§ 16-22. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning. Additional definitions for floodplain management terms can be found at 44 CFR 59.1.

A risk zones means special flood hazard areas without detailed studies, where base flood elevations have not been determined.

Accessory structures means structures which are on the same parcel of property as the principle structure and the use of which is incidental to the use of the principle structure (such as garages and storage sheds).

Adverse impact means any negative or harmful effect.

AE or A1-30 risk zones means special flood hazard areas where detailed studies have determined base flood elevations. AE has replaced A1-30 in newer flood maps.

AH risk zones means special flood hazard areas characterized by shallow flooding with ponding effects (where floodwaters accumulate in depressions and linger until absorbed or evaporated).

AO risk zones means special flood hazard areas characterized by shallow flooding with sheet flow (where floodwaters flow in a broad, shallow sheet rather than through a narrow channel).

Appeal board means a person or persons specifically designated to render decisions on variance applications and floodplain management complaints.

Automatic entry and exit of floodwaters means that the water must be able to enter and exit with no intervening action from a person.

Base flood means the flood profile used as the basis for the NFIP regulations. The federal government has selected the "100-year flood" as the base flood.

Basement means any enclosed area that is below grade on all sides.

BFE is the acronym for "base flood elevation."

Buoyancy means the upward force exerted by water. Buoyancy can cause underground tanks to float free and can lift structures off foundations.

Certificates of compliance means formal documents issued by floodplain administrators certifying that completed projects comply with the requirements of this Code.

CFR is the acronym for the Code of Federal Regulations. The Code of Federal Regulations is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to federal regulation. The federal regulations pertaining to the National Flood Insurance Program are found in title 44, Emergency Management and Assistance.

Clearing means the act of cutting timber or shrubs from an area.

Commercial business park means typically an area of offices or light industrial usage, although retail, service, or industrial usage is sometimes included in supporting roles. For example, a commercial business park of office complexes may also include restaurants which service these offices.

Concrete deadman anchors means heavy steel rods embedded in buried sections of concrete, used to secure items in place under tension.

Covenant means a clause in a contract that requires one party to do, or refrain from doing, certain things. A covenant frequently appears as a restriction that a lender imposes on a borrower.

Crawlspace means a type of structural foundation where the space beneath the lowest floor is typically not deep enough to allow a person to stand and not all four walls are below grade.

Critical facilities means and includes:

(1)

Governmental facilities that are considered essential for the delivery of critical services and crisis management (such as data and communication centers and key governmental complexes);

(2)

Facilities that are essential for the health and welfare of the whole population (such as hospitals, prisons, police and fire stations, emergency operations centers, evacuation shelters and schools);

(3)

Mass transportation facilities (such as airports, bus terminals, train terminals);

(4)

Lifeline utility systems (including potable water, wastewater, oil, natural gas, electric power and communications systems);

(5)

High potential loss facilities (such as nuclear power plants or military installations);

(6)

Hazardous material facilities (such as industrial facilities housing or manufacturing or disposing of corrosives, explosives, flammable materials, radioactive materials and toxins).

D zones means areas in which the flood hazard has not been determined, but may be possible.

Deed restriction means a clause in a deed that limits the future uses of the property in some respect. Deed restrictions may impose a vast variety of limitations and conditions, for example, they may limit the density of buildings, dictate the types of structures that can be erected, prevent buildings from being used for specific purposes or even from being used at all.

Development.

(1)

The term "development" means:

a.

Any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate. It includes, but is not limited to, construction, reconstruction, or placement of a building, or any addition or substantial improvements to a building.

b.

The installation of a manufactured home on a site, preparing a site for a manufactured home, or installing/parking a travel trailer.

c.

The installation of utilities, construction of roads, bridges, culverts or similar projects.

d.

Construction or erection of levees, dams, walls, or fences; drilling, mining, filling, dredging, grading, excavating, paving, or other alterations of the ground surface.

e.

Storage of materials, including the placement of gas and liquid storage tanks.

f.

Channel modifications or any other activity that might change the direction, height, or velocity of floodwaters or surface waters.

(2)

The term "development" will normally not include maintenance of existing drainage ditches, gardening, plowing, planting, harvesting of crops, or similar practices that do not involve filling, grading, or construction of levees.

Development permit means the permit required for placing a "development" in the floodplain.

Easements means rights or permissions held by one person to make specific, limited use of land owned by another person.

