Highlighted below: 40 of 60 extracted standards. Sections and highlights carry their own anchors. The rest quote wording that differs from this rendering of the text.

ARTICLE V - OVERLAY ZONING DISTRICTS#

DIVISION 1. - ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE#

Sec. 90-291. - Established.#

This article establishes overlay districts, which apply additional standards to the development and design requirements of land in the city. These district standards exist as overlays to the existing underlying zoning districts, and, as such, the provisions for the overlay districts do not replace, but shall serve to supplement the underlying district provisions. The city has the following overlay zoning district(s):

Table 5.1 Overlay Zoning Districts

District	Name
FH	Flood hazard overlay district

Sec. 90-292. - Purpose and intent.#

(a) Flood hazard overlay district (FH). The purpose of the flood hazard overlay district provisions are to prevent:

(1) The loss of life and property;

(2) The creation of health and safety hazards;

(3) The disruption of commerce and governmental services;

(4) The extraordinary and unnecessary expenditure of public funds for flood protection and relief; and

(5) The impairment of the tax base by:

a. Requiring all those uses, activities, and developments that occur in flood-prone areas to be protected and/or flood-proofed against flooding and flood damage;

b. Regulating uses, activities, and development which, alone or in combination with other existing or future uses, activities, and development, will cause unacceptable increases in flood heights, velocities, and frequencies;

c. Restricting or prohibiting certain uses, activities, and development from locating within areas subject to flooding; and

d. Protecting individuals from buying land and structures, which are unsuited for intended purposes because of flood hazards.

DIVISION 2. - FLOOD HAZARD OVERLAY DISTRICT (FH)#

Sec. 90-301. - Definitions.#

For the purposes of this division, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed to them, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

100-year flood means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. It does not imply that no greater flood is likely to occur, nor that such a flood will not happen more often than once every 100 years.

Base flood, for the purposes of this division, means the 100-year flood. The flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

Base flood elevation means the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designated 100-year water surface elevation. The water surface elevation of the base flood in relation to the datum specified on the community's flood insurance rate map. For the purposes of this division, the 100-year flood or one percent annual chance flood.

Basement means any area of the building having its floor surface sub-grade (below ground level) on any side.

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, or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials.

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, or columns (post and piers).

Encroachment, for the purposes of this division, 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 structures for which the start of construction commenced before the effective date of the FIRM. "Existing construction" may also be referred to as "existing structures" and "pre-FIRM."

Existing structure. See existing construction.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) means an independent agency of the United States government that provides a single point of accountability for all federal emergency preparedness and mitigation and response activities.

Fill means the placing of any material which results in increasing the natural ground surface elevation.

Flood or flooding means:

(1) A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

a. The overflow of inland or tidal waters;

b. The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source; or

c. Mudflows which are proximately caused by flooding as defined in [subsection b] above, and are akin to a river of liquid and flowing mud on the surfaces of normally dry land areas, as when earth is carried by a current of water and deposited along the path of the current.

(2) The collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other 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 an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in [subsection (1)a] above.

Flood hazard district means the land located within the base flood area which includes the floodway and the approximated floodplain district.

Flood insurance rate map (FIRM) means an official map of a community, on which FEMA has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard and the risk premium zones applicable to the community. A FIRM that has been made available digitally is called a digital flood insurance rate map (DFIRM).

Flood insurance study (FIS) means an examination, evaluation, and determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, or an examination, evaluation, and determination of mudflow and/or flood-related erosion hazards.

Floodplain or flood-prone area means any land susceptible to being inundated by water from any source.

Floodproofing means a combination of design modifications that results in a building or structure that is subject to flooding, including the attendant utility and sanitary facilities, being watertight with walls substantially impermeable to the passage of water.

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

Floodway fringe. The floodway fringe encompasses the portion of the floodplain that could be completely obstructed without increasing the base flood elevation by more than one foot at any point.

Freeboard means a factor of safety usually expressed in inches or feet above a flood level for purposes of floodplain management. "Freeboard" tends to compensate for the many unknown factors that could contribute to flood heights greater than the height calculated for a selected size flood and floodway conditions, such as wave action, bridge openings, and the hydrological effect of urbanization in the watershed.

