§ 95-3. Statement of purpose.
It is the
purpose of this chapter 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:
A. To protect human life and health;
B. To minimize expenditure of public
money for costly
flood
control projects;
C. To minimize the need for rescue and
relief efforts associated with flooding and generally undertaken at
the expense of the general public;
D. To minimize prolonged business
interruptions;
E. To minimize damage to public
facilities and utilities such as water and gas mains, electric,
telephone and sewer lines, streets, bridges located in areas of
special
flood
hazard;
F. To help maintain a stable tax base
by providing for the second use and development of areas of special
flood
hazard so as to minimize future
flood
blight areas;
G. To insure that potential buyers are
notified that property is in an area of special
flood
hazard; and
H. To ensure
that those who occupy the areas of special
flood
hazard assume responsibility for their actions.
§ 95-4. Methods of reducing
flood
losses.
In order to
accomplish its purposes, this chapter includes methods and
provisions for:
A. 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;
B. Requiring that uses vulnerable to
floods including facilities which serve such uses, be protected
against
flood
damage at the time of initial construction;
C.
Controlling the alteration of natural
flood
plains, stream channels, and natural protective barriers, which help
accommodate or channel
flood
waters;
D. Controlling filling, grading,
dredging, and other development which may increase
flood
damage; and,
E.
Preventing or regulating the
construction of
flood
barriers which will unnaturally divert
flood
waters or which may increase
flood
hazards in other areas.
§ 95-5. Definitions.
Unless
specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this chapter
shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in
common usage and to give this chapter its most reasonable
application.
APPEAL — A request for a review of
the City Engineer's interpretation of any provision of this chapter
or a request for a variance.
AREA OF SHALLOW FLOODING — A
designated AO, AH, or VO
zone
on a community's Digital
Flood
Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) with a one percent (1%) annual or greater
chance of flooding to an average depth of one (1) to three (3) feet
where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of
flooding is unpredictable and where velocity flow may be evident.
Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.
AREA OF SPECIAL
FLOOD
HAZARD — The land in the
flood
plain within a community subject to a one percent (1%) or greater
chance of flooding in any given year.
BASE
FLOOD
— The
flood
having a one percent (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any
given year.
DEVELOPMENT — 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.
DIGITAL
FLOOD
INSURANCE RATE MAP (DFIRM) — The official map on which the Federal
Insurance Administration has delineated both the areas of special
flood
hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.
ELEVATED BUILDING — A nonbasement
building (i) built in the case of a building in an area of special
flood
hazard to have the top of the elevated floor elevated above the
ground level by means of piling, columns (posts and piers), or shear
walls parallel to the flow of the water, and (ii) adequately
anchored so as not to impair the structural integrity of the
building during a
flood
up to the magnitude of the base
flood.
In an area of special
flood
hazard "elevated building" also includes a building elevated by
means of fill or solid foundation perimeter walls with openings
sufficient to facilitate the unimpeded movement of
flood
waters.
FLOOD
or FLOODING — A general and temporary condition of partial or
complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:
A. The overflow of inland or tidal
waters and/or
B. The unusual and rapid accumulation
or runoff of surface waters from any source.
FLOOD
INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM) — The official map on which the Federal
Insurance Administration has delineated both the areas of special
flood
hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.
FLOOD
INSURANCE STUDY (FIS) — The official report in which the Federal
Insurance Administration has provided
flood
profiles, as well as the Digital
Flood
Insurance Rate Map(s) and the water surface elevation of the base
flood.
FLOOD
PLAIN MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS — Zoning ordinances, subdivision
regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose
ordinances (such as a
flood
plain ordinance, grading ordinance and erosion control ordinance)
and other applications 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.
HIGHEST ADJACENT GRADE — The
highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to
construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.
LOWEST FLOOR — The lowest floor of
the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or
flood
resistant enclosure, usable solely for the parking of vehicles,
building access or storage in an area other than a basement is not
considered a buildings lowest floor provided that such enclosure is
not built so to render the structure in violation of other
applicable nonelevation design requirements.
NEW CONSTRUCTION —
Structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after
the effective date of a
flood
plain regulation adopted by a community and includes any subsequent
improvements to such structures.
