Definitions. Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases
used in this article must be interpreted according to common usage
and so as to give this article its most reasonable application.
ACCESSORY USE OR STRUCTURE
A use or structure on the same lot with, and of a nature
customarily incidental and subordinate to, the principal use or structure.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION
The elevation of the regional flood. The term "base flood
elevation" is used in the flood insurance survey.
BASEMENT
Any area of a structure, including crawl spaces, having its
floor or base subgrade (below ground level) on all four sides, regardless
of the depth of excavation below ground level.
CONDITIONAL USE
A specific type of structure or land use listed in the official
control that may be allowed but only after an in-depth review procedure
and with appropriate conditions or restrictions as provided in the
official zoning controls or building codes and upon a finding that:
(1)
Certain conditions as detailed in the zoning ordinance exist.
(2)
The structure and/or land use conform to the comprehensive land
use plan if one exists and are compatible with the existing neighborhood.
CRITICAL FACILITIES
Facilities necessary to a community's public health and safety,
those that store or produce highly volatile, toxic or water-reactive
materials, and those that house occupants that may be insufficiently
mobile to avoid loss of life or injury. Examples of critical facilities
include hospitals, correctional facilities, schools, day-care facilities,
nursing homes, fire and police stations, wastewater treatment facilities,
public electric utilities, water plants, fuel storage facilities,
and waste handling and storage facilities.
DEVELOPMENT
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling,
grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations, or storage of
equipment or materials.
EQUAL DEGREE OF ENCROACHMENT
A method of determining the location of floodway boundaries
so that floodplain lands on both sides of a stream are capable of
conveying a proportionate share of flood flows.
FARM FENCE
A fence as defined by M.S.A. § 344.02, Subd. 1(a)-(d).
An open-type fence of posts and wire is not considered to be a structure
under this article. Fences that have the potential to obstruct flood
flows, such as chain link fences and rigid walls, are regulated as
structures under this article.
FLOOD
A temporary increase in the flow or stage of a stream or
in the stage of a wetland or lake that results in the inundation of
normally dry areas.
FLOOD FREQUENCY
The frequency for which it is expected that a specific flood
stage or discharge may be equaled or exceeded.
FLOOD FRINGE
That portion of the floodplain outside of the floodway. Flood
fringe is synonymous with the term "floodway fringe" used in the Flood
Insurance Study for Wilkin County, Minnesota.
FLOOD-PRONE AREA
Any land susceptible to being inundated by water from any
source (see "flood").
FLOODPLAIN
The beds proper and the areas adjoining a wetland, lake or
watercourse which have been or hereafter may be covered by the regional
flood.
FLOODPROOFING
A combination of structural provisions, changes, or adjustments
to properties and structures subject to flooding, primarily for the
reduction or elimination of flood damages.
FLOODWAY
The bed of a wetland or lake and the channel of a watercourse
and those portions of the adjoining floodplain which are reasonably
required to carry or store the regional flood discharge.
LOWEST FLOOR
The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement).
An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure, used solely for parking
of vehicles, building access, or storage in an area other than a basement
area, is not considered a building's lowest floor.
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 the term "recreational vehicle."
OBSTRUCTION
Any dam, wall, wharf, embankment, levee, dike, pile, abutment,
projection, excavation, channel modification, culvert, building, wire,
fence, stockpile, refuse, fill, structure, or matter in, along, across,
or projecting into any channel, watercourse, or regulatory floodplain
which may impede, retard, or change the direction of the flow of water,
either in itself or by catching or collecting debris carried by such
water.
REACH
A hydraulic engineering term to describe a longitudinal segment
of a stream or river influenced by a natural or man-made obstruction.
In an urban area, the segment of a stream or river between two consecutive
bridge crossings would most typically constitute a reach.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
A vehicle that is built on a single chassis, is 400 square
feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection, is
designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty
truck, and is designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling
but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel,
or seasonal use. For the purposes of this article, the term "recreational
vehicle" is synonymous with the term "travel trailer/travel vehicle."
REGIONAL FLOOD
A flood which is representative of large floods known to
have occurred generally in Minnesota and reasonably characteristic
of what can be expected to occur on an average frequency in the magnitude
of the one-percent chance or one-hundred-year recurrence interval.
Regional flood is synonymous with the term "base flood" used in a
flood insurance study.
REGULATORY FLOOD PROTECTION ELEVATION (RFPE)
An elevation not less than one foot above the elevation of
the regional flood plus any increases in flood elevation caused by
encroachments on the floodplain that result from designation of a
floodway.
REPETITIVE LOSS
Flood-related damages sustained by a structure on two separate
occasions during a ten-year period for which the cost of repairs at
the time of each such flood event on the average equals or exceeds
25% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
STRUCTURE
Anything constructed or erected on the ground or attached to the ground or on-site utilities, including, but not limited to, buildings, factories, sheds, detached garages, cabins, manufactured homes, recreational vehicles not meeting the exemption criteria specified in §
190-68B(2) of this article and other similar items.
SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE
Damage of any origin sustained by a structure where the cost
of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would equal
or exceed 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage
occurred.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT
Within any consecutive three-hundred-sixty-five-day period,
any reconstruction, rehabilitation (including normal maintenance and
repair), repair after damage, 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 that have incurred substantial damage,
regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not,
however, include either:
(1)
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 official
and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions.
(2)
Any alteration of an historic structure, provided that the alteration
will not preclude the structure's continued designation as an historic
structure. For the purpose of this article, "historic structure" is
as defined in 44 CFR 59.1.