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. Therefore, the Township Committee
of the Township of Bordentown, of Burlington County, New Jersey, does
hereby ordain the following.
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.
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.
AH ZONE
Areas subject to inundation by 1%-annual-chance shallow flooding
(usually areas of ponding) where average depths are between one foot
and three feet. Base flood elevations (BFEs) derived from detailed
hydraulic analyses are shown in this zone.
AO ZONE
Areas subject to inundation by 1%-annual-chance shallow flooding
(usually sheet flow on sloping terrain) where average depths are between
one foot and three feet.
APPEAL
A request for a review of the Director of Community Development's
interpretation of any provision of this chapter or a request for a
variance.
AREA OF SHALLOW FLOODING
A designated AO or AH Zone on a community's Digital Flood
Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) with a 1% annual or greater chance of flooding
to an average depth of one foot to three feet where a clearly defined
channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable
and where velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized
by ponding or sheet flow.
AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD
Land in the floodplain 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, VI-30, A, AO, A1-A30, AE, A99, or AH.
BASE FLOOD
A flood having a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in
any given year.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE)
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.
BASEMENT
Any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below
ground level) on all sides.
BREAKAWAY WALL
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.
CUMULATIVE SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT
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.
DEVELOPMENT
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.
DIGITAL FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (DFIRM)
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.
ELEVATED BUILDING
A nonbasement building built, in the case of a building in
an area of special flood hazard, to have the top 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 adequately anchored so as not to impair the
structural integrity of the building during a flood 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 flood waters.
EXISTING MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION
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.
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM)
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.
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY (FIS)
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.
FLOOD or FLOODING
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land areas from:
A.
The overflow of inland or tidal waters; and/or
B.
The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters
from any source.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS
Zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes,
health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as a floodplain
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.
FLOODPROOFING
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.
FLOODWAY
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 accumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more
than 0.2 foot.
FREEBOARD
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.
HIGHEST ADJACENT GRADE
The highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior
to construction next to the proposed or existing walls of a structure.
HISTORIC STRUCTURE
Any structure that is:
A.
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;
B.
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;
C.
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
D.
Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places
in communities with historic preservation programs that have been
certified either:
(1)
By an approved state program as determined by the Secretary
of the Interior; or
(2)
Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without
approved programs.
LOWEST FLOOR
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 nonelevation design requirements of 44 CFR 60.3.
MANUFACTURED HOME
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.
NEW CONSTRUCTION
Structures for which the start of construction commenced
on or after the effective date of a floodplain regulation adopted
by a community and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.
NEW MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR SUBDIVISION
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 municipality.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
A vehicle which is built on a single chassis; 400 square
feet or less when measured at the longest horizontal projections;
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.
START OF CONSTRUCTION
A.
For other than new construction or substantial improvements
under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (P.L. No. 97-348), includes substantial improvements and means 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.
B.
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.
STRUCTURE
A walled and roofed building, a manufactured home, or a gas
or liquid storage tank that is principally above the ground.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE
Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the
cost of restoring the structure to its condition before damage would
equal or exceed 50% of the market value of the structure before the
damage occurred.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT
Any 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 which have incurred substantial damage,
regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not,
however, include either:
A.
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
B.
Any alteration of an historic structure, provided that the alteration
will not preclude the structure's continued designation as an historic
structure.
VARIANCE
A grant of relief from the requirements of this chapter that
permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited
by this chapter.
VIOLATION
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.
This chapter shall apply to all areas of special flood hazards
within the jurisdiction of the Township of Bordentown, Burlington
County, New Jersey.
No structure or land shall hereafter be constructed, relocated
to, extended, converted, or altered without full compliance with the
terms of this chapter and other applicable regulations. Violation
of the provisions of this chapter by failure to comply with any of
its requirements (including violations of conditions and safeguards
established in connection with conditions) shall constitute a misdemeanor.
Any person who violates this chapter or fails to comply with any of
its requirements shall upon conviction thereof be fined not more than
$5,000 or imprisoned for not more than 30 days, or both, for each
violation and, in addition, shall pay all costs and expenses involved
in the case. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the Township of
Bordentown from taking such other lawful action as is necessary to
prevent or remedy any violation.
This chapter is not intended to repeal, abrogate, or impair
any existing easements, covenants, or deed restrictions. However,
where this chapter and other ordinance, easement, covenant, or deed
restriction conflict or overlap, whichever imposes the more stringent
restrictions shall prevail.
In the interpretation and application of this chapter, all provisions
shall be:
A.
Considered as minimum requirements;
B.
Liberally construed in favor of the governing body; and
C.
Deemed neither to limit nor repeal any other powers granted
under state statutes.