Article XVI, § 165-121
Dimensional standards
Housing
Servicing
- Geographic extent
- All lands within the jurisdiction of Shenandoah County identified as areas of special flood hazard on the FIRM or included in the FIS
Uses
Permitted by right4
- Agriculture uses such as general farming, pasture, grazing, outdoor plant nurseries, horticulture, truck farming, forestry, sod farming and wild crop harvesting
- Public and private recreational uses and activities such as parks, day camps, picnic grounds, golf courses, boat launching and swimming areas, hiking and horseback riding trails, wildlife and nature preserves, game farms, fish hatcheries, trap and skeet ranges and hunting and fishing areas
- Accessory residential uses such as yard areas, gardens, play areas, and pervious parking and loading areas, airport landing strips
- Drainfields serving on-site sewage disposal systems for single-family homes
Conditional / special use7
- Single-family dwellings (on parcels meeting criteria: zoned R-1, R-2, or R-3; no building site outside floodplain; parcel created before 1978 and purchased before Feb 25, 1997)
- Utilities and public facilities and improvements such as railroads, streets, bridges, transmission lines, pipe lines, water and sewerage treatment plants
- Water-related uses and activities such as marinas, docks, wharves, piers
- Extraction of sand, gravel and other materials
- Temporary uses such as circuses, carnivals and similar activities
- Storage of materials and equipment (non-buoyant, non-flammable, anchored or removable)
- Farm buildings for storage of hay or feed, or sheltering agricultural animals (not confined)
Prohibited7
- Septic systems (other than subsurface drainfields), pit privies or other on-site waste disposal systems
- Dwelling units except as permitted in § 165-129.1B(1)
- All businesses and industries
- Any use where people congregate in permanent structures (e.g., churches, schools, institutional uses)
- Any agricultural building housing confined animals
- Filling of land, except for restoration or reclamation purposes
- Manufactured homes (except in existing manufactured home parks or subdivisions)
Extracted standards
15 individual requirements pulled out of this section’s prose, each with the sentence it came from.
Floodplain
- A zone BFE determination
Where the specific 1% annual chance flood elevation cannot be determined, the applicant shall apply to the Floodplain Administrator for a determination as to the base flood elevation.
- AE/AH no increase1 ft
No new construction, substantial improvements, or other development shall be permitted unless it is demonstrated that the cumulative effect will not increase the water surface elevation of the base flood more than one foot.
- AO zone elevation2 ft
If no flood depth number is specified, the lowest floor, including basement, shall be elevated no less than two feet above the highest adjacent grade.
- Enclosed area below BFE
Fully enclosed areas below BFE shall not be used for human habitation, but solely for parking, building access, or limited storage. Must have openings with total net area at least 1 sq in per sq ft of enclosed area, bottom no higher than 1 ft above grade.
- Floodway encroachment
No encroachments, including fill, new construction, substantial improvements, or other development shall be permitted unless it has been demonstrated through hydrologic and hydraulic analysis that the proposed encroachment will not result in any increase in flood levels.
Manufactured homes must be anchored to prevent flotation, collapse, or lateral movement and elevated to BFE.
- Minimum lowest floor elevation (residential)
New construction or substantial improvement of any residential structure (including manufactured homes) in Zones AE, AH, A, and AO with detailed base flood elevations shall have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated to or above the BFE.
- Nonresidential elevation or floodproofing
New construction or substantial improvement of any existing commercial, industrial, or nonresidential building shall have the lowest floor elevated to or above BFE, or be floodproofed to BFE.
- Recreational vehicle standards
Recreational vehicles must be on site no more than 30 consecutive days and be licensed and ready for highway use, or meet manufactured home requirements.
Other
- Drainfield within 100 feet of stream
For subsurface drainfields having any portion within 100 feet of the edge of the stream or river, the system shall be designed using enhanced flow distribution and meet TL-3 treatment standards.
- Minimum drainfield depth18 in
The minimum depth from the ground surface to the bottom of the drainfield trench shall be 18 inches.
- Minimum drainfield separation75 ft
No subsurface drainfield shall be located closer than 75 feet to another drainfield.
- Minimum drainfield stream separation50 ft
No portion of any subsurface drainfield shall be located closer than 50 feet to the edge of a stream, river, or sinkhole.
- Tank standards
Tanks shall be structurally sound and watertight, designed and certified by a professional engineer, and tested after placement.
- Utility design
Sanitary sewer, water, and drainage facilities shall be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of floodwaters and flood damage.
From the ordinance
These provisions shall apply to all lands within the jurisdiction of Shenandoah County and identified as areas of special flood hazard on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM) or included in the flood insurance study (FIS) that are provided to the County of Shenandoah by FEMA.