Alameda County Municipal Code Art. II Combining FW Districts

The district, hereinafter designated as combining FW (floodway) district, is established to be combined with other districts in certain areas which are uniquely susceptible to fast-moving waters associated with periodic inundation and which are necessary to carry and discharge such waters, as determined by engineering analysis of hydrological, meteorological, topographical, and other data. The regulations are intended to restrict or prohibit uses which are dangerous to health, safety, or property in times of flood or which cause increase in flood heights or velocities. The regulations are also intended to help preserve natural riparian areas and to prevent uses encroaching within the floodway, which usually require costly public improvements for their protection. The regulations of any district with which a FW district is combined shall remain the same, except as to matters specified in Sections 17.30.050 through 17.30.070, which shall apply in addition to those contained in the basic underlying zoning district.

(Prior gen. code § 8-44.3)

(Ord. No. 2010-71, § 43, 12-21-10)

A. The following uses shall not be permitted in a combining FW district:

1. Any structure designed for human habitation; and

2. Any storage or processing of materials that are in time of flooding buoyant, flammable, explosive, or polluting (such as chemicals, oil, and other hazardous materials that could spread with the flood flow).

B. No waste treatment, sanitary transportation, water supply, or other facility utilized to service structures or their inhabitants in a combining FW district shall be constructed without flood-proofing techniques consistent with the flood hazard of the vicinity.

(Prior gen. code § 8-44.4)

The following uses shall be permitted in a combining FW district only upon issuance of a conditional use permit and a determination that the provisions of Section 17.30.040 can be met:

A. Any structure (temporary or permanent) except those specified in Section 17.30.030A;

B. Storage of materials or equipment;

C. Obstruction; or

D. Any other use which adversely affects the capacity of the channels or floodways of the main stream or tributary thereof; drainage ditch; or any other drainage facility or system.

(Prior gen. code § 8-44.5)

No use shall be permitted in a combining FW district which will adversely increase the water surface elevation or otherwise adversely change the flow characteristics of the one hundred (100) year flood at any cross section of the floodway. The effect of any use on said flow characteristics and water surface elevation shall be determined by the county flood control and water conservation district. Consideration of the effects of a proposed use shall be based upon a reasonable assumption that there will be an equal degree of encroachment extending for the entire reach of the stream on both sides thereof in which the proposed use is permitted by the underlying district.

(Prior gen. code § 8-44.6)