annual-chance
shallow flooding (usually sheet flow on sloping terrain) where average
depths are between one foot and three feet.
A request for a review of the Floodplain Manager's interpretation
of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variance.
A designated AO or AH zone on a community's Flood Insurance
Rate Map (FIRM) with a one-percent-annual-or-greater chance of flooding
to an average depth of one foot to three feet where a clearly defined
channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable
and where velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized
by ponding or sheet flow.
Land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one-percent-or-greater
chance of flooding in any given year. It is shown on the FIRM as Zone
V, VE, V1-30, A, AO, A1-A30, AE, A99, or AH.
A flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded
in any given year.
The flood elevation shown on a published Flood Insurance
Study (FIS) including the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). For zones
AE, AH, AO, and A1-30 the elevation represents 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 subgrade (below
ground level) on all sides.
The most recent available preliminary flood risk guidance
FEMA has provided. The best available flood hazard data may be depicted
on but not limited to Advisory Flood Hazard Area Maps, Work Maps or
Preliminary FIS and FIRM.
The most recent available preliminary flood elevation guidance
FEMA has provided. The best available flood hazard data elevation
may be depicted on an Advisory Flood Hazard Area Map, Work Map or
Preliminary FIS and FIRM.
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 supporting foundation system.
Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement
of a structure that equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the
structure at the time of the improvement or repair when counted cumulatively
for 10 years.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining,
dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations,
or storage of equipment or materials located within the area of special
flood hazard.
A non-basement building: (a) built, in the case of a building
in an area of special flood hazard, to have the top of the elevated
floor, elevated above the base flood elevation plus freeboard by means
of piling, columns (posts and piers), or shear walls parallel to the
flow of the water; and (b) adequately anchored so as not to impair
the structural integrity of the building during a flood up to the
magnitude of the base flood. In an area of special flood hazard, "elevated
building" also includes a building elevated by means of fill or solid
foundation perimeter walls with openings sufficient to facilitate
the unimpeded movement of floodwaters.
An administrative tool of the National Flood Insurance Program
(NFIP) that can be used to provide elevation information, to determine
the proper insurance premium rate, and to support a required for Letter
of Map Amendment (LOMA) or Letter of Map Revision based on fill (LOMR-F).
The process of gradual wearing away of land masses.
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.
Any publication authored or referenced by FEMA related to
building science, building safety or floodplain management related
to the National Flood Insurance Program. Publications shall include
but are not limited to technical bulletins, desk references, and American
Society of Civil Engineers Standards documents.
An American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) classification
of buildings and other structures for determination of flood loads
and conditions and determination of minimum elevation requirements
on the basis of risk associated with unacceptable performance.
The Official Map on which the Federal Insurance Administration
has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk
premium zones applicable to the community.
The official report in which the Federal Insurance Administration
has provided flood profiles, as well as the Flood Insurance Rate Map(s)
and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land areas from:
Zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes,
health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as a floodplain
ordinance, grading ordinance and erosion control ordinance) and other
applications of police power. The term describes such state or local
regulations, in any combination thereof, which provide standards for
the purpose of flood damage prevention and reduction.
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.
Certification by an engineer or architect to certify a floodproofing
design for a nonresidential building.
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
0.2 foot.
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 wave action, bridge openings, and
the hydrological effect of urbanization of the watershed.
The highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior
to construction next to the proposed or existing walls of a structure.
Any structure that is:
Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places
(a listing maintained by the Department of 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 with historic preservation programs 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 programs that have been
certified either:
The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement).
An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure, usable solely for the
parking of vehicles, building access or storage in an area other than
a basement is not considered a building's lowest floor provided that
such enclosure is not built so to render the structure in violation
of other applicable non-elevation design requirements of 44 CFR 60.3.
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 "manufactured home" does not include a "recreational vehicle."
A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two
or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
Structures for which the start of construction commenced
on or after the effective date of a floodplain regulation adopted
by a community and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.
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 the floodplain management regulations adopted by the municipality.
The draft version of the FIRM released for public comment
before finalization and adoption.
A vehicle which is:
Built on a single chassis;
Four hundred square feet or less when measured at the longest
horizontal projections;
Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty
truck; and
Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as
temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal
use.
[For other than new construction or substantial improvements
under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (P.L. No. 97-348)] includes
substantial improvements and means the date the building permit was
issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction,
rehabilitation, addition, placement, 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 a slab or footings, the installation of pilings,
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/or walkways, nor does it include excavation for a basement,
footings or 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, a manufactured home, or a gas
or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground.
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 or more 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 damages occurred.
Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement
of a structure during a ten-year period the cost of which equals or
exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure before the "start
of construction" of the improvement. Substantial improvement also
means "cumulative substantial improvement." This term includes structures
which have incurred "substantial damage," regardless of the actual
repair work performed or repetitive loss. The term does not, however,
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 Officer and
which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions;
or
Any alteration of a "historic structure," provided that the
alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation
as a "historic structure."
A grant of relief from the requirements of this chapter that
permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited
by this chapter.
The failure of a structure or other development to be fully
compliant with this chapter. A new or substantially improved 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), (e)(2), (e)(4), or (e)(5) is presumed to be in violation
until such time as that documentation is provided.
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.
