(a) “Appeal” means a request for a review of the floodplain administrator’s interpretation of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variance.

(b) “Base flood” means the flood having a one percent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year (also called the “one-hundred-year flood”).

(c) “Basement” means any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.

(d) “Breakaway walls” are any type of walls, whether solid or lattice and whether constructed of concrete, masonary, wood, metal, plastic or any other suitable building material, which is not part of the structural support of the building and which is designed to break away during flooding conditions without causing any damage to the structural integrity of the building on which they are used or any buildings to which they might be carried by flood waters. A breakway wall shall have a safe design loading resistance of not less than ten and no more than twenty pounds per square foot. Use of breakway walls must be certified by a registered engineer or architect, and shall meet the following conditions. (1) Breakaway wall collapse shall result from a water load less than that which would occur during the base floods; and

(2) The elevated portion of the building shall not incur any structural damage due to the effects of wind and water loads acting simultaneously in the event of the bass flood.

(e) “Development” means 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.

(f) “Existing manufactured home park or subdivision” means 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.

(g) “Expansion to an existing manufactured home park or subdivision” means the preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads).

(h) “Flood” or “flooding” means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from: (1) the overflow of waters, (2) the unusual and rapid accumulation or run off of surface waters from any sources, and/or (3) the collapse or subsidence of land along a body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water accompanied by a severe storm or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as flash flood, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in this definition.

(i) “Flood boundary and floodway map” means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Federal Insurance Administration has delineated both the areas of flood hazard and the floodway.

(j) “Flood insurance rate map (FIRM)” means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Federal Insurance Administration has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

(k) “Flood insurance study” means the official report provided by the Federal Insurance Administration that includes flood profiles, the FIRM, the flood boundary and floodway map, and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

(l) “Floodplain” or “flood-prone area” means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source (see definition of “flooding”).

(m) “Floodplain management” means the operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damage, including, but not limited to, emergency preparedness plans, flood control works and floodplain management regulations.

(n) “Floodplain management regulations” means zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as 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.

(o) “Floodproofing” means any combination of structural and non-structural 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. “Floodproofing” is acceptable only where hydraulic velocity is five feet per sec. Dry Floodproofing is acceptable up to a maximum three feet depth plus one foot freeboard.

(p) “Floodway” means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas necessary in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot.

(q) “Highest adjacent grade” means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.

(r) “Lowest floor” means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, usable solely for 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 an enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable non-elevation design requirements of this chapter.

(s) “Manufactured home” means 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 connected to the required utilities. For floodplain management purposes, the term “manufactured home” also includes park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than one hundred eighty consecutive days.

(t) “Manufactured home park or subdivision” means a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for sale or rent.

(u) “Market value” shall be determined by estimating the cost to replace the structure in new condition and adjusting that cost figure by the amount of depreciation which has accrued since the structure was constructed. The cost of replacement of the structure shall be based on a square foot cost factor determined by reference to a building cost estimating guide recognized by the building construction industry such as the most current International Conference of Building Officials “Building Standards/Building Valuation Data.” The amount of depreciation shall be determined by taking into account the age and physical deterioration of the structure and functional obsolescence but shall not include economic or other forms of external obsolescence or rental potential factor. Use of replacement costs or accrued depreciation factors different from those contained in recognized building cost estimating guides may be considered only if such factors are included in a report prepared by a state certified independent professional appraiser and supported by a written explanation of the differences. Owner/contractor/architect/civil engineer may submit affidavits for determination of market value and substantial improvements. Falsified affidavits are subject to enforcement action and/or fines. Market value shall be determined by the city building official and approved by the floodplain administrator.

(v) “Mean sea level” means, for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or other datum to which base flood elevations shown on a community’s flood insurance rate map are referenced.

(w) “New construction” means, for floodplain management purposes, structures for which the “start of construction” commenced on or after the effective date of a floodplain management regulation adopted by this community and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

(x) “New manufactured home park or subdivision” means 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 pouring of concrete pads) is completed on or after the effective date of floodplain management regulations adopted by this community.

(y) “One hundred year flood” or “100-year flood” means a flood which has a one percent annual probability of being equaled or exceeded. It is identical to the “base flood,” which will be the term used throughout this chapter.

(z) “Recreational Vehicle” means a vehicle which is:

1. Built on a single chassis;

2. Four hundred square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;

3. Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty truck; and

4. Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.

(aa) ”Person” means an individual or his agent, firm, partnership, association or corporation, or agent of the aforementioned groups, or this state or its agencies or political subdivisions.

(bb) ”Remedy a violation” means to bring the structure or other development into compliance with state or local floodplain management regulations or, if this is not possible, to reduce the impacts of its noncompliance. Ways that impacts may be reduced include protecting the structure or other affected development from flood damages, implementing the enforcement provisions of this chapter or otherwise deterring future similar violations, or reducing federal financial exposure with regard to the structure other development.

(cc) ”Repetitive loss” means flood-related damage 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 twenty-five percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

(dd) ”Riverine” means relating to, formed by, or resembling a river (including tributaries), stream, brook, etc.

(ee) ”Substantial damage” means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damage condition would equal or exceed fifty percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. Substantial damage also means flood-related damage 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 twenty-five percent of the market value of the structure before damage occurred.

(ff) ”Special flood hazard area” means an area in the floodplain subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

(gg) ”Start of construction” includes substantial improvement and other new development 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 one hundred eighty 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 slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the state of excavation, or the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling, nor does it include installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings piers, or foundations or the erections of temporary forms, nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwellings 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.

(hh) ”Structure” means a walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground, as well as a manufactured home.

(ii) ”Substantial improvement” means any repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent of the market value of the structure either:

(1) Before the improvement or repair is started; or

(2) If the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred.

For the purposes of this definition “substantial improvement” is considered to occur when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of the building commences whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure. This term includes structures that have incurred “repetitive loss” or “substantial damage,” regardless of the actual repair work performed. Improvement costs shall include self or volunteered labor estimated at prevailing wages for the appropriate type of construction wage scale. The term does not, however, include either:

(1) Any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to assure safe living conditions; or

(2) Any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a State Inventory of Historic Places provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as a “historic structure.”

(jj) ”Variance” means a grant of relief from the requirements of this chapter which permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this chapter.

(kk) ”Violation” means the failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with the community’s floodplain management regulations. A structure or other development without the elevation certificate, other certifications, or other evidences of compliance required in this chapter is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.

Other than as specifically defined herein, words or phrases used in this chapter shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage, and give this chapter its most reasonable application. (Ord. No. 1651, Exh. A (part).)