Chapter 27 Flood Plain Management

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FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT § 27-12 "Backfill" means the placement of fill material within a specified depression, hole or excavation pit below the surrounding adjacent ground level as a means of improving floodwater conveyance or to restore the land to the natural contours existing prior to excavation. "Base flood" means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (also called the "one -hundred -year flood"). "Base flood elevation" means the water surface elevation of the base flood. "Basement" means any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides. "Breakaway walls" are any type of walls, whether solid or lattice, and whether constructed of concrete, masonry, wood, metal, plastic or any other suitable building material which is not part of the structural support of the building and which is designed to break away under abnormally high tides or wave action without causing any damage to the structural integrity of the building on which they are used or any buildings to which they might be carried by floodwaters. A breakaway wall shall have a safe design loading resistance of not less than ten and no more than twenty pounds per square foot. Use of breakaway walls must be certified by a licensed structural engineer or architect and shall meet the following conditions: (1) Breakaway wall collapse shall result from a water load less than that which would occur during the base flood; and (2) The elevated portion of the building shall not incur any structural damage due to the effects of wind and water loads acting simultaneously in the event of the base flood. "Coastal high hazard area" - See "Zone V" and "Zone VE." "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, excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials. "Drainage facility" - See "Watercourse." "Encroachment" means the advance or infringement of uses, plant growth, till, excavation, buildings, permanent structures or development into a floodplain which may impede or alter the flow capacity of a floodplain. "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 May 5, 1982. "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 manufacturing 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). "Fill" is the placement of fill material at a specified location to bring the ground surface up to a desired elevation. 27-5 SUPP. 3 (1-2018)