ARTICLE 1. STATUTORY
AUTHORIZATION, FINDINGS OF FACT, PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES.
SECTION A.
STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION.
The Legislature of the State of Mississippi has in Title 17, Chapter 1, Mississippi Code 1972 Annotated delegated the responsibility to local government units to adopt regulations designed to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare of its citizenry. Therefore, the Mayor and board of Aldermen of the City of Waveland, MS. does hereby adopt the following floodplain management regulations.
SECTIO B.
FINDINGS OF FACT.
(1) The flood hazard areas of Waveland 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 tax base, all of which adversely affect the public health, safety and general welfare.
(2) 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 other lands which are inadequately elevated, flood-proofed, or otherwise unprotected from flood damages.
SECTION C.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.
It is the purpose of this ordinance to promote the public health, safety and general welfare and to minimize public and private losses due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed to:
(1) Restrict or prohibit uses which are dangerous to health, safety and property due to water or erosion hazards, which result in damaging increases in erosion or in flood heights velocities;
(2) Require that uses vulnerable to floods, including facilities which serve such uses, be protected against flood damage at the time of initial construction;
(3) Control the alteration of natural floodplains, stream channels, and natural protective barriers which are involved in the accommodation of flood waters;
(4) Control filling, grading, dredging and other development which may increase erosion or flood damage, and;
(5) Prevent or regulate the construction of flood barriers which will unnaturally divert floodwaters or which may increase flood hazards to other lands.
SECTION D.
OBJECTIVES.
The objectives of this ordinance are:
(2) To minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects;
(3) To minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public;
(4) To minimize prolonged business interruptions;
(5) To minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water and gas mains, electric, telephone and sewer lines, street and bridges located in floodplains;
(6) 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;
(7) To ensure that potential homebuyers are notified that property is in a flood area.
SECTION E.
METHODS OF REDUCING FLOOD LOSSES.
In order to accomplish its purposes, this ordinance includes methods and provisions for:
(1) Restricting or prohibiting uses which are dangerous to health, safety, and property due to water or erosion hazards, or which result in damaging increases in erosion or in flood heights or velocities;
(2) Requiring that uses vulnerable to floods, including facilities which serve such uses, be protected against flood damage at the time of initial construction;
(3) Controlling the alteration of natural floodplains, stream channels, and natural protective barriers, which help accommodate or channel flood waters;
(4) Controlling filling, grading, dredging, and other development which may increase flood damage; and,
(5) Preventing or regulating the construction of flood barriers that will unnaturally divert floodwaters or may increase flood hazards in other areas.
ARTICLE 2.
DEFINITIONS.
Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this ordinance shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning 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 be designed 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 firewall. Any walled and roofed addition, which is connected by a firewall or is separated by independent perimeter load-bearing walls, is new construction.
AH Zone
is an area of 100-year shallow flooding
where depths are between 1 and 3 feet (usually shallow ponding), base flood
elevations are shown.
Appeal means a request for a review of the floodplain administrator’s interpretation of any provision of this ordinance or a request for a variance.
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. ( Same As Special Flood Hazard Area).
B and X zones
(shaded) are areas of 500-year
flood, areas subject to the 100- year flood with average depths of less than 1
foot or with contributing drainage area less than 1 square mile, and areas
protected by levees from the base flood.
Base flood means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (also called the “100-year flood”). Base flood is the term used throughout this ordinance.
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.
Buildings see Structure.
C and X (unshaded)
zones are areas determined to be outside the 500 – year floodplain
Coastal A Zone means the portion of the SFHA landward of a V zone or landward of an open coast without mapped V zones, in which the principal sources of flooding are astronomical tides, storm surges, seiches, or tsunamis, not riverine sources. Coastal A zones may be subject to wave effects, velocity flows, erosion, scour, or combinations of these forces.
Coastal high hazard
area means an area of special flood hazard extending from offshore to the
inland limit of a primary frontal dune along an open coast and any other area
subject to high velocity wave action from storms or seismic sources.