Elevation certificate means FEMA form 81-31, which for the purposes of this Code must be properly completed by a professional engineer, surveyor or architect licensed to practice in the state.

Erosion means the process of soil removal by moving water.

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.

Existing structure means, for floodplain management purposes, a structure which is in place before any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement takes place.

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).

Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA means the federal agency responsible for administering the National Flood Insurance Program.

FEMA is the acronym for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Fill means the placement of natural sand, dirt, soil, rock, concrete, cement, brick or similar material at a specified location to bring the ground surface up to a desired elevation.

FIRM is the acronym for flood insurance rate map.

500-year flood means any flood with a two-tenths percent chance of occurring in any given year. As with the 100-year flood, this term is also misleading, because of its statistical derivation. A "500-year flood" may occur many times in any given 500-year period, or it may not occur at all in 500 years.

Flood fringe means the portion of the 100-year floodplain which is outside the floodway. See definition of floodway below.

Flood insurance rate map or FIRM means the official flood map of a community on which FEMA has categorized special flood hazard areas into risk premium zones.

Flood insurance study or FIS means the official report provided by FEMA. It contains flood profiles, floodway tables, engineering methods, and other descriptive and technical data.

Flooding events means general or temporary conditions of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow of inland or tidal waters, or from the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.

Floodplain means any land area susceptible to inundation by floodwaters from any source. For the purposes of this Code, floodplain refers to the land area susceptible to being inundated by the base flood.

Floodplain administrator means the community official designated in the local Flood Damage Prevention Code as responsible for the Code's administration.

Floodplain development permit means a permit issued by the local floodplain administrator and is required before beginning any development in an area designated as a special flood hazard area on the community's FIRM.

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.

Floodproofing means a combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures that reduce or eliminate the risk of flood damage.

Floodproofing certificate means FEMA form 81-65, which for the purposes of this Code must be properly completed by a professional engineer or architect licensed to practice in the state.

Floodway or regulatory floodway means a stream channel and the land to either side of the stream channel that must remain undeveloped and open in order to allow floodwaters to pass without increasing the base flood elevation more than a designated height. For the purposes of this Code, the height is one foot. Severe restrictions or prohibitions are imposed on development within the floodway.

Flow-through openings are openings specifically designed to allow floodwaters to flow into and out of enclosed spaces, minimizing the danger of foundation or wall collapse from lateral hydrostatic pressure.

44 CFR 59—75 (Emergency Management and Assistance—National Flood Insurance Program regulations) means federal regulations upon which local floodplain managements are based.

44 CFR 65.12 means the section of the federal regulations which involves revision of flood insurance rate maps to reflect base flood elevations caused by proposed encroachments.

Functionally dependent use means a use which cannot perform its intended purpose unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water. The term includes only docking facilities, port facilities that are necessary for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers, and ship building and ship repair facilities, but does not include long-term storage or related manufacturing facilities.

Grade means the surface of the ground.

Grading means to smooth the surface of the ground, typically with heavy construction equipment.

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

Historical 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 or 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.

Hydrodynamic forces means the forces and stresses associated with moving water, including impacts from objects carried in the water.

Hydrostatic flood forces means the forces and stresses associated with standing floodwaters.

Lacustrine flooding means flooding associated with a lake.

Lateral forces means the horizontal hydrostatic forces associated with standing water. Water exerts an equal force in all directions, and as little as three feet of standing water can generate sufficient lateral force to collapse a foundation or wall.

Lowest floor means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). For a typical slab-on-grade construction, the lowest floor is the top of the first floor of the structure. For a typical basement foundation construction, the elevation of the lowest floor is the top of the basement floor. For a typical crawlspace foundation construction, the elevation of the lowest floor is the top of the first floor of the structure. For a typical split-level construction, the elevation of the lowest floor is the top of the first living area floor. For a manufactured home installation, the elevation of the lowest floor will be the bottom of the lowest I-beam. The garage floor and crawlspaces are not the lowest floor as long as there are no living areas in the garage and it is used solely for storage, parking vehicle and entry to the structure, provided that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable non-elevation design requirements of section 60.3 of the National Flood Insurance Program regulations.

Manufacture homes or structures 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 attached to the required utilities. The term "manufactured home" does not include a "recreational vehicle."

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

Mean sea level (MSL) means, for the purposes of the NFIP, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or other datum, to which base flood elevations shown on a community's FIRM are referenced.

Mixed use structures means structures with both a business and a residential component, but where the area used for business is less than 50 percent of the total floor area of the structure.

