Definitions. Unless
specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this section
shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common
usage and to give this section its most reasonable application.
AO ZONE
Areas subject to inundation by 1%-annual-chance shallow flooding
(usually sheet flow on sloping terrain) where average depths are between
one and three feet.
AH ZONE
Areas subject to inundation by 1%-annual-chance shallow flooding
(usually areas of ponding) where average depths are between one and
three feet. Base Flood Elevations (BFEs) derived from detailed hydraulic
analyses are shown in this zone.
APPEAL
A request for a review of the Zoning Officer's interpretation
of any provision of this section or a request for a variance.
AREA OF SHALLOW FLOODING
A designated AO or AH zone on a community's Digital
Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) with a 1% annual or greater chance
of flooding to an average depth of one 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.
AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD
Land in the floodplain within a community subject to a 1%
or greater chance of flooding in any given year. It is shown on the
FIRM as Zone V, VE, V1-30, A, AO, Al-A30, AE, A99, or AH.
BASE FLOOD
A flood having a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in
any given year.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE)
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 1% or greater chance of being equaled
or exceeded in any given year. For zones VE and V1-30 the elevation
represents the stillwater elevation (SWEL) plus wave effect (BFE =
SWEL + wave effect) resulting from a flood that has a 1% or greater
chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
BASEMENT
Any area of the 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 supporting foundation system.
CUMULATIVE SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT
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.
DEVELOPMENT
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.
DIGITAL FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (DFIRM)
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.
ELEVATED BUILDING
A non-basement building (i) 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 (ii) 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 flood waters.
EROSION
The process of the gradual wearing away of land masses.
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, 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.
FLOOD OR FLOODING
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land areas from:
(a)
The overflow of inland or tidal waters, and/or
(b)
The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters
from any source.
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM)
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.
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY (FIS)
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.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS
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.
FLOODPROOFING
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.
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 accumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more
than 0.2 foot.
FREEBOARD
A factor of safety usually expressed in feet above a flood
level for purposes of flood plain 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.
HIGHEST ADJACENT GRADE
The highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior
to construction next to the proposed or existing walls of a structure.
HISTORIC STRUCTURE
Any structure that is:
(a)
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;
(b)
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;
(c)
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
(d)
Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places
in communities with historic preservation programs that have been
certified either:
[1]
By an approved State program as determined by the Secretary
of the Interior; or
[2]
Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in States without
approved programs.
LOWEST FLOOR
The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area [including basement].
An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, useable 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 Section
60.3.
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 "manufactured home" does not include a "recreational vehicle."
NEW CONSTRUCTION
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.
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 the effective date
of the floodplain management regulations adopted by the municipality.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
A vehicle which is [i] built on a single chassis; [ii] 400
square feet or less when measured at the longest horizontal projections;
[iii] designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light
duty truck; and [iv] designed primarily not for use as a permanent
dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping,
travel, or seasonal use.
START OF CONSTRUCTION
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 piles, 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.
STRUCTURE
A walled and roofed building, a manufactured home, or a gas
or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE
Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the
cost of restoring the structure to it's 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 10-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
valve of the structure before the damages occurred,
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT
Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement
of a structure during a 10-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:
(a)
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
(b)
Any alteration of a "historic structure," provided that the
alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation
as a "historic structure."
VARIANCE
A grant of relief from the requirements of this section that
permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited
by this section.
VIOLATION
The failure of a structure or other development to be fully
compliant with this section. 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.