The area is designated on the FIRM as Zone V1 – V30, or VE or V.
Critical facility means a facility for which even a slight chance of flooding might be too great. Critical facilities include, but are not limited to schools, nursing homes, hospitals, police, fire and emergency response installations, installations which produce, use or store hazardous materials or hazardous waste.
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 materials or equipment.
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
October 19, 1983.
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 before
October 19, 1983.
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:
a.) The overflow of inland or tidal waters;
b.) The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.
Flood Boundary and Floodway Map (FBFM) means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or Federal Insurance Administration (FIA) has delineated the areas of flood hazards and regulatory floodway.
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.
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.
Flood Insurance Study (FIS) is the official hydraulic & hydrologic report provided by FEMA. The report contains flood profiles, as well as the FIRM, FHBM (where applicable) and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
Floodplain means any land area susceptible to flooding.
Floodplain management means the operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damage and preserving and 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 Administrator is the individual appointed to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.
Floodplain management regulations means this ordinance and other zoning ordinances, subdivision 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.
Floodproofing
Certificate is a form used to
certify compliance for non-residential structures as an alternative to elevating
buildings to or above the BFE
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.
Floodway fringe means that area of the floodplain on either side of the regulatory floodway where encroachment may be permitted without additional hydraulic and/or hydrologic analysis.
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 City of Waveland 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 alternative is more expensive, or requires the property owner 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 building.
Historic Structure means any structure that is:
a.) 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:
b.) Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district:
c.) 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
d.) Individually listed on a local inventory historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:
Letter of Map Change
(LOMC) is an official FEMA
determination, by letter to amend or revise effective Flood Insurance Rate Maps,
Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps, and Flood Insurance Studies. LOMC’s are broken
down into the following categories:
Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA)
A revision based on technical data showing that a property was incorrectly
included in a designated SFHA. A LOMA amends the current effective FIRM and
establishes that a specific property is not located in a SFHA.
Letter of Map Revision (LOMR)
A revision based on technical data that, usually due to manmade changes,
shows changes to flood zones, flood elevations, floodplain and floodway
delineations, and planimetric features. One common type of LORM, a LOMR-F, is a
determination concerning whether a structure or parcel has been elevated by fill
above the BFE and is, therefore, excluded from the SFHA.
Conditional Letter of Map Revision ( CLOMR)
A formal review and comment by FEMA as to whether a proposed project
complies with the minimum NFIP floodplain management criteria. A CLOMR does not
amend or revise effective Flood Insurance Rate Maps, Flood Boundary and Floodway
Maps, or Flood Insurance Studies.
Lowest adjacent grade means the elevation of the sidewalk, patio, deck support, or basement entryway immediately next to the structure and after the completion of construction. It does not include earth that is emplaced for aesthetic or landscape reasons around a foundation wall. It does include natural ground or property compacted fill that comprises a component of a building’s foundation system.
Lowest floor means the 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 provisions of this code.
Manufactured home means a building, 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 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 cost depreciated by age of building (Actual Cash Value) or adjusted assessed values.
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 floodplain. For purposes of this ordinance, the term is synonymous with National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD).
National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) as corrected in 1929 is a vertical control used as a reference for establishing varying elevations within the floodplain.
New Construction means any structure for which the “start of construction” commenced after October 19, 1983. The term also includes any subsequent improvements to such a structure.
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.
One Hundred Year
Flood (100- Year Flood) is the flood
that has a 1-percent or greater chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given
year. Any flood zone that begins with the letter A or V is subject to the
100-year flood. Over the life of a 30-year loan, there is a 26-percent chance of
experiencing such a flood within the SFHA.
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:
b.) 400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;
c.) Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and
d.) Designed 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.
Special flood hazard area (SFHA) means an area having special flood and shown on a FHBM or FIRM as Zone A, AO, A1-A30, AE, A99, AH, V, VE, or V1-V30.
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 excavation for a 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 building. For 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.
