Agenda - Council - 10/27/2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ordinance Language degree of flood protection than the regulatory flood protection elevation for the particular area, or permit standards lower than those required by state law. 10.33 Additional Variance Criteria. The following additional variance criteria of the Federal Emergency Management Agency must be satisfied: (a) Variances must not be issued by a community within any designated regulatory floodway if any increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge would result. (b) Variances may only be issued by a community upon (i) a showing of good and sufficient cause, (ii) a determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant, and (iii) a determination that the granting of a variance will not result in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisances, cause fraud on or victimization of the public, or conflict with existing local laws or ordinances. (c) Variances may only be issued upon a determination that the variance is the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief. 10.34 Flood Insurance Notice. The Zoning Administrator must notify the applicant for a variance that: 1) The issuance of a variance to construct a structure below the base flood level will result in increased premium rates for flood insurance up to amounts as high as $25 for $100 of insurance coverage; and 2) Such construction below the base or regional flood level increases risks to life and property. Such notification must be maintained with a record of all variance actions. 10.35 General Considerations. The community may consider the following factors in granting variances and imposing conditions on variances and conditional uses in floodplains: (a) The potential danger to life and property due to increased flood heights or velocities caused by encroachments; (b) The danger that materials may be swept onto other lands or downstream to the injury of others; (c) The proposed water supply and sanitation systems, if any, and the ability of these systems to minimize the potential for disease, contamination and unsanitary conditions; (d) The susceptibility of any proposed use and its contents to flood damage and the effect of such damage on the individual owner; (e) The importance of the services to be provided by the proposed use to the community; The requirements of the facility for a waterfront location; The availability of viable alternative locations for the proposed use that are not subject to flooding; (h) The compatibility of the proposed use with existing development and development anticipated in the foreseeable future; (f) (g) July 2015 18 Commentary must establish a board of adjustment to hear appeals of the ordinance, including variance requests. In many communities, the city council, county board, or planning commission serves as the board of adjustment. If a community does not have existing variance procedures or a board of adjustment, contact Floodplain Program staff for sample ordinance language. The language in Section 10.33 (a — c) is language required by FEMA and must be adopted verbatim. Note specifically that the reference to "exceptional hardship" in (b)(ii) must remain in the ordinance, although it has been replaced by the term "practical difficulties" in state zoning enabling statutes. Section 10.34 is required by FEMA. Section 10.35 is optional but recommended as guidance for communities in reviewing variance applications. The same factors are recommended for review of conditional use applications, below.