Camarillo Municipal Code Art. I Findings, Purposes and Definitions

A. The flood hazard areas of the city are subject to periodic inundation which might result in loss of life and property, health and safety hazards, disruption of commerce and governmental services, extraordinary public expenditures for flood protection and relief, all of which would adversely affect the public health, safety and general welfare.

B. Such flood losses could be caused by the cumulative effect of obstructions in special flood hazard areas which increase flood heights and velocities, and when improvements are inadequately anchored, may cause damage in other areas from floatable objects. Developments that are inadequately floodproofed, elevated or otherwise protected from flood damage could also contribute to the flood loss.

(Ord. 647 § 1 (part), 1988: Ord. 616 § 1 (part), 1986.)

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 and bridges located in areas of special flood hazard;

F. To insure that potential buyers are notified that property is in an area of special flood hazard; and

G. To insure that those who occupy the areas of special flood hazard assume responsibility for their actions.

(Ord. 647 § 1 (part), 1988: Ord. 616 § 1 (part), 1986.)

In order to accomplish its purpose, 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 floodplains, stream channels, and natural protective barriers, which help accommodate or channel floodwaters;

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 floodwaters or which may increase flood hazards in other areas.

(Ord. 647 § 1 (part), 1988: Ord. 616 § 1 (part), 1986.)

For the purposes of this chapter only, 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, unless specifically defined below.

1. "Appeal" means a request for a review of the director of engineering services' interpretation of any provision of this chapter or a request for variance.

2. "Area of shallow flooding" is designated as AO or AH Zone on the Flood Insurance Rate Map with a one percent or greater annual chance of flooding to the base flood depths ranging from one to three feet, where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable and where velocity flow may be evident.

3. "Base flood" means a flood having a one percent change of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

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

5. "City" means the city of Camarillo.

6. "Development" means any manmade change to improved or un-improved 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.

7. "Director" means the director of engineering services of the city or his designee.

8. "Existing manufactured home park or manufactured home sub-division" means a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured home is to be affixed (including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, either final site grading or the construction of concrete pads, and the construction of streets) is completed before the effective date of this chapter.

9. "Expansion to an existing manufactured home park or manufactured home subdivision" means the preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the mobile homes are to be affixed (including the installation of utilities, either final site grading or construction of concrete pads or the construction of streets).

10. "Flood" or "flooding" means 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 of runoff of surface waters from any source.

11. "Flood Boundary and Floodway Map" means the official map on which the Federal Insurance Administration has delineated both the areas of flood hazard and the floodway.

12. "Flood Hazard Boundary Map" means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency or Federal Insurance Administration has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the floodway.

13. "Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)" means 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.

14. "Flood Insurance Study" means an examination, evaluation and determination of flood hazards. This includes the official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that includes flood profiles, the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), the Flood Boundary Map, and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

15. "Flood plain" or "flood-prone area" means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source.

16. "Floodplain management" means the operation of any overall program of corrective and preventative measures for reducing flood damage, including, but not limited to emergency preparedness plans, flood control works and floodplain management regulations and open space plans.

17. "Floodplain management regulations" means zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances and other applications of police power which control development in flood-prone areas. The term describes such state or local regulations which provide standards for the purpose of flood damage prevention and reduction.

18. "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.

19. "Flood-related erosion" means the collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or 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 of nature, such as flash flood, or an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding.

20. "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 one foot. The floodway is delineated on the Flood Boundary Floodway Map.

21. "Floodway encroachment lines" means the lines marking the limits of floodways on federal, state and local floodplain maps.

22. "Habitable floor" means any floor or lowest enclosed area, usable for living purposes, which includes working, sleeping, eating or recreation, or a combination thereof. For flood insurance purposes "habitable floor" and "lowest floor" will share the same definition.

23. "Hazard mitigation plan" means a plan that incorporates a process, whereby the potential of future loss due to flooding can be minimized by planning and implementing alternatives to floodplain management community-wide.

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

25. "Historic structure" means any structure that is:

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

b. Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered district or districts preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;

c. Individually listed on a State Inventory of Historic Places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior; or

d. Individually listed 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 with approved programs.

26. "Levee" means a manmade structure, usually an earthen embankment, designed and constructed in accordance with sound engineering practices to contain, control, or divert the flow of water so as to provide protection from temporary flooding.

27. "Levee system" means a flood protection system which consists of a levee or levees and associated structures, such as closure and drainage devices, which are constructed and operated in accord with sound engineering practices.

28. "Lowest floor" means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area, including a basement. An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access or storage other than a basement area (see "basement") 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. This definition allows attached garages to be built at grade. Below-grade garages are not allowed as they are considered to be basements.

29. "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 connected to the required utilities. The term "manufactured home" does not include a "recreational vehicle."

30. "Manufactured home park or subdivision" means a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for sale or rent.

31. "Mean sea level" means, for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or other datum, to which base flood elevations shown on the city's Flood Insurance Rate Map are referenced.

32. "New construction," for floodplain management purposes, means structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the date this chapter first became effective (August, 1986) and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

33. "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 the minimum, the installation of utilities, either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads, and the construction of streets) is completed on or after the date this chapter first became effective in August, 1986.

34. "Recreational vehicle" means a vehicle which is:

a. Built on a single chassis;

b. Four hundred square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;

c. Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by light-duty truck;

d. Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.

35. "Regulatory floodway" means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation by more than one foot.

36. "Riverine" means relating to, formed by, or resembling a river (including tributaries), streams, brooks, etc.

37. "Special flood hazard area (SFHA)" means an area having special flood hazards and shown on the FHBM or FIRM as Zone A, AH, AO, A-1 to A30, AE, A99, AH, E or M.

38. "Start of construction" includes substantial improvement and other proposed new development and means the date the building permit was issued, provided that 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 slabs or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns or any work beyond the stage of excavation; or in the case of manufactured homes, the placement of such 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 as 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.

39. "Structure" means a walled and roofed building that is principally above ground; this includes a gas or liquid storage tank or a manufactured home.

40. "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 fifty percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

41. "Substantial improvement" means any repair, reconstruction or improvement to 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 actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either:

a. Any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to assure safe living conditions; or

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

42. "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.

43. "Violation" means the failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with the city's floodplain management regulations. 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.

44. "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.

(Ord. 780 § 1, 1993: Ord. 704 §§ 1—6, 1990; Ord. 647 § 1 (part), 1988: Ord. 616 § 1 (part), 1986.)