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. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
A structure that is located on the same parcel of property
as the principal structure and the use of which is incidental to the
use of the principal structure. Accessory structures should constitute
a minimal investment, may not be used for human habitation and be
designed to have minimal flood damage potential. Examples of accessory
structures are detached garages, carports, storage sheds, pole barns
and hay sheds.
An extension or increase in the floor area or height of a
building or structure. Additions to existing buildings shall comply
with the requirements for new construction, regardless of whether
the addition is a substantial improvement or not. Where a firewall
or load-bearing wall is provided between the addition and the existing
building, the addition(s) shall be considered a separate building
and must comply with the standards for new construction.
A structure used solely for agricultural purposes in which
the use is exclusively in connection with the production, harvesting,
storage, drying or raising of agricultural commodities, including
the raising of livestock. Agricultural structures are not exempt from
the provisions of this chapter.
A request for a review of the local floodplain administrator's
interpretation of any provision of this chapter.
A designated AO or VO Zone on a community's Flood Insurance
Rate Map (FIRM) with base flood depths of one foot 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.
The land in the floodplain within a community subject to
a 1% or greater chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
The flood having a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded
in any given year.
Any enclosed area of a building that is below grade on all
sides.
See "structure."
An area of special flood hazard extending from offshore to
the inland limit of the primary frontal dune along an open coast and
any other area subject to velocity wave action from storms or seismic
sources.
Development that is critical to the community's public health
and safety, is essential to the orderly functioning of a community,
stores or produces highly volatile, toxic or water-reactive materials
or houses occupants that may be insufficiently mobile to avoid loss
of life or injury. Examples of critical development include jails,
hospitals, schools, fire stations, nursing homes, wastewater treatment
facilities, water plants and gas/oil/propane storage facilities.
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.
A non-basement building built to have the lowest floor elevated
above the ground level by means of solid foundation perimeter walls,
pilings, columns, piers or shear walls parallel to the flow of water.
Issued by President Carter in 1977, this order requires that
no federally assisted activities be conducted in or have the potential
to affect identified special flood hazard areas, unless there is no
practicable alternative.
For the purposes of determining rates, structures for which
the start of construction commenced before January 1, 1975.
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 June 12, 1986.
The preparation of additional sites by the construction of
facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes
are to be affixed, including the installation of utilities, the construction
of streets and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete
slabs.
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow of inland
or tidal waters, or the unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of
surface waters from any source.
An official map of a community issued by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, where the boundaries of the areas of special flood
hazard have been defined as Zone A.
An official map of a community, on which the Federal Emergency
Management Agency has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard
and the risk-premium zones applicable to the community.
The official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency which contains flood profiles, as well as the Flood Boundary
Floodway Map and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
Any building material capable of withstanding direct and
prolonged contact (minimum 72 hours) with floodwaters without sustaining
damage that requires more than low-cost cosmetic repair. Any material
that is water-soluble or is not resistant to alkali or acid in water,
including normal adhesives for above-grade use, is not flood-resistant.
Pressure-treated lumber or naturally decay-resistant lumbers are acceptable
flooring materials. Sheet-type flooring coverings that restrict evaporation
from below and materials that are impervious but dimensionally unstable
are not acceptable. Materials that absorb or retain water excessively
after submergence are not flood-resistant. Please refer to Technical
Bulletin 2, Flood Damage-Resistant Materials Requirements, dated 8/08,
and available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Class
4 and 5 materials, referenced therein, are acceptable flood-resistant
materials.
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.
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.
A use which cannot perform its intended purpose unless it
is located or carried out in close proximity to water. The term includes
only docking facilities, port facilities that are necessary for the
loading and unloading of cargo or passengers and ship building and
ship repair facilities, but does not include long-term storage or
related manufacturing facilities.
The highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior
to construction, next to the proposed walls of the structure.
