§ 17.36.050. Definitions.

As used in this chapter:

"Accessory use" means a use which is incidental and subordinate to the principal use of the parcel of land on which it is located.

"Anchor" means a series of methods used to secure a structure to its footing or foundation wall so that it will not be displaced by flood or wind forces.

"Appeal" means a request for a review of the city floodplain administrator's interpretation of any provisions of this chapter.

"Base flood" means a flood which has a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

"Base flood elevation" means the height in relation to mean sea level expected to be reached by the waters of the base flood at pertinent points in the floodplain of riverine areas.

"Basement" means any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.

"Channel" means a natural or artificial watercourse with definite bed and banks to confine and conduct flowing water.

"Critical structures" means any structure for which even a slight chance of flooding would reduce or eliminate its designed function of supporting a community in any emergency. Fire stations, hospitals, municipal airports, police stations, communication antennas or towers, elderly care facilities, fuel storage facilities, schools designated as emergency shelters, fresh water and sewage treatment facilities are some examples of critical structures.

"Designated floodway" means the channel of a stream and the portion of the adjoining floodplain designated by a regulatory agency to be kept free of further development to provide for unobstructed passage of flood flows.

"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.

"Encroachment" means any physical object placed in the floodplain that hinders the passage of water or otherwise affects flood flows, such as fill, excavation, storage of equipment and materials or buildings.

"Existing manufactured home park" means a manufactured home park 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.

"Expansion to an existing manufactured home park" 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, construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads).

"Flood or flood waters" means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow of inland waters; the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source and mudslides.

"Flood Boundary Floodway Map (FBFM and FHBM)" means the official map of a community where the boundaries of the flood and related erosion areas having special hazards have been designated as zones A and E.

"Flood control" means keeping flood waters away from specific developments or populated areas by the construction of flood storage reservoirs, channel alterations, dikes and levees, bypass channels, or other engineering works.

"Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)" means the official map on which FEMA has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

"Flood Insurance Study (FIS)" means a document containing the results of and examination, evaluation and determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, mudslides and erosion hazards.

"Floodplain and flood-prone area" means any land area susceptible to being inundated by waters from any source.

"Floodplain administrator" means the individual appointed to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.

"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 and floodplain management regulations and ordinances.

"Floodplain management regulations" means this chapter, and any federal, state or local regulations plus other zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as a grading and erosion control) and other application of police power which control development in floodprone areas for preventing and reducing flood loss and damage.

"Floodproofing" means any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved property, water and sanitary facilities, structures and their contents.

"Flood-related erosion" means the collapse or subsidence of land along a ditch, drain or other body of water as a result of undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force or nature, such as a flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding.

"Floodway" means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land area that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than a designated height.

"Flood zones" means zones on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) in which the risk premium insurance rates have been established by a Flood Insurance Study.

"Flood Zone A" means an area of special flood hazard without water surface elevations determined.

"Flood Zone AE" means an area of special flood hazard with water surface elevations determined.

"Flood Zone AO" means an area of special flood hazard having shallow water depths and or unpredictable flow paths between one and three feet.

"Flood Zone AH" means an area of special flood hazard having shallow water depths and or unpredictable flow paths between one and three feet and with water surface elevations determined.

"Flood zones shaded X" means areas of moderate flood hazard.

"Flood zones unshaded X" means areas of minimal hazard.

"Flood Zone E" means an area of special flood-related erosion hazards.

"Footing" means the enlarged base of a foundation wall, pier, or column, designed to spread the load of the structure so that it does not exceed the soil bearing capacity.

"Foundation" means the underlying structure of a building, usually constructed of concrete, that supports the foundation walls, piers or columns.

"Fraud/victimization" is related to variances of this chapter with the requirement that variances granted must not cause fraud on or victimization to the public. In implementing this requirement, the city council will consider the fact that every newly constructed building adds to government responsibilities, and remains a part of the community for fifty to one hundred years. Buildings permitted to be constructed below the base flood elevation are subject during all those years to increase risk of damage from floods, while future owners of the property and the community as a whole are subject to all the costs, inconvenience, danger and suffering that those increased flood damages bring. Additionally, future owners may be unaware of the risk potential to the property due to flood damage and the extremely high rates for flood insurance.

