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.
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, and 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 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.