Floodplain Development Permits

A floodplain development permit shall be required for all proposed construction or other development, including the placement of mobile homes or manufactured homes, in the Floodplain Overlay District. No person, firm, corporation, or unit of government shall initiate any development or substantial improvement or cause the same to be done without first obtaining a separate floodplain development permit for each structure or other development.

Definitions relating to floodplain development permits include:

Development: Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, levees, levee systems, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations, or storage of equipment or materials.

Floodplain Overlay District: A special zoning district that has been “overlaid” on a base zoning classification to add to or alter some or all of the base district zoning regulations for that land area inundated by a flood of a given magnitude as determined by the Flood Insurance Study (of the National Flood Insurance Program) or by an approved Hydrologic and Hydraulic Study.

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.

Mobile Home or Manufactured Home: A structure, transportable in one or more sections, that is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when attached to the required utilities. The terms “mobile home” or “manufactured home” does not include a “recreational vehicle.”

Recreational Vehicle: A vehicle which is (a) built on a single chassis; (b) 400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projections; (c) designed to be self-propelled or permanently able to be towed by a light-duty truck; and (d) designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use. A recreational vehicle is ready for highway use if it is on its wheels or jacking system, is attached to the site only by quick-disconnect type utilities and security devices, and has no permanently attached additions.

Start of Construction: 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 improvements were 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 slabs or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, any work beyond the stage of excavation, or the placement of a mobile home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling, the installation of streets and/or walkways, excavation for a basement, footings, piers, foundations, the erection of temporary forms, nor installation on the property of accessory structures, 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.

Substantial Damage: Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to pre-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent 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 percent of the market value of the structure before “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 (1) any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications that have been identified by the local code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions, or (2) any alteration of a “historic structure,” provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as a “historic structure.”

Structure: For floodplain management purposes, a walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage tank, that is principally above ground, as well as a manufactured home or mobile home. “Structure” for insurance purposes, means a walled and roofed building, other than a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground and affixed to a permanent site, as well as a mobile home on a permanent foundation. For the latter purpose, the term includes a building while in the course of construction, alteration or repair, but does not include building materials or supplies intended for use in such construction, alteration or repair, unless such materials or supplies are within an enclosed building on the premises.