The City's Director of Engineering and Land Use is designated
the Floodplain Administrator. The Floodplain Administrator shall have
the authority to delegate performance of certain duties to other employees
or to a certified floodplain manager (CFM) retained by the City.
The Floodplain Administrator is authorized and directed to administer the provisions of this chapter. The Floodplain Administrator shall have the authority to render interpretations of this chapter consistent with the intent and purpose of this chapter and to establish policies and procedures in order to clarify the application of its provisions. Such interpretations, policies and procedures shall be consistent with the intent and purpose of this chapter and the flood provisions of the Building Code and shall not have the effect of waiving specific requirements without the granting of a variance pursuant to Article
VII of this chapter.
The Floodplain Administrator shall coordinate with the Construction
Official to administer and enforce the flood provisions of the Uniform
Construction Code.
The duties of the Floodplain Administrator shall include but
are not limited to:
A. Review all development or construction permit applications to determine whether proposed development is located in flood hazard areas established in Article
II of this chapter.
B. Require development in flood hazard areas to be reasonably safe from
flooding and to be designed and constructed with methods, practices
and materials that minimize flood damage.
C. Interpret flood hazard area boundaries and provide available flood
elevation and flood hazard information.
D. Determine whether additional flood hazard data shall be obtained
or developed.
E. Review required certifications and documentation specified by this
chapter, as applicable, and the Building Code to determine that such
certifications and documentations are complete.
F. Establish, in coordination with the Construction Official, written procedures for administering and documenting determinations of substantial improvement and substantial damage made pursuant to §
213-25 of this chapter.
G. Coordinate with the Construction Official and others to identify
and investigate damaged buildings located in flood hazard areas and
inform owners of the requirement to obtain permits for repairs.
H. Review requests submitted to the Construction Official seeking approval to modify the strict application of the flood load and flood-resistant construction requirements of the Uniform Construction Code to determine whether such requests require consideration as a variance pursuant to Article
VII of this chapter.
I. Require applicants who submit hydrologic and hydraulic engineering
analyses to support permit applications to submit to FEMA the data
and information necessary to maintain the Flood Insurance Rate Maps
when the analyses propose to change base flood elevations, flood hazard
area boundaries, or floodway designations; such submissions shall
be made within six months of such data becoming available.
J. Require applicants who propose alteration of a watercourse to obtain
the applicable NJDEP FHACA permit and to notify adjacent jurisdictions
and the NJDEP Bureau of Flood Engineering, and to submit copies of
such notifications to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
K. Inspect development in accordance with Article
VI of this chapter and inspect flood hazard areas periodically to determine if development is undertaken without issuance of permits.
L. Prepare comments and recommendations for consideration when applicants seek variances in accordance with Article
VII of this chapter.
M. Cite violations in accordance with Article
VII of this chapter.
N. Notify the Federal Emergency Management Agency when the corporate
boundaries of the City have been modified.
O. Permit ordinary maintenance and minor work in the regulated areas as needed to support substantial improvement/substantial damage determinations and as discussed in §
213-11.
The Floodplain Administrator and the applicant shall not use
changed flood hazard area boundaries or base flood elevations for
proposed buildings or developments unless the Floodplain Administrator
or applicant has applied for a conditional letter of map revision
(CLOMR) to the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) revision and has received
the approval of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A revision
of the effective FIRM does not remove the related feature(s) on a
flood hazard area delineation that has been promulgated by the NJDEP.
A separate application must be made to the state pursuant to N.J.A.C.
7:13 for revision of a flood hazard design flood elevation, flood
hazard area limit, floodway limit, and/or other related feature.
It shall be the responsibility of the Floodplain Administrator
to require that final approval of a proposed development shall not
be given until proof that necessary permits have been granted by federal
or state agencies having jurisdiction over such development, including
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. In the event of conflicting permit requirements, the Floodplain
Administrator must ensure that the most restrictive floodplain management
standards are reflected in permit approvals as applicable or allowed
under state and federal Rules.
