[Amended 5-15-2023 ATM by Art. 18]
The purpose of the Floodplain Overlay
District is to:
A.
Ensure public safety through reducing the
threats to life and personal injury.
B.
Eliminate new hazards to emergency response
officials.
C.
Prevent the occurrence of public emergencies
resulting from water quality, contamination, and pollution due to
flooding.
D.
Avoid the loss of utility services which
if damaged by flooding would disrupt or shut down the utility network
and impact regions of the community beyond the site of flooding.
E.
Eliminate costs associated with the response
and cleanup of flooding conditions.
F.
Reduce damage to public and private property
resulting from flooding waters.
The Floodplain District is herein
established as an overlay district. The District includes all special
flood hazard areas within the Town of Charlton designated as Zone
A, AE, AH, AO, or A99 on the Worcester County Flood Insurance Rate
Map (FIRM) dated June 21, 2023, issued by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) for the administration of the National Flood Insurance
Program. The exact boundaries of the District shall be defined by
the 1% chance base flood elevations shown on the FIRM and further
defined by the Worcester County Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report
dated June 21, 2023. The FIRM and FIS report are incorporated herein
by reference and are on file with Conservation Commission.
The Town hereby designates the position
of Conservation Director to be the official floodplain administrator.
A permit is required for all proposed
construction or other development in the Floodplain Overlay District,
including new construction or changes to existing buildings, placement
of manufactured homes, placement of agricultural facilities, fences,
sheds, storage facilities or drilling, mining, paving and any other
development that might increase flooding or adversely impact flood
risks to other properties.
The Town's permit review process
includes the requirement that the proponent obtain all local, state
and federal permits that will be necessary in order to carry out the
proposed development in the floodplain overlay district. The proponent
must acquire all necessary permits, and must demonstrate that all
necessary permits have been acquired.
A.
In Zones A, A1-30, and AE, along watercourses
that have not had a regulatory floodway designated, the best available
federal, state, local, or other floodway data shall be used to prohibit
encroachments in floodways which would result in any increase in flood
levels within the community during the occurrence of the base flood
discharge.
B.
In Zones A1-30 and AE, along watercourses
that have a regulatory floodway designated on the Town's FIRM, encroachments
are prohibited, including fill, new construction, substantial improvements,
and other development within the adopted regulatory floodway unless
it has been demonstrated through hydrologic and hydraulic analyses
performed in accordance with standard engineering practice that the
proposed encroachment would not result in any increase in flood levels
within the community during the occurrence of the base flood discharge.
In A Zones, in the absence of FEMA
BFE data and floodway data, the Building Department will obtain, review
and reasonably utilize base flood elevation and floodway data available
from a federal, state, or other source as criteria for requiring new
construction, substantial improvements, or other development in Zone
A and as the basis for elevating residential structures to or above
base flood level, for floodproofing or elevating nonresidential structures
to or above base flood level, and for prohibiting encroachments in
floodways.
Within Zones AO and AH on the FIRM,
adequate drainage paths must be provided around structures on slopes,
to guide floodwaters around and away from proposed structures.
District shall be reviewed to assure
that:
When proposing subdivisions or other
developments greater than fifty (50) lots or five (5) acres (whichever
is less), the proponent must provide technical data to determine base
flood elevations for each developable parcel shown on the design plans.
In A1-30, AH, AE Zones, all recreational
vehicles to be placed on a site must be elevated and anchored in accordance
with the zone's regulations for foundation and elevation requirements
or be on the site for less than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive
days or be fully licensed and highway ready.
In a riverine situation, the Floodplain
Administrator shall notify the following of any alteration or relocation
of a watercourse:
If the Town acquires data that changes
the base flood elevation in the FEMA mapped special flood hazard areas,
the Town will, within six (6) months, notify FEMA of these changes
by submitting the technical or scientific data that supports the change(s).
Notification shall be submitted to:
A.
The Town will request from the State Building
Code Appeals Board a written and/or audible copy of the portion of
the hearing related to the variance, and will maintain this record
in the community's files.
B.
The Town shall also issue a letter to the
property owner regarding potential impacts to the annual premiums
for the flood insurance policy covering that property, in writing
over the signature of a community official that i) the issuance of
a variance to construct a structure below the base flood level will
result in increased premium rates for flood insurance up to amounts
as high as $25 for $100 of insurance coverage and ii) such construction
below the base flood level increases risks to life and property.
C.
Such notification shall be maintained with
the record of all variance actions for the referenced development
in the floodplain overlay district.
A variance from these floodplain
bylaws must meet the requirements set out by state law, and may only
be granted if: 1) good and sufficient cause and exceptional nonfinancial
hardship exist; 2) the variance will not result in additional threats
to public safety, extraordinary public expense, or fraud or victimization
of the public; and 3) the variance is the minimum action necessary
to afford relief.
The floodplain management regulations
found in this Floodplain Overlay District article shall take precedence
over any less restrictive conflicting local laws, ordinances or codes.
The degree of flood protection required
by this bylaw is considered reasonable but does not imply total flood
protection.
If any section, provision or portion
of this bylaw is deemed to be unconstitutional or invalid by a court,
the remainder of the ordinance shall be effective.