New construction means, for floodplain management purposes, structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the date of a floodplain management regulation adopted by a community and 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 management regulations adopted by a community.

No adverse impact principle means a principle of restricting or prohibiting land development that does harm or "adversely affects" someone else's property or land.

Nonresidential structures means structures used only for commercial or public purposes, such as businesses, schools, churches, etc.

No-rise certificates means formal certifications signed and stamped by a professional engineer licensed to practice in the state, demonstrating through hydrologic and hydraulic analyses performed in accordance with standard engineering practice that a proposed development will not result in any increase in flood levels within the community during the occurrence of a base flood event.

100-year flood is any flood with a one percent chance of occurring in any given year. The term is misleading because of its statistical derivation. A "100-year flood" may occur many times in any given 100-year period, or it may not occur at all in 100 years.

Piers means columns of masonry or other structural material (commonly cement blocks stacked up to support a manufactured home), usually rectangular, used to support other structural members. For the purpose of this article, piers must be permanent in nature.

Pilings means steel tubes driven to rock or a suitable soil bearing layer and connected to the foundation of a structure.

Ponding means a flooding effect where floodwaters accumulate in shallow depressions and linger until absorbed or evaporated.

Recreational vehicle means a vehicle which is:

(1)

Built on a single chassis;

(2)

400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projections;

(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.

Risk zones categorize special flood hazard areas into groupings by the specific risk of flooding. Zones A, AE or A1-30, AO, and AH are special flood hazard areas. See X risk zones.

Riverine flooding means flooding associated with a river or stream channel.

RV is the acronym for recreational vehicle.

Screw augers means any type of anchor that twists into the soil, typically to a depth of four feet or more. They are not suitable for securing manufactured homes against floodwaters because saturated grounds often soften and fail to hold the anchor in place.

Section 404 wetlands permit is a permit required under section 404 of the Clean Water Act for the discharge of dredged and fill material into any surface water of the United States. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues section 404 permits.

SFHA is the acronym for special flood hazard area.

Shallow flooding means a depth of less than three feet.

Slab anchors means anchors where the hook of the anchor is wrapped around a horizontal rebar in the slab before the concrete is poured.

Special flood hazard areas means geographical areas identified on FEMA flood maps as being at-risk for flooding. The maps further categorize these areas into various flood risk zones A, AE or A1-30, AH, and AO.

Start of construction means and includes substantial improvement 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 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 slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage 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 the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for basement, footings, piers or foundations or the erection of temporary forms; 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 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.

State coordinating agency means the agency that acts as a liaison between FEMA and a community for the purposes of floodplain management. The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission is the State Coordinating Agency for Arkansas.

Stream channels means depressed natural pathways through which water of any quantity routinely flows.

Structural development means a development that includes the placement or construction of a structure.

Structure means 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.

Substantial damage means damage of any origin where the cost to restore a structure to its original undamaged state would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before any damage occurred. In determining whether substantial damage has occurred, estimators must use standard contractor and materials costs. There are no exceptions for homeowners who make their own repairs or for discounted or free raw materials.

Substantial improvement means any reconstruction, remodeling, addition or improvement to a structure with a cost equaling or exceeding 50 percent of the market value of the structure before any improvement. Improvements to correct identified violations of local health, sanitary or safety codes are not substantial improvements, regardless of the cost, as long as they are the minimum improvement necessary to bring the structure up to code. Alterations to historical structures are also exempted, as long as the improvement does not affect the structure's official status of "historical structure."

Uses vulnerable to floods means any land or structural uses that may be negatively affected by a flood.

Variance means a formal, written permission from the appeals board to construct or develop in a way that is inconsistent with the requirements of this Code. The variance only deals with this Code; the appeals board has no authority to waive any other governmental requirement, and has no say in the cost of flood insurance.

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 evidence of compliance required in this Code is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.

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.

Watercourse alteration means any change that occurs within the banks of a watercourse.

X risk zones means a special group of insurance risk zones. One type, shown as non-shaded areas on FEMA-issued flood maps, indicates a zone where flooding is not expected to occur. The second type, shown as shaded areas of FEMA flood maps, indicates a flood hazard area that is expected to be affected by the 500-year flood, but not by the 100-year base flood.

(Ord. No. 2005-O-6, § 1, 2-3-2005; Ord. No. 2009-O-64, § 6(art. 1), 12-10-2009)