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 defined by the Secretary of the Interior; or,

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

Hydrological and hydraulic engineering analysis means analyses performed by a licensed professional engineer, in accordance with standard engineering practices that are accepted by the state department of conservation and recreation (DCR) and FEMA, used to determine the base flood, other frequency floods, flood elevations, floodway information and boundaries, and flood profiles.

Letters of map change (LOMC) means an official FEMA determination, by letter, that amends or revises an effective FIRM or FIS. Letters of map change include:

(1) Letter of map amendment (LOMA). An amendment based on technical data showing that a property was incorrectly included in a designated special flood hazard area. A LOMA amends the current effective FIRM and establishes that a land as defined by metes and bounds, or structure is not located in a special flood hazard area.

(2) Letter of map revision (LOMR). A revision based on technical data that may show changes to flood zones, flood elevations, floodplain and floodway delineations, and planimetric features. A letter of map revision based on fill (LOMR-F) is a determination that a structure or parcel of land has been elevated by fill above the base flood elevation and is, therefore, no longer exposed to flooding associated with the base flood. To qualify for this determination, the fill must have been permitted and placed in accordance with the community's floodplain management regulations.

(3) Conditional letter of map revision (CLOMR). A formal review and comment as to whether a proposed flood protection project or other project complies with the minimum NFIP requirements for such projects with respect to delineation of special flood hazard areas. A CLOMR does not revise the effective FIRM or FIS.

Lowest adjacent grade means the lowest natural elevation of the ground surface next to the walls of a structure.

Lowest floor means the floor of the lowest enclosed area, including basement, but excluding any unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure, usable solely for vehicle parking, building access, or limited storage provided that such enclosure is not built to render the structure in violation of the applicable non-elevation design requirements of 44 CFR 60.3.

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 180 consecutive days.

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.

New construction, for the purposes of determining insurance rates, means structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after February 2, 1989, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures. For floodplain management or development purposes, new construction means structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of a floodplain management regulation adopted by the city and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

Post-FIRM structures means a structure for which construction or substantial improvement occurred on or after February 2, 1989.

Pre-FIRM structures means a structure for which construction or substantial improvement occurred on or before February 2, 1989.

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 towable; and

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

Repetitive loss structure means a building covered by a contract for flood insurance that has incurred flood-related damages on two occasions in a ten-year period, in which the cost of the repair, on the average, equaled or exceeded 25 percent of the market value of the structure at the time of each such flood event; and at the time of the second incidence of flood-related damage, the contract for flood insurance contains increased cost of compliance coverage.

Severe repetitive loss structure means a structure that:

(1) Is covered under a contract for flood insurance made available under the NFIP; and

(2) Has incurred flood related damage:

a. For which four or more separate claims payments have been made under flood insurance coverage with the amount of each such claim exceeding $5,000.00, and with the cumulative amount of such claims payments exceeding $20,000.00; or

b. For which at least two separate claims payments have been made under such coverage, with the cumulative amount of such claims exceeding the market value of the insured structure.

Shallow flooding area means a special flood hazard area 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. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.

Special flood hazard area (SFHA) means the land in the floodplain subject to a one percent or greater chance of being flooded in any given year as determined in section 90-316 of article V.

Start of construction means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, placement, substantial improvement, 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 a basement, footings, piers, or foundations or the erection of temporary forms. For a substantial improvement, the actual start of the 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.

Structure, for floodplain management purposes, means 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 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 improvement 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 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; or

(2) Any alteration of a historic structure, provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a historic structure.

Violation means the failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with the city's floodplain management regulations in this division. A structure or other development without the elevation certificate, other certifications, or other evidence of compliance required in section 60.3(d)(3) of the National Flood Insurance Program regulations, is 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.

Zone, A means those areas for which no detailed flood profiles or elevations are provided, but the one percent annual chance floodplain boundary has been approximated.

Zone, AE means a flood hazard zone with two categories defined below as:

(1) Category 1 areas shall be those areas for which one percent annual chance flood elevations have been provided and the floodway has been delineated.

(2) Category 2 areas on the FIRM accompanying the FIS shall be those areas for which one percent annual chance flood elevations have been provided and the floodway has not been delineated.

Zone, X means those areas of two-tenths percent annual chance flood or areas of one percent annual chance flood with average depths of less than one foot or with drainage areas less than one square mile.