"Hardship" is related to variances of this chapter with the requirement that exceptional hardship would result from a failure to grant the requested variance. In implementing this requirement, the city council shall ascertain that the hardship 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.

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

"Historic structure" means any structure that is:

1.

Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements of an individual listing on the National Register; or

2.

Certified or preliminary determination by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district; individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of Interior; or

3.

Listed individually on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either by an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior or directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.

"Hydrodynamic loads" means forces imposed on structures by floodwaters due to the impact of moving water on the upstream side of the structure, drag along its sides, and eddies or negative pressures on its downstream side.

"Hydrostatic loads" means forces imposed on a flooded structure due to the weight of the water.

"Letter of map amendment" means the procedure by which any owner or lessee of property who believes his property has been incorrectly included in a SFHA can submit scientific and technical information to the FIA for review to remove the property from said area.

"Letter of map revision" means the procedures by which contractors, developers and communities can request changes to flood zones, floodplain and floodway delineations, flood elevations, and planimetric features based on the results of structural works, improvements or annexations.

"Lowest floor" means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area, including basement. An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure below the lowest floor that is 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 it conforms to the applicable nonelevation design of this chapter. For residential structures, all subgrade enclosed areas shall be prohibited. This prohibition includes below-grade garages and storage areas.

"Manufactured home (mobile 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" has the same meaning as "mobile home" defined in Section 18.08.080 of this code.

"Manufactured home park" means a parcel or contiguous parcels of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale and having the same meaning as "mobile home park" as defined in Section 18.08.090 of this code.

"Mean sea level," for the purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 or other datum, to which base flood elevations shown on a FIRM.

"New construction," for floodplain management purposes, structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of these floodplain management regulations adopted by the city, and includes any subsequent improvement to such structures.

"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 these floodplain management regulation adopted by the city.

"Obstruction" includes, but is not limited to, any dam, wall, 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" has the same meaning as "base flood."

"Principal structure" means a structure used for the principal use of the property as distinguished from an accessory use.

"Public safety/nuisance" is related to variances of this chapter which requires that granting a variance will not cause injury to the safety or health of the city or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons, or unlawfully obstruct the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any navigable river, stream, ditch, drain, canal or basin.

"Recreational vehicle" means a vehicle built on a single chassis, four hundred square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection, designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty truck, and designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use.

"Remedy a violation" means to bring the structure or other development into compliance with state or city floodplain management regulations, or, if this is not possible, to reduce the impacts of noncompliance. Ways that impacts may be reduced include protecting the structure or other affected development from flood damages, implementing the enforcement provisions of this chapter or otherwise deterring future similar violations, or reducing state or federal financial exposure with regard to the structure or other development.

"Riverine" means relating to, formed by, or resembling a river including tributaries, stream, brook, etc.

"Sheet flow area" has the same meaning as "area of shallow flooding."

"Special flood hazard area (SFHA)" means an area or areas having special flood, hazards, and shown on a FHBM or FIRM for the city of Fallon in zones A, AO, A1, A30, AE, A99, AH or E.

"Start of construction" includes substantial improvement and other proposed new development 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 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 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.

"Structure" means a walled and roofed building that is principally above ground, including gas or liquid storage tanks and manufactured homes.

"Subdivision" refers to any real property, improved or unimproved, or portion thereof, as shown on the last preceding tax roll as a unit or as contiguous units, which are divided for the purpose of transfer or development, whether immediate or in the future, into two or more parcels, lots, units or plots, pursuant to N.R.S. 278.320 (Subdivision of Land) or N.R.S. 278.46 (Parcel Maps).

"Substantial damage" means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damage condition would equal or exceed fifty percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

"Substantial improvement" means any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other proposed new development of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty 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:

1.

Any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations or state or local health, sanitary or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions; or

2.

Any alteration of a historic structure; provided, that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a historic structure.

"Variance" means a grant of relief from the requirements of this chapter which permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this chapter.

"Violation" means the failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with this chapter. A structure or other development without the elevation certificate, other certifications, or other evidence of compliance required in this chapter is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.

"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.

"Watercourse" means a lake, river, creek, stream, wash, arroyo, 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.

(Ord. 726 § 1(part), 2008; Ord. 690 (part), 2003: Ord. 651 § 1(part), 1996).