[Amended 3-24-2020 by Ord. No. 6PSF-A, 03-24-2020]
Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this Title shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage and to give this Title its most reasonable application.
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.
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.
A request for a review of the Flood Control Compliance Officer's interpretation of any provision of this Title or a request for a variance.
A designated AO, AH or VO zone on the Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) with a 1% annual or greater chance of flooding. The base flood depths range to an average depth 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.
The land in the flood plain 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, A1-A30, AE, A99, or AH.
A flood having a 1% 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 1% 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.
The portion of the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) starting from a Velocity (V) Zone and extending up to the landward Limit of the Moderate Wave Action delineation. Where no V Zone is mapped the Coastal A Zone is the portion between the open coast and the landward Limit of the Moderate Wave Action delineation. Coastal A Zones may be subject to wave effects, velocity flows, erosion, scour, or a combination of these forces. Construction and development in Coastal A Zones is to be regulated the same as V Zones/Coastal High Hazard Areas.
An area of special flood hazard extending from offshore to the inland limit of a primary frontal dune along an open coast and any other area subject to high velocity wave action from storms or seismic sources.
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.
Any of the following:
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.
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, or in the case of a building in a Coastal High-Hazard Area or Coastal A Zone, to have the bottom of the lowest horizontal structural member 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 of 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. In Areas of Coastal High Hazard and Coastal A Zones "elevated buildings" also includes a building otherwise meeting the definition of "elevated building" even though the lower area is enclosed by means of breakaway walls.
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 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 flood plain 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 non-residential 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 two-tenths of a foot.
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.
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:
Inland limit of the area affected by waves greater than 1.5 feet during the Base flood. Base flood conditions between the V Zone and the LiMWA will be similar to, but less severe than those in the V Zone.
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 Section 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 the floodplain regulations adopted by the City 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 City.
The draft version of the FIRM released for public comment before finalization and adoption.
A vehicle which is (a) built on a single chassis; (b) 400 square feet of less when measured at the longest horizontal projections; (c) designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and (d) designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use.
Shall mean and includes substantial improvements and shall mean 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 it is 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 Title that permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this Title.
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 flood plains of coastal or riverine areas.