A. “Alteration of watercourse” means any action that will change the location of the channel occupied by water within the banks of any portion of a riverine water body.

B. “Appeal” means a request for a review of the interpretation of any provision of this article or a request for a variance.

C. “ASCE 24” means the most recently published version of ASCE 24, Flood Resistant Design and Construction, published by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

D. “Base flood” means a flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. It is also referred to as the “100-year flood.”

E. “Base flood elevation (BFE)” means the elevation to which floodwater is anticipated to rise during the base flood.

F. “Basement” means any area of the building having its floor sub-grade (below ground level) on all sides.

G. “Building” has the same meaning as “structure.”

H. “Building code” means the currently effective versions of the International Building Code and the International Residential Code adopted by the state of Washington Building Code Council.

I. “Conditional letter of map revision (CLOMR)” is FEMA’s comment on a proposed project that would, upon construction, affect the hydrologic or hydraulic characteristics of a flooding source and thus result in the modification of the existing regulatory floodway, the effective base flood elevations, or the special flood hazard area. The letter does not revise an effective National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) map; it indicates whether the project, if built as proposed, would be recognized by FEMA. Building permits cannot be issued based on a CLOMR, because a CLOMR does not change the NFIP map.

J. “Development” means any manmade 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 located within the area of special flood hazard.

K. “Elevated building” means, for insurance purposes, a nonbasement building that has its lowest elevated floor raised above ground level by foundation walls, shear walls, posts, piers, pilings, or columns.

L. “Elevation certificate” refers to an administrative tool of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that can be used to provide elevation information, to determine the proper insurance premium rate, and to support a request for a letter of map amendment (LOMA) or letter of map revision based on fill (LOMR-F).

M. “Essential facility” has the same meaning as the term “essential facility” defined in ASCE 24. Table 1-1 in ASCE 24-14 further identifies building occupancies that are essential facilities.

N. “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 the community.

O. “Expansion to an existing manufactured home park or subdivision” means 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).

P. “Farmhouse” means a single-family dwelling located on a farm site where resulting agricultural products are not produced for the primary consumption or use by the occupants and the farm owner.

Q. “Flood elevation study” means an examination, evaluation, and determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, or an examination, evaluation, and determination of mudslide (i.e., mudflow) and/or flood-related erosion hazards. Also known as the flood insurance study (FIS).

R. “Flood insurance rate map (FIRM)” means the official map of a community, on which the Federal Insurance Administrator has delineated both the special flood hazard areas 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).

S. “Floodproofing” means any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate risk of flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures, and their contents. Floodproofed structures are those that have the structural integrity and design to be impervious to floodwater below the base flood elevation.

T. “Floodplain administrator” means the public works director, who is the community official designated by this article to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.

U. “Floodplain management regulations” means zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as floodplain ordinance, grading ordinance, and/or erosion control ordinance), and other application of police power. The term describes such state or local regulations, in any combination thereof, which provide standards for the purpose of flood damage prevention and reduction.

V. “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, and does not include long-term storage or related manufacturing facilities.

W. “Highest adjacent grade” means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.

X. “Historic structure” means any structure that is:

Y. “Letter of map revision (LOMR)” is FEMA’s modification to an effective flood insurance rate map, or flood boundary and floodway map, or both. Letters of map revision are generally based on the implementation of physical measures that affect the hydrologic or hydraulic characteristics of a flooding source and thus result in the modification of the existing regulatory floodway, the effective base flood elevations, or the special flood hazard area. The LOMR officially revises the flood insurance rate map or flood boundary and floodway map, and sometimes the flood insurance study report, and when appropriate, includes a description of the modifications. The LOMR is generally accompanied by an annotated copy of the affected portions of the FIRM, FBFM, or FIS report.

Z. “Lowest floor” means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area, including the basement. An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access, or storage in an area other than a basement area, 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 applicable nonelevation design requirements of this chapter (i.e., provided there are adequate flood ventilation openings).

AA. “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 attached to the required utilities. The term “manufactured home” does not include a recreational vehicle.

BB. “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.

CC. “Mean sea level” means, for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the vertical datum to which base flood elevations shown on a community’s flood insurance rate map are referenced.

DD. “One-hundred-year flood” or “100-year flood” has the same meaning as “base flood.”

EE. “New construction,” for the purposes of determining insurance rates, means structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of an initial flood insurance rate map or after December 31, 1974, whichever is later, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures. For floodplain management 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 a community and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

FF. “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 adopted floodplain management regulations adopted by the community.

GG. “Reasonably safe from flooding” means development that is designed and built to be safe from flooding based on consideration of current flood elevation studies, historical data, high water marks and other reliable data known to the community. In unnumbered A zones where flood elevation information is not available and cannot be obtained by practicable means, “reasonably safe from flooding” means that the lowest floor is at least two feet above the highest adjacent grade.

HH. “Recreational vehicle” means a vehicle:

II. “Start of construction” 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 from the date of the permit. 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; 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 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.

JJ. “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.

KK. “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.

LL. “Substantial improvement” means 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:

MM. “Variance” means a grant of relief by a community from the terms of a floodplain management regulation.

NN. “Water dependent” means a structure for commerce, recreation, or industry that cannot exist in any other location and is dependent on the water by reason of the intrinsic nature of its operations.

OO. “Water surface elevation” means the height, in relation to the vertical datum utilized in the applicable flood insurance study, of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of coastal or riverine areas. (Ord. 2315 § 13, 2020).