A. If design flood elevations are not specified or available, the Floodplain
Administrator is authorized to require the applicant to:
(1) Obtain, review, and reasonably utilize data available from a federal,
state, or other source; or
(2) Determine the design flood elevation in accordance with accepted
hydrologic and hydraulic engineering techniques. Such analyses shall
be performed and sealed by a licensed professional engineer. Studies,
analyses, and computations shall be submitted in sufficient detail
to allow review and approval by the Floodplain Administrator. The
accuracy of data submitted for such determination shall be the responsibility
of the applicant.
B. It shall be the responsibility of the Floodplain Administrator to verify that the applicant's proposed best available flood hazard data area and the local design flood elevation in any development permit accurately applies the best available flood hazard data and methodologies for determining flood hazard areas and design elevations described in §§
213-11 and
213-12, respectively. The Floodplain Administrator may require that any such analysis be reviewed by NJDEP under the FHACA Rules through the verification process. This information shall be provided to the Construction Official and documented according to §
213-26.
Base flood elevations may increase or decrease resulting from
natural changes (e.g., erosion, accretion, channel migration, subsidence,
uplift) or man-made physical changes (e.g., dredging, filling, excavation)
affecting flooding conditions. As soon as practicable, but not later
than six months after the date of a man-made change or when information
about a natural change becomes available, the Floodplain Administrator
shall notify the Federal Insurance Administrator of the changes by
submitting technical or scientific data in accordance with 44 CFR
65.3. Such a submission is necessary so that upon confirmation of
those physical changes affecting flooding conditions, risk premium
rates and floodplain management requirements will be based upon current
data.
In riverine flood hazard areas where design flood elevations
are specified but floodways have not been designated, the Floodplain
Administrator shall not permit any new construction, substantial improvement
or other development, including the placement of fill, unless the
applicant submits an engineering analysis prepared by a licensed professional
engineer that demonstrates that the cumulative effect of the proposed
development, when combined with all other existing and anticipated
flood hazard area encroachment, will not increase the design flood
elevation more than 0.2 foot at any point within the community. Such
analyses must be submitted by the applicant to NJDEP for review under
the FHACA rule verification process.
Prior to issuing a permit for any floodway encroachment, including
fill, new construction, substantial improvements and other development
or land-disturbing activity, the Floodplain Administrator shall require
submission of a certification prepared by a licensed professional
engineer, along with supporting technical data, that demonstrates
that such development will not cause any increase in the base flood
level. Any applicant proposing a floodway encroachment must provide
an NJDEP FHACA permit for the proposed activity.
A floodway encroachment that increases the level of the base
flood is authorized if the applicant has applied for a conditional
letter of map revision (CLOMR) to the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)
and has received the approval of FEMA and NJDEP.
Prior to issuing a permit for any alteration or relocation of
any watercourse, the Floodplain Administrator shall require the applicant
to provide notification of the proposal to the appropriate authorities
of all adjacent government jurisdictions, as well as the NJDEP Bureau
of Flood Engineering and the Division of Land Resource Protection.
A copy of the notification shall be maintained in the permit records
and submitted to FEMA.
The Floodplain Administrator shall require submission of an
engineering analysis prepared by a licensed professional engineer,
demonstrating that the flood-carrying capacity of the altered or relocated
portion of the watercourse will be maintained, neither increased nor
decreased. Such watercourses shall be maintained in a manner that
preserves the channel's flood-carrying capacity. Applicant must
provide an NJDEP permit under the FHACA Rules for the proposed improvements.
All regulated development in riparian zones, as described in
N.J.A.C. 7:13, is prohibited by this chapter unless the applicant
demonstrates the project is not regulated, has received an applicability
determination that no permit is required, has received an individual
or general permit or has complied with the requirements of a permit-by-rule
or permit-by-certification from NJDEP Division of Land Resource Protection
prior to application for a floodplain development permit and the project
is compliant with all other floodplain development provisions of this
chapter. The width of the riparian zone can range between 50 and 300
feet and is determined by the attributes of the water body, the habitat
rank of the riparian zone at (and downstream) of the site, and the
category as designated in the New Jersey Surface Water Quality Standards,
N.J.A.C. 7:9B. The portion of the riparian zone located outside of
a regulated water is measured landward from the top of bank or as
otherwise defined in the FHACA Rules. Applicants can request a verification
of the riparian zone limits or a permit applicability determination
to determine state permit requirements under N.J.A.C. 7:13 from the
NJDEP Division of Land Resource Protection. There are no building
elevation requirements set in portions of riparian zones that extend
beyond delineated FHAs.