Structure means a walled and roofed building that is principally above ground, a manufactured home, a gas or liquid storage tank, or other man-made facilities or infrastructures.
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 flood event, on the average, equals or exceeds 25 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 “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 a 10 year period, in which the cumulative cost equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the building either:
a.) Before the improvement or repair is started; or,
b.) 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” or “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 alteration affects the external dimensions of the building. The term does not, however, include either:
a.) Any project for improvement of a building required to comply with existing health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which have been identified prior to permit issuance by the Code Enforcement Official and which are solely necessary to assure safe living conditions; or,
b.) 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 equals or exceeds 50 percent of the value of the streets, utilities and pads before the repair, reconstruction or improvement commenced.
V zone means the portion of the SFHA that extends from offshore to the inland limit of a primary frontal dune along an open coast, and any other area subject to high-velocity wave action from storms or seismic sources.
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 compliant with this ordinance. A structure or other development without the elevation certificate, other certifications, or other evidence of compliance required in this ordinance 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.
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.
X zone means the area where the flood hazard is less than that in the SFHA. Shaded X zones shown on recent FIRMs (B zones on older FIRMs) designate areas subject to inundation by the flood with a 0.2-percent annual probability of being equaled or exceeded (the 500-year flood). Unshaded X zones (C zones on older FIRMS) designate areas where the annual exceedance probability of flooding is less than 0.2 percent.
ARTICLE 3.
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
SECTION A.
LANDS TO WHICH THIS ORDINANCE APPLIES.
This ordinance shall apply to all areas of special flood hazard (SFHA) and, as determined by the Floodplain Administrator or other delegated, designated, or qualified community official from available technical studies, historical information, and other available and reliable sources, areas within the jurisdiction of the City of Waveland (Community Flood Hazards Area (CFHA)). Which may be subject to periodic inundation by floodwaters that can adversely affect the public health, safety, and general welfare of the citizen of City of Waveland, Mississippi.
SECTION B. BASIS FOR ESTABLISHING THE AREAS OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD.
The areas of special flood hazard identified by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency in the Flood Insurance Rate Maps Community Panel
Numbers 285262 0001, 285262 0002B, 285262 003B, 285262 0004B, / Flood Insurance
Study for the City of Waveland, dated November 16, 1983, with accompanying maps
and other supporting data are adopted by reference and declared to be a part of
this ordinance.
The Flood Insurance Rate
Maps and Flood
Insurance Study is on file at the City of Waveland Permit Office.
SECTION C.
ESTABLISHMENT OF FLOODPLAIN DEVELOPMENT PERMIT.
A development permit shall be required in conformance with the provision of this ordinance prior to the commencement of any development activities in the areas of special flood hazard.
SECTION D. COMPLIANCE.
No structure or land shall hereafter be located, extended, converted or structurally altered without full compliance with the terms of this ordinance and other applicable regulations.
SECTION E. ABROGATION AND GREATER RESTRICTIONS.
This ordinance is not intended to repeal, abrogate, or impair any existing easements, covenants, or deed restrictions. However, where this ordinance and another conflict or overlap, whichever imposes the more stringent restrictions shall prevail.
SECTION F. INTERPRETATION.
In the interpretation and application of this ordinance all provisions shall be:
(1) Considered as minimum requirements;
(2) Liberally construed in favor of the governing body, and;
(3) Deemed neither to limit nor repeal any other powers granted under state statutes.
SECTION G.
WARNING AND DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY.
The degree of flood protection required by this ordinance is considered reasonable for regulatory purposes and is based on scientific and engineering consideration. Larger floods can and will occur on rare occasions. Flood heights may be increased by man-made or natural causes. This ordinance does not imply that land outside the areas of special flood hazard or uses permitted within such areas will be free from flooding or flood damages. This ordinance shall not create liability on the part of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Waveland or by any officer or employee thereof for any flood damages that result from reliance on this ordinance or any administrative decision lawfully made thereunder.