Town of Hastings Code -- Flood Control

TOWN OF HASTINGS, FLORIDA

TOWN CODE

Chapter 7

Flood Control

Sec. 7-1. Flood Control -- Findings of Fact. The Town Council finds and determines:

A. The flood hazard areas of the Town of Hastings, Florida, are subject to periodic inundation which results in loss of life and property, health and safety hazards, disruption of commerce and governmental services, extraordinary public expenditures for flood protection and relief, and impairment of the soil base, all of which adversely affect the public health, safety and general welfare.

B. These flood losses are caused by the cumulative effect of obstructions in floodplains causing increases in flood heights and velocities, and by the occupancy in flood hazard areas by uses vulnerable to floods or hazardous to the other lands which are inadequately elevated, flood proofed or otherwise unprotected from flood damages.

Sec. 7-2. Flood Control -- Statement of Purpose. It is the purpose of this ordinance to promote the public health, safety and general welfare and to minimize the public and private losses due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed to:

A. Restrict or prohibit uses which are a danger to health, safety and property due to water or flood hazard, or which result in damaging increases in erosion or flood heights or velocities;

B. Require that uses vulnerable to flood, including facilities which serve such uses, be protected against flood damage at the time of initial construction;

C. Control the alteration of natural flood plains, stream channels, and natural protective barriers which are involved in the accumulation of flood waters;

D. Control filling, grading, dredging and other developments which may increase erosion or flood damage, and;

E. Prevent or regulate the construction of flood barriers which will unnaturally divert flood waters or which may increase flood hazards to other lands.

Section 7-3. Objectives. The objectives of this ordinance are:

A. To protect human life and health;

B. To minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects;

C. To minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public;

D. To minimize prolonged business interruptions;

E. To minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water and gas mains, electric, telephone and sewer lines, streets and bridges located in floodplains;

F. To help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the sound use and development of flood prone areas in such a manner as to minimize flood blight areas, and;

G. Tto insure that potential home buyers are notified that property is in a flood area.

Sec. 7.4. Definitions.Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this Chapter shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning which they have in common usage and to give this ordinance its most reasonable application.

Accessory Structure (Appurtenant Structure) means a structure which is located on the same parcel of property as the principle structure and the use of which is incidental to the use of the principle structure. Accessory structures should constitute a minimal initial investment, may not be used for human habitation and should be designated to have minimal flood damage potential. Examples of accessory structures are detached garages, carports, storage sheds, pole barns, and hay sheds.

Addition (to an existing building) means any walled and roofed expansion to the perimeter of a building in which the addition is connected by a common load-bearing wall other than a fire wall. Any walled and roofed addition which is connected by a fire wall or is separated by independent perimeter load-bearing walls is new construction.

Appeal means a request for a review of the City of St. Augustine Building Inspector's interpretation of any provision of this ordinance or a request for a variance.
__________

Codifer's Note: Originally St. Johns County Building Official. Changed pursuant to Section 7.5 below.
__________

Area of shallow flooding means a designated AO and VO zone on a community's Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) with base flood depths from one to three feet where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate, and where velocity flow may be evident.

Area of special flood hazard is the land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

Base flood means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

Basement means that portion of a building having its floor sub-grade (below ground level) on all sides.

Breakaway wall means a wall that is not part of the structural support of the building and is intended through its design and construction to collapse under specific lateral loading forces without causing damage to the elevated portion of the building or the supporting foundation system.

Building means any structure built for support, shelter, or enclosure for any occupancy or storage.

Coastal High Hazard Area means the area subject to high velocity waters caused by, but not limited to, hurricane wave wash. The area is designated on a FIRM as Zone V1-30, VE or V.

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, excavating, drilling operations, or permanent storage of material.

Elevated building means a non-basement building built to have the lowest floor elevated above the ground level by means of fill, solid foundation perimeter walls, pilings, columns (posts and piers), shear walls, or breakaway walls.

