(A) The
city engineer or appointee is hereby designated as the floodplain
administrator to administer and implement the provisions of this chapter
and other appropriate sections of 44 CFR (National Flood Insurance
Program regulations) pertaining to floodplain management.
(B) Duties
and responsibilities of the Floodplain Administrator shall include,
but not be limited to, the following:
(1) Maintenance and holding open for public inspection all records pertaining
to the provisions of this chapter;
(2) Review of permit applications to determine whether proposed building
sites are reasonably safe from flooding;
(3) Review, approval, or denial of all applications for development permits
required by this chapter;
(4) Review of all permits for proposed development to assure that all
necessary permits have been obtained from those federal, state, or
local governmental agencies (including §404 of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 33 U.S.C. 1334) from which
prior approval is required;
(5) Interpretation of the exact location of the boundaries of areas of
special flood hazard, when in question;
(6) Notification, in riverine situations, of adjacent communities and
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) prior to any
alteration or relocation of a watercourse and submission of evidence
of such notification to the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
(7) Ascertainment that the flood carrying capacity within any altered
or relocated portion of a watercourse has been maintained; and
(8) Obtainment, review, and utilization of any base flood elevation data
and floodway data available from federal, state, or other sources,
in order to administer the provisions of this chapter, if such information
is not identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in its
flood hazard boundary map of the city.
(9) Requiring, when a regulatory floodway has not been designated, that
no new construction, substantial improvements, or other development
(including fill) shall be permitted within Zones Al-30 and AE on the
community’s FIRM, unless it is demonstrated that the cumulative
effect of the proposed development when combined with all other existing
and anticipated development, will not increase the water surface elevation
of the base flood more than one foot at any point within the community.
(Ordinance 254-87-04-28, passed 4-28-87; Ordinance 1242-16-01-26, passed 1-26-16; Ordinance
1441-20-05-12, passed 5-12-20)
(A) General.
The Board of Adjustment shall hear and decide appeals under
this chapter.
(B) Basis.
Written appeals may be made to the Board of Adjustment on the
following bases:
(1) Where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision,
or determination made by the Floodplain Administrator in the enforcement
of this chapter.
(2) Variances shall only be issued upon showing a good and sufficient
cause that is not contrary to the public interest, a determination
that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship
to the applicant, and a determination that by granting the variance,
the spirit of this chapter is observed, substantial justice is done
and the 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, or conflict with existing
local laws or ordinances.
(C) Procedure.
(1) A written application for appeal to the Board of Adjustment must be taken within 15 days after the decision has been rendered by the Floodplain Administrator. The application shall be filed with the City Secretary, specifying the grounds therefor, and shall be accompanied by payment of a fee as prescribed in §
151.57.
(2) The Floodplain Administrator shall forthwith transmit to the Board
of Adjustment all the papers constituting the record upon which the
action appealed from was taken.
(D) Hearing.
(1) The Board of Adjustment shall hold a public hearing on all appeals
made to it.
(2) Before a public hearing may be scheduled regarding an appeal, a complete
application, which includes the following items, must be submitted
to the Administrator in accordance with the Zoning Code Supplemental
Schedule:
(a) Complete application form included in the Zoning Code Supplemental
Schedule;
(c) Names and addresses of the owners of land within the proposed area
and within 200 feet of the boundary of the area which is the subject
of the requested appeal in the form indicated in the Zoning Code Supplemental
Schedule.
(3) Not later than 15 days before the scheduled public hearing date,
notice of the hearing must be published at least one time in the city’s
official newspaper or a paper of general circulation in the City,
which includes the date of the public hearing, time of the public
hearing, location, and a general description of the request before
the Board.
(4) Notice must also include:
(a) Placing signs, in the amount determined by the Administrator on every
street right-of-way adjacent to the land under consideration.
(b) Mailing letters to all owners of land within the boundary and within
200 feet of the boundary of the subject area that include the date
of the public hearing, time of the public hearing, location, and a
general description of the request before the Board.
(E) Stay.
