(a) 
Generally.
No building permit, development permit, construction site permit or other permit required for a structure or development shall be issued, and no plat shall be approved, unless the applicant demonstrates that the permit or plat meets the applicable requirements of this article, or unless a variance, excepting such structure or development from the provisions of this chapter, is granted under the terms of this article.
(b) 
Development permit required.
A development permit shall be obtained before construction or development begins within any special flood hazard area established in section 8 1/2-6 or within any other flood-prone area designated by the city engineer with approval of the city council by resolution. The permit shall be for all structures including manufactured homes, and for all development including fill and other activities.
(c) 
Application for development permit.
Application for a development permit shall be made on forms furnished by the department of development services and may include, but not be limited to, plans in duplicate drawn to scale showing the nature, location, dimensions, and elevations of the area proposed for development, existing or proposed structures, fill, storage of materials, drainage facilities, and the location of the foregoing. Specifically, the following information is required:
(1) 
The existing topography and the location, dimensions, and elevation of any proposed alterations;
(2) 
Existing and proposed structures;
(3) 
The location of the proposed alterations in relation to special flood hazard area(s);
(4) 
Elevation, in relation to mean sea level of the lowest floor (including basement) of all new and substantially improved structures;
(5) 
Elevation in relation to mean sea level to which any nonresidential structures will be or have been floodproofed;
(6) 
Certification by a registered professional engineer or architect that the floodproofing methods for any nonresidential structure meet the floodproofing criteria in section 8 1/2-13(b);
(7) 
If the site is adjacent to a watercourse or drainage channel, the description of how that watercourse will be impacted as a result of proposed development;
(8) 
Base flood elevations from effective FIRM data for all structures and substantial improvements; and
(9) 
Each sheet in the plans on which elevations are marked shall include the vertical datum and adjustment, consistent with the effective FIRM, along with the FIRM benchmark and site benchmark used for vertical control.
(d) 
Elevation certificate.
The permit applicant for development of a structure is required to provide the city engineer with a signed FEMA elevation certificate at the following three (3) stages during the application and construction process:
(1) 
When the permit application is submitted;
(2) 
Prior to forming/pouring the lowest floor of the structure; and
(3) 
Prior to receiving the final inspection (photographs required on final certificate).
(e) 
Engineering analyses.
Based on the nature of the proposed development, the city engineer may require the permit applicant to submit one (1) or more of the following studies:
(1) 
Fill mitigation analysis;
(2) 
Hydraulic impact analysis;
(3) 
Hydrologic impact (overland flow path and ponding) analysis; and/or
(4) 
Any other technical analysis deemed necessary by the city engineer in order to protect the community from the impacts of potential flooding events.
Permit applicants are encouraged to discuss proposed development plans with the city engineer prior to submitting an application in order to determine which analyses may be required to support the application. Technical analyses shall be certified by a professional engineer licensed by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers.
(f) 
Permit approval or denial.
Approval or denial of a development permit by the city engineer shall be based on all of the provisions of this chapter and the following relevant factors:
(1) 
The danger to life and property due to flooding or erosion damage;
(2) 
The susceptibility of the proposed facility and its contents to flood damage and the effect of such damage on the individual owner;
(3) 
The danger that materials may be swept onto other lands to the injury of others;
(4) 
The compatibility of the proposed use with existing and anticipated development;
(5) 
The safety of access to the property in times of flood for ordinary and emergency vehicles;
(6) 
The costs of providing governmental services during and after flood conditions including maintenance and repair of streets and bridges, and public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical and water systems;
(7) 
The expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise and sediment transport of the floodwaters and the effects of wave action, if applicable, expected at the site;
(8) 
The necessity to the facility of a waterfront location, where applicable; and
(9) 
The availability of alternative locations, not subject to flooding or erosion damage, for the proposed use.
(Ordinance O-19-015, sec. 1, adopted 5/2/19)
The city engineer is hereby appointed floodplain administrator to administer and implement the provisions of this chapter and other appropriate sections of 44 CFR (Emergency Management and Assistance-National Flood Insurance Program Regulations) pertaining to floodplain management by granting or denying development permit applications in accordance with its provisions.
(Ordinance O-19-015, sec. 1, adopted 5/2/19)
Duties and responsibilities of the floodplain administrator shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) 
Permit review.
a. 