START OF CONSTRUCTION — For other
than new construction or substantial improvements under the Coastal
Barrier Resources Act (P.L. No. 97-348) includes substantial
improvements 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
one hundred eighty (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 a 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 or 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 a 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.
SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT —
Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement
of a structure, the cost of which exceeds fifty percent (50%) 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:
§ 95-12.
Establishment of development permit.
A development permit
shall be obtained before construction or development begins within
any area of special
flood
hazard established in Section 95-7. Application for a development
permit shall be made on forms furnished by the Construction Code
Official and may include, but not be limited to; plans in duplicate
drawn to scale showing the nature, location, dimensions, and
elevations of the area in question; existing or proposed structures,
fill, storage of materials, drainage facilities; and the location of
the foregoing.
Specifically, the following
information is required:
A. Elevation in relation to mean sea
level, of the lowest floor (including basement) of all structures;
B. Elevation in relation to mean sea
level to which any structure has been floodproofed;
C. Certification by a registered
professional engineer or architect that the floodproofing methods
for any nonresidential structure meet the floodproofing criteria in
Section 95-17.2; and,
D.
Description of the extent to which any watercourse will be altered
or relocated as a result of proposed development.
§ 95-15.1. Appeal Board.
A. The Zoning Board of Adjustment as
established by the City of Orange Township shall hear and decide
appeals and requests for variances from the requirements of this
chapter.
B. The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall
hear and decide appeals when it is alleged there is an error in any
requirement, decision, or determination made by the City Engineer in
the enforcement or administration of this chapter.
C. Those aggrieved by the decision of the Zoning Board of
Adjustment, or any taxpayer, may appeal such decision to the
Superior Court of New Jersey, as provided in N.J.S.A. 40-55.
D. In passing upon such applications,
the Zoning Board of Adjustment, shall consider all technical
evaluations, all relevant factors, standards specified in other
sections of this chapter, and:
(1) The danger that materials may be
swept onto other lands to the injury of others;
(2) The danger to life and property due
to flooding or erosion damage;
(3) The susceptibility of the proposed
facility and its contents to
flood
damage and the
effect of such
damage on the individual owner;
(4) The importance of the services
provided by the proposed facility to the
community;
(5) The necessity to the facility of a
waterfront location, where applicable;
(6) The availability of alternative
locations for the proposed use which are not subject to flooding or
erosion damage;
(7) The compatibility of the proposed
use with existing and anticipated development;
(8) The relationship of the proposed
use to the comprehensive plan and
flood
plain management program of that area;
(9) The safety of access to the
property in times of
flood
for ordinary and emergency vehicles;
(10) The expected heights, velocity,
duration, rate of rise, and sediment transport of the
flood
waters and the effects of wave action, if applicable, expected at
the site; and,
(11) The costs of providing governmental
services during and after
flood
conditions, including maintenance and repair of public utilities and
facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical, and water systems, and
streets and bridges.
E. Upon consideration of the factors of
Section 95-15.1D. and the purposes of this chapter, the Zoning Board
of Adjustment may attach such conditions to the granting of
variances as it deems necessary to further the purposes of this
chapter.
F. The City
Engineer shall maintain the records of all appeal actions, including
technical information, and report any variances to the Federal
Insurance Administration upon request.
§ 95-17.2. Nonresidential construction.
A. New construction and
substantial improvement
of any commercial, industrial or other nonresidential structure
shall either have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated to
the level of the base
flood
elevation; or together with the attendant utilities and sanitary
facilities, shall:
(1) Require within any AO
zone
on the municipality's DFIRM/FIRM that all new construction and
substantial improvement of any commercial, industrial or other
nonresidential structure shall either have the lowest floor,
including basement, elevated above the highest adjacent grade at
least as high as the depth number specified in feet (at least two
(2) feet if no depth number is specified). And, require adequate
drainage paths around structures on slopes to guide floodwaters
around and away from proposed structures; or
(2) Be floodproofed so that below the
base
flood
level the structure is watertight with walls substantially
impermeable to the passage of water;
(3) Have structural components capable
of resisting hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and effects of
buoyancy; and,
(4) Be certified by a
registered professional engineer or architect that the design and
methods of construction are in accordance with accepted standards of
practice for meeting the applicable provisions of this subsection.
Such certification shall be provided to the official as set forth in
Section 95-14.3B