When buildings and structures within a regulated flood hazard
area are damaged due to any cause, including but not limited to man-made,
structural, electrical, mechanical, or natural-hazard events, or are
determined to be unsafe (as described in N.J.A.C. 5:23) and have made
applications for building permits to improve buildings and structures,
including alterations, movement, repair, additions, rehabilitations,
renovations, ordinary maintenance and minor work, substantial improvements,
repairs of substantial damage, and any other improvement of or work
on such buildings and structures, the Floodplain Administrator, in
coordination with the Construction Official, shall do the following
to determine if the work meets the substantial improvement/substantial
damage threshold:
A. Estimate the market value, or require the applicant to obtain a professional
appraisal prepared by a qualified independent appraiser of the market
value, of the building or structure before the start of construction
of the proposed work; in the case of repair, the market value of the
building or structure shall be the market value before the damage
occurred and before any repairs are made.
B. To the extent feasible, determine (or obtain professional estimates of) costs for ordinary maintenance and minor work, as discussed in §
213-5, performed in the floodplain regulated by this chapter in addition to the costs of those improvements regulated by the Construction Official in substantial damage and substantial improvement calculations.
C. Compare the cost to perform the improvement, the cost to repair the
damaged building to its predamaged condition, or the combined costs
of improvements and repairs, where applicable, to the market value
of the building or structure.
D. Determine and document whether the proposed work constitutes substantial
improvement or repair of substantial damage.
E. Notify the applicant, in writing, when it is determined that the
work constitutes substantial improvement or repair of substantial
damage and that compliance with the flood-resistant construction requirements
of the Building Code is required and notify the applicant when it
is determined that work does not constitute substantial improvement
or repair of substantial damage. The Floodplain Administrator shall
also provide all letters documenting substantial damage and compliance
with flood-resistant construction requirements of the Building Code
to the NJDEP Bureau of Flood Engineering.
In addition to the requirements of the Building Code and this
chapter, and regardless of any limitation on the period required for
retention of public records, the Floodplain Administrator shall maintain
and permanently keep and make available for public inspection all
records that are necessary for the administration of this chapter
and the flood provisions of the Uniform Construction Code, including
Flood Insurance Studies, Flood Insurance Rate Maps; documents from
FEMA that amend or revise FIRMs; NJDEP delineations, records of issuance
of permits and denial of floodplain development permits; records of
ordinary maintenance and minor work occurring up to several years
after a damage event, determinations of whether proposed work constitutes
substantial improvement or repair of substantial damage; required
certifications and documentation specified by the Uniform Construction
Code and this chapter, including as-built elevation certificates;
notifications to adjacent communities, FEMA, and the state related
to alterations of watercourses; assurance that the flood-carrying
capacity of altered waterways will be maintained; documentation related
to variances, including justification for issuance or denial; and
records of enforcement actions taken pursuant to this chapter and
the flood-resistant provisions of the Uniform Construction Code. The
Floodplain Administrator shall also record the required elevation,
determination method, and base flood elevation source used to determine
the local design flood elevation in the floodplain development permit.
The Floodplain Administrator and any employee charged with the
enforcement of this chapter, while acting for the jurisdiction in
good faith and without malice in the discharge of the duties required
by this chapter or other pertinent law or ordinance, shall not thereby
be rendered liable personally and is hereby relieved from personal
liability for any damage accruing to persons or property as a result
of any act or by reason of an act or omission in the discharge of
official duties. Any suit instituted against an officer or employee
because of an act performed by that officer or employee in the lawful
discharge of duties and under the provisions of this chapter shall
be defended by a legal representative of the jurisdiction until the
final termination of the proceedings. The Floodplain Administrator
and any subordinate shall not be liable for cost in any action, suit
or proceeding that is instituted in pursuance of the provisions of
this chapter.