Review all development permit applications to determine that the requirements of this chapter have been satisfied.
b. 
Review all development permit applications to determine that all necessary permits have been obtained from those federal, state, or local governmental agencies (including but not limited to section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 33 USC 1344) from which prior approval is required.
c. 
Review all development permit applications to determine if the proposed development is located in the regulatory floodway. If located in the regulatory floodway, assure that the encroachment provisions of section 8 1/2-15 are met.
d. 
Review all development permit applications to ensure that the proposed building site projects, including the placement of manufactured homes, will be reasonably safe from flooding.
(2) 
Use of other base flood data (in A zones).
When base flood elevation data has not been provided in accordance with section 8 1/2-6(b), obtain, review, and reasonably utilize any base flood elevation and floodway data available from a federal, state or other source, in order to administer sections 8 1/2-13 and 8 1/2-15.
(3) 
Information to be obtained and maintained.
a. 
Where base flood elevation data is provided through the flood insurance study, flood insurance rate map (FIRM), or required as in section 8 1/2-9(2), obtain and record the actual elevation (in relation to mean sea level) of the lowest floor (including basement) of all new or substantially improved structures, and whether or not the structure contains a basement.
b. 
For all new or substantially improved floodproofed structures where base flood elevation data is provided through the flood insurance study, FIRM, or as required in section 8 1/2-9(2):
1. 
Verify and record the actual elevation (in relation to mean sea level); and
2. 
Maintain the floodproofing certifications required in section 8 1/2-7(c)(6). c. Maintain for public inspection all records pertaining to the provisions of this chapter.
(4) 
Alteration of watercourses.
a. 
Notify, in riverine situations, adjacent communities, the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or their successor agencies, prior to any alteration or relocation of a watercourse, and submit evidence of such notification to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
b. 
Require that maintenance is provided within the altered or relocated portion of said watercourse so that the flood carrying capacity is not diminished.
(5) 
FIRM boundaries.
a. 
Interpretation.
Make interpretations, where needed, as to exact location of the boundaries of the special flood hazard area (i.e., where there appears to be a conflict between a mapped boundary and actual field conditions). The person contesting the location of the boundary shall be given a reasonable opportunity to appeal the interpretation as provided in section 8 1/2-11.
b. 
Revision; encroachments.
Under the provisions of 44 CFR 65.12 of the National Flood Insurance Program regulations, a community may approve certain development in zones A1–30, AE and AH on a community’s FIRM which increases the water surface elevation of the base flood by more than one (1) foot, provided that the community first completes all of the provisions required by said section 65.12.
(Ordinance O-19-015, sec. 1, adopted 5/2/19)
(a) 
Any person who is required or elects to obtain the city’s approval of a plat shall also comply with the applicable provisions of this chapter.
(b) 
When a person files an application for approval of a plat, the approval of the plat is subject to the approval of a drainage plan for the property that is the subject of the plat application if the property is located in whole or in part in a flood-prone area within the city. The drainage plan shall include the base flood elevation data for the property certified as true and correct on the face of the drainage plan by a registered professional engineer licensed by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers.
(c) 
The city engineer shall review the drainage plan and determine whether the development will be reasonably safe from flooding and whether such proposed development is:
(1) 
Consistent with the need to minimize flood damage within the flood-prone area;
(2) 
To be constructed so that all public utility facilities including, but not limited to, sanitary sewer, gas, water and electrical systems are located and constructed so as to minimize flood damage from the base flood;
(3) 
To be constructed so that drainage is provided to reduce exposure of such development to flood hazards; and
(4) 
Would comply with the applicable requirements of article III of this chapter.
(d) 
If the proposed development satisfies the criteria in section 8 1/2-10(c), the city engineer shall approve the drainage plan and shall so notify the city planning and zoning commission in writing.
(e) 
The city planning and zoning commission shall not approve a final plat until the city engineer has approved the drainage plan for that site.
(Ordinance O-19-015, sec. 1, adopted 5/2/19)
(a) 
Appeal board.
(1) 
The appeal board, as established by the city council, shall hear and decide appeals and requests for variances from the requirements of this chapter.
(2) 
The appeal board shall hear and decide appeals when it is alleged there is an error in any requirement, decision, or determination made by the floodplain administrator in the enforcement or administration of this chapter.