An appeal, properly filed as herein provided, shall stay all
development proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from,
unless the Floodplain Administrator shall certify to the Board that,
by reason of facts stated in the certificate, a stay would, in his
opinion, cause imminent peril to life or property. In the event of
such exemption from a stay, development proceedings shall not be stayed
except by a restraining order by a court of record properly ordering
same.
(F) Decision
of the Board.
(1) The Board shall decide the appeal within 45 days from the date of
its filing with the Administrator.
(2) The following factors should be considered by the Board in making
its determination on any appeal:
(a) Variances for reconstruction, rehabilitation, or restoration of structures
listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the State Inventory
of Historic Places, may be granted without regard to the qualification
set forth in the remainder of this division;
(b) The provisions of §
151.22 shall be considered for variances requested for new construction and substantial improvements to be erected on a lot of one-half acre or less in size contiguous to and surrounded by lots with existing structures constructed below the base flood level; provided, however, that as the lot size increases beyond one-half acre, the technical justification required for issuing the variance increases;
(c) A variance shall not be granted within a designated floodway if any
increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge, or if any
additional threats to public safety, would result;
(d) Only the minimum variance required to afford relief to the applicant
shall be granted; and
(e) The granting of the variance shall not result in increased flood
heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public
expense, the creation of nuisances, fraud on or victimization of the
public, or conflict with existing local laws or ordinances.
(3) The concurring vote of four members of the Board shall be necessary
to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination of the
Floodplain Administrator, to decide in favor of the applicant on any
matter on which it is required to pass under this chapter, or to effect
any variance in the chapter.
(4) Any applicant to which a variance is granted shall be given written
notice that the structure will be permitted to be built with the 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.
(G) Appeal
of Boards Decision.
(1) Any person or persons, jointly or severally aggrieved by any decision
of the Board, or any taxpayer or any officer or board of the municipality
may present to a court of jurisdiction a petition, duly verified,
setting forth that such decision is illegal, in whole or in part,
specifying the grounds of illegality.
(2) The petition shall be presented to the court within ten days after
the filing of the decision in the office of the Board and not thereafter.
(H) Report
to Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Floodplain
Administrator shall maintain a record of all actions involving an
appeal and shall report any variance granted by the Board to the Federal
Emergency Management Agency upon request.
(Ordinance 254-87-04-28, passed 4-28-87; Am. Ordinance 970-08-10-14, passed 10-14-08)
(A) Establishment.
The City Council shall establish by resolution a fee structure
for fees to be paid at the time of filing an application for a development
permit or an appeal under this chapter. The fees shall be posted in
the office of the City Secretary and may be amended by action of the
City Council.
(B) Management.
(1) For each action requiring payment of a fee under this chapter, the
City Secretary or a duly authorized designate, shall:
(a) Maintain a record of all fees paid and of all costs incurred by the
city for plan review and for inspection and reinspection;
(b) Bill the development permit applicant or holder for any costs incurred
by the city that exceed the amount of the fee deposit; and
(c) Refund any unutilized fee deposit at the conclusion of the 45-day
period following the termination of the development process.
(2) The payment of the applicable fee is a prerequisite to any action
under this chapter which entails payment of a fee.
(Ordinance 254-87-04-28, passed 4-28-87)
In case any property is developed or used in violation of this
chapter, the Floodplain Administrator is authorized and directed to
institute any appropriate action to assure enforcement and compliance
with this chapter.
(Ordinance 254-87-04-28, passed 4-28-87)
(A) Any
person or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this
chapter, or who fails to comply herewith or with any of the requirements
hereof, or who shall develop any property in violation of any development
plan submitted and permit approved hereunder, shall be liable to a
maximum fine of not more than $500 for each day any such violation
shall continue. Each violation may be considered a separate offense.
The owner or owners of any property or premises, or part thereof,
where anything in violation of this chapter shall be placed, or shall
exist, and any architect, engineer, builder, contractor, agent, person,
or corporation employed in connection therewith, and who may have
assisted in the commission of any such violation, shall be guilty
of a separate offense, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined
as herein provided.
(B) Nothing
herein contained shall prevent the city from taking other lawful action
as is necessary to prevent or remedy any violation of this chapter.
(Ordinance 254-87-04-28, passed 4-28-87; Am. Ordinance 260-87-08-11, passed 8-11-87)