Encroachment means the advance or infringement of uses, plant growth, fill, excavation, buildings, permanent structures or development into a floodplain, which may impede or alter the flow capacity of a floodplain.

Existing Construction means any structure for which the "start of construction" commenced before the effective date of the enactment of this Ordinance 87-3.

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 minium 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 enactment of Ordinance 87-3.

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.

Flood or Flooding means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

1. the overflow of inland or tidal waters;

2. the unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of surface waters from any source.

Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM) means an official map of a community, issued by FEMA, where the boundaries of the areas of special flood hazard have been identified as Zone A.

Floodplain means any land area susceptible to flooding.

Floodplain Management means the operation of an overall program of corrective and preventative measures for reducing flood damage and preserving the enhancing, where possible, natural resources in the floodplain, including but not limited to emergency preparedness plans, flood control works, floodplain management regulations and open space plans.

Floodplain Management Administrator is the individual appointed to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.

Floodplain Management Regulations means this ordinance and other zoning ordinances, subdivisions regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances, and other applications of police power which control development in flood-prone areas. This term describes federal, state or local regulations in any combination thereof, which provide standards for preventing and reducing flood loss and damage.

Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) means an official map of a community, on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

Flood Insurance Study is the official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The report contains flood profiles, as well as the Flood Boundary Floodway Map and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

Floodway means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that mush be reserved in order to discharged the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation of more that one foot.

Floodway Fringe means that the area of the floodplain on either side of the regulatory floodway where encroachment be permitted without additional hydraulic and/or hydrologic analysis.

Floor Means the top surface of an enclosed area in a building (including basement), i.e., top of slab in concrete slab construction or top of wood flooring in wood frame construction. The term does not include the floor of a garage used solely for parking vehicles.

Functionally dependent facility means a facility which cannot be used for its intended purpose unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water, such as a docking or port facility necessary for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers, shipbuilding, ship repair, or seafood processing facilities. The term does not include long-term storage, manufacture, sales, or service facilities.

Hardship as related to variances of this ordinance means the exceptional hardship that would result from a failure to grant the requested variance. The Town Council requires that the variance is exceptional, unusual, and peculiar to the property involved. Mere economic or financial hardship alone is NOT exceptional. Inconvenience, aesthetic considerations, physical handicaps, personal preferences, or the disapproval of one's neighbors likewise cannot, as a rule, qualify as an exceptional hardship. All of these problems can be resolved through other means without granting a variance, even if the alterative is more expensive, or requires the property owenr to build elsewhere or put the parcel to a different use than originally intended.

Highest adjacent grade means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface, prior to construction, next to the proposed walls of a structure.

Historic Structure means any structure that is:

1. 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:

2. 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:

3. 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

4. Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:

a. By an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior or

b. Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.

Increased Cost of Construction (ICC) means the cost to repair a substantially damaged building that exceeds the minimal repair cost and that is required to bring a substantially damaged building into compliance with the local flood damage prevention ordinance. ICC insurance coverage is provided in a standard (NFIP) flood insurance policy.

Lowest Adjacent Grade means the lowest elevation, after the completion of construction, of the ground, sidewalk, patio, deck support or basement entryway immediately next to the structure.

Lowest Floor means 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, is not considered a building's lowest floor, provided that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the non-elevation design standards of the ordinance.

Mangrove stand means as assemblage of mangrove trees which is mostly low trees noted for a copious development of interlacing adventitious roots above the ground and which contain one or more of the following species: black mangrove (Avicennia nitida); red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle); white mangrove (Languncularia racemosa); and buttonwood (Conocarpus erectra).

Mean Sea Level means the average height of the sea for all stages of the tide. It is used as a reference for establishing various elevations within the flood plain. For purposes of this ordinance, the term is synonymous with National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD).

Manufactured Home means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. The term also includes park trailers, travel trailers, and similar transportable structures placed on a site for 180 consecutive days or longer and intended to be improved property.

Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision means a parcel, or contiguous parcels, of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.

Market Value means the building value, excluding the land, as agreed to between a willing buyer and seller, as established by what the local real estate market will bear. Market value can be established by independent certified appraisal, replacement costs depreciated by age of building (Actual Cash Value) or adjusted assessed values.

National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) as corrected in 1929 is a vertical control used as a reference for establishing varying elevations within the flood plain.

New Construction means any structure for which the "start of construction" commenced after the effective date of Ordinance 87-3. The term also includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

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 the pouring of concrete pads, is completed on or after the effective date of floodplain regulations adopted by a community.

Obstruction includes, but is not limited to, any dam, wall wharf, embankment, levee, dike, pile, abutment, protection, excavation, channelization, bridge, conduit, culvert, building, wire, fence, rock, gravel, refuse, fill, structure, vegetation or other material in, along, across or projecting into any watercourse which may alter, impede, retard or change the direction and/or velocity of the flow of water, or due to its location, its propensity to snare or collect debris carried by the flow of water, or its likelihood of being carried downstream.

Public Safety and Nuisance, anything which is injurious to safety or health of an entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons, or unlawfully obstructs the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any navigable lake, or river, bay, stream, canal, or basin.

Recreational Vehicle means a vehicle that is:

1. Built on a single chassis;

2. 400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;

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

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

Regulatory Floodway means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot.

Repetitive Loss means flood-related damages sustained by a structure on two separate occasions during a 10-year period ending on the date of the event for which the second claim is made, in which the cost of repairing the flood damage, on the average, equaled or exceeded 25% of the market value of the building at the time of each such flood event.

Sand dunes means naturally occurring accumulations of sand in ridges or mounds landward of the beach.

Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) (see Area of Special Flood Hazard) means an area having special flood hazard and shown on a FHBM or FIRM as Zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, A99, or AH.

Start of Construction for other than new construction or substantial improvements under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act P.L. 97-348, includes substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, or improvement was within 180 days of the permit date. The actual start means the first placement of permanent construction of a building, including a manufactured home, on a site, such as the pouring of slabs or footings, installation of piles, construction of columns or any work beyond the stage of excavation or 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 the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main building. For substantial improvements, 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 means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. Substantial damage also means flood-related damages sustained by a structure on two separate occasions during a 10-year period for which the cost of repairs at the time of each such flood event, on the average, equals or exceeds 25 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

Substantial Improvements means 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 the "start of construction" of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred "repetitive loss" or "substantial damage," regardless of the actual repair work performed. This includes any combination of repairs, reconstruction, alteration, or improvements to a building taking place during the life of the building in which the cumulative cost equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the building 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 "substantial damage" and are "repetitive loss," regardless of the actual repair work performed. 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 alternation affects the external dimensions of the building. The term does not, however, include either:

1. Any project for improvement of a building required to comply with existing health, sanitary, or safety code violations which have been identified prior to permit issuance by the Code Enforcement Official and which are solely 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."

Substantially Improved Existing Manufactured Home Parks or Subdivisions is where the repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation or improvement of the streets, utilities and pads equal or exceed 50 percent of the value of the streets, utilities and pads before the repair, reconstruction or improvement commenced.

Variance is a grant of relief from the requirements of this Ordinance, which permits construction in a manner otherwise prohibited by this Ordinance where specific enforcement would result in unnecessary hardship.

Violation means the failure of a structure or other development to be fully complaint with this Ordinance. A structure or other development without the elevation certificate, other certifications or other evidence of compliance required in this Ordinance presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.

Watercourse means a lake, river, creek, stream, wash, channel or other topographic feature on or over which waters flow at least periodically. Watercourse includes specifically designated areas in which substantial flood damage may occur.

Water Surface Elevation means the height, in relation to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929, or other datum, where specified of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of coastal or riverine areas.