(3) 
In passing upon such applications, the appeal board shall consider all technical evaluations, all relevant factors, standards specified in other sections of this chapter, and:
a. 
The danger that materials may be swept onto other lands to the injury of others;
b. 
The danger to life and property due to flooding or erosion damage;
c. 
The susceptibility of the proposed facility and its contents to flood damage and the effect of such damage on the individual owner;
d. 
The importance of the services provided by the proposed facility to the community;
e. 
The necessity to the facility of a waterfront location, where applicable;
f. 
The availability of alternative locations for the proposed use which are not subject to flooding or erosion damage;
g. 
The compatibility of the proposed use with existing and anticipated development;
h. 
The relationship of the proposed use to the comprehensive plan and floodplain management program for that area;
i. 
The safety of access to the property in times of flood for ordinary and emergency vehicles;
j. 
The expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise, and sediment transport of the floodwaters and the effects of wave action, if applicable, expected at the site; and
k. 
The costs of providing governmental services during and after flood conditions, including maintenance and repair of public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical, and water systems, and streets and bridges.
(4) 
Upon consideration of the factors of section 8 1/2-11(a)(3) and the purposes of this chapter, the appeal board may attach such conditions to the granting of variances as it deems necessary to further the purposes of this chapter.
(5) 
The floodplain administrator shall maintain the records of all appeals and requests for variances, and shall report any variances to the Federal Emergency Management Agency upon request.
(b) 
Conditions for variances.
(1) 
Variances may be issued for new construction and substantial improvements to be erected on a lot of one-half (1/2) acre or less in size contiguous to and surrounded by lots with existing structures constructed below the base flood level, providing items in section 8 1/2-11(a)(3) have been fully considered. As the lot size increases, the technical justification required for issuing the variance increases.
(2) 
Variances may be issued for the reconstruction, rehabilitation, or restoration of structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the state inventory of historic places, without regard to the procedures set forth in this section.
(3) 
Variances shall not be issued within a designated floodway if any increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge would result.
(4) 
Variances shall only be issued upon a determination that the variance is the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief.
(5) 
Variances shall only be issued upon:
a. 
A showing of good and sufficient cause;
b. 
A determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant;
c. 
A determination that the granting of a variance will not result in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisances, cause fraud on or victimization of the public as identified in section 8 1/2-11(a)(3), or conflict with other local laws or ordinances.
(6) 
Variances as interpreted in the National Flood Insurance Program are based on the general zoning law principle that they pertain to a physical piece or property; they are not personal in nature and do not pertain to the structure, its inhabitants, economic or financial circumstances. Variances primarily address small lots in densely populated residential neighborhoods. As such, variances from the flood elevations should be quite rare.
(7) 
Variances may be issued for nonresidential buildings in very limited circumstances to allow a lesser degree of floodproofing than watertight or dry-floodproofing, where it can be determined that such action will have low damage potential, complies with all other variance criteria except section 8 1/2-11(b)(1), and otherwise complies with section 8 1/2-12(a) and (b) of the general standards.
(8) 
Variances may be issued for new construction and substantial improvements and for other development necessary for the conduct of a functionally dependent use provided that:
a. 
The criteria outlined in section 8 1/2-11(b) are met; and
b. 
The structure or other development is protected by methods that minimize flood damages during the base flood and create no additional threats to public safety.
(9) 
Any applicant to whom a variance is granted shall be given written notice that the structure will be permitted to be built with a lowest floor elevation below the base flood elevation and that the cost of flood insurance will be commensurate with the increased risk resulting from the reduced lowest floor elevation.
(c) 
Appeal of decision.
All decisions of the appeal board are final and binding and may not be appealed to the city council. However, any person aggrieved by a decision of the appeal board may contest the decision of the appeal board in a court of appropriate jurisdiction within thirty (30) calendar days after the date the board’s decision is filed in the office of the secretary of the board.
(d) 
Notice of decision.
The secretary shall give written notice of the decision of the appeal board and the right of appeal of the decision to each party either by personal delivery, by certified or registered mail sent via the U.S. Postal Service, or by email, not later than the third day after the date of the decision.
(Ordinance O-19-015, sec. 1, adopted 5/2/19)