Any structure that is:
Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places,
a listing maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)
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;
Some structures or districts listed on the state or local inventories
may not be "historic" as cited above, but have been included on the
inventories because it was believed that the structures or districts
have the potential for meeting the "historic" structure criteria of
the DOI. In order for these structures to meet NFIP historic structure
criteria, it must be demonstrated and evidenced that the South Carolina
Department of Archives and History has individually determined that
the structure or district meets DOI historic structure criteria.
Applies to all new and renewed flood insurance policies effective
on and after June 1, 1997. The NFIP shall enable the purchase of insurance
to cover the cost of compliance with land use and control measures
established under Section 1361. It provides coverage for the payment
of a claim to help pay for the cost to comply with state or community
floodplain management laws or ordinances after a flood event in which
a building has been declared substantially or repetitively damaged.
An area used for storage and intended to be limited to incidental items that can withstand exposure to the elements and have low flood damage potential. Such an area must be of flood-resistant or breakaway material, void of utilities except for essential lighting and cannot be temperature-controlled. If the area is located below the base flood elevation in A, AE and A1-A30 Zones, it must meet the requirements of § 172-17D of this chapter.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
An elevation of the lowest ground surface that touches any
deck support, exterior walls of a building or proposed building walls.
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
an enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation
of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of this chapter.
A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which
is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with or without
a permanent foundation when connected 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.
The National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929, North
American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988, or other datum, to which the
base flood elevations shown on a community's Flood Insurance Rate
Maps (FIRM) are shown.
As corrected in 1929, elevation reference points set by National
Geodetic Survey based on mean sea level.
Structure for which the start of construction commenced on
or after June 17, 1986. The term also includes any subsequent improvements
to such structure.
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 slabs) is completed on or after June 17, 1986.
Vertical control, as corrected in 1988, used as the reference
datum on Flood Insurance Rate Maps.
A continuous or nearly continuous mound or ridge of sand
with relatively steep seaward and landward slopes immediately landward
and subject to erosion and overtopping from high tides and waves during
coastal storms. The inland limit of the primary frontal dune occurs
at the point where there is a distinct change from a relatively steep
slope to a relatively mild slope.
A vehicle which is:
Built on a single chassis;
400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal
projection;
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.
A building covered by a contract for flood insurance that
has incurred flood-related damages on two occasions during a ten-year
period ending on the date of the event for which a second claim is
made, in which the cost of repairing the flood damage, on the average,
equaled or exceeded 25% of the market value of the building at the
time of each such flood event.
The Act provides that no new flood insurance shall be provided
for any property found by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
to have been declared by a state or local authority to be in violation
of state or local ordinances.
The first place on the oceanfront where plants such as sea
oats hold sand in place.
For other than new construction or substantial improvements
under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (P.L. 97-348), includes substantial
improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided
the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation,
addition or improvement was within 180 days of the permit date. The "actual
start" means the first placement of permanent construction of a structure
(including a manufactured home) on a site, such as the pouring of
slabs or footings, installation of piles, 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 footings, 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 the building, whether
or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.
A walled and roofed building, a manufactured home, including
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. Such repairs may be undertaken successively and their
costs counted cumulatively. Please refer to the definition of "substantial
improvement."
Any repair, 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 that have incurred repetitive
loss or substantial damage, regardless of the actual repair work performed.
The term does not, however, include either:
Any project of improvement to 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
Any alteration of an historic structure, provided that the alteration
will not preclude the structure's continued designation as an historic
structure.
Permits shall be cumulative for a period of five years. If the
improvement project is conducted in phases, the total of all costs
associated with each phase, beginning with the issuance of the first
permit, shall be utilized to determine whether substantial improvement
will occur.
Where the repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation or improvement
of the streets, utilities and pads equals or exceeds 50% of the value
of the streets, utilities and pads before the repair, reconstruction
or improvement commenced.
A grant of relief from a term or terms of this chapter.
The failure of a structure or other development to be fully
compliant with these regulations.
