Lake Forest Municipal Code § 8.70.010 Statutory authorization

This article is authorized by virtue of Government Code Sections 65302, 65560 and 65800, which confer upon local governments the authority to adopt regulations designed to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare.

(Ord. 41 § 1, 1993; Ord. 325 § 3, 2019; Ord. 374, 2/4/2025)

A. The flood hazard areas of the City of Lake Forest are subject to periodic inundation which results in loss of life and property, health and safety hazards, disruption of commerce and governmental services, extraordinary public expenditures for flood protection and relief, and impairment of the tax base, all of which adversely affect the public health, safety and general welfare.

B. These flood losses are caused by the cumulative effect of obstructions in areas of special flood hazards which increase flood heights and velocities, and when inadequately anchored, damage uses in other areas. Uses that are inadequately floodproofed, elevated or otherwise protected from flood damage also contribute to the flood loss.

(Ord. 41 § 1, 1993; Ord. 325 § 3, 2019; Ord. 374, 2/4/2025)

The purpose of this chapter is 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 to:

A. Protect human life and health;

B. Minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects;

C. Minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public;

D. Minimize prolonged business interruptions;

E. 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. 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. Ensure that potential buyers are notified that property is in an area of special flood hazard; and

H. Ensure that those who occupy the areas of special flood hazard assume responsibility for their actions.

(Ord. 41 § 1, 1993; Ord. 325 § 3, 2019; Ord. 374, 2/4/2025)

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 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 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.

(Ord. 41 § 1, 1993; Ord. 325 § 3, 2019; Ord. 374, 2/4/2025)

The purpose of this section is to provide clear and easily understood definitions for the terms used in this chapter. Unless otherwise clearly indicted from their context, the terms defined in this section shall be defined as follows:

"Appeal"

means a request for a review of the Floodplain Administrator's interpretation of any provision of this chapter.

"Area of special flood hazard."

See "Special flood hazard area."

"Base flood"

means the flood having a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (also called the "100 year flood").

"Base flood elevation"

means the elevation of the base flood, including wave height, relative to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD), North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) or other datum specified on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).

"Basement"

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

"Development"

means any man-made 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 the placement of fill, excavation, buildings, permanent structures or other development into a flood hazard area which may impede or alter the flow capacity of riverine flood hazard areas.

"Existing 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 before December 21, 1993.

"Expansion to an existing manufactured home park or subdivision"

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, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads).

"Flood" or "flooding"

means

A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

a.

The overflow of flood waters;

b.

The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source;

c.

Mudslides (i.e., mudflows) which are proximately caused by flooding as defined in paragraph (1)(b) of this definition and are akin to a river of liquid and flowing mud on the surfaces of normally dry land areas, as when earth is carried by a current of water and deposited along the path of the current.

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 as defined in paragraph (1)(a) of this definition.

"Flood boundary" and "floodway 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 risk premium zones applicable to the community.

"Flood insurance rate map (FIRM)"

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 risk premium zones applicable to the community.

"Flood insurance study"

means an examination, evaluation and determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, or an examination, evaluation and determination of mudslide (i.e., mudflow) and/or flood-related erosion hazards.

"Floodplain" or "flood-prone area"

means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source (see definition of "flooding").

"Floodplain Administrator"

means the Director of Public Works.

"Floodplain management"

means the operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures or reducing flood damage, including, but not limited to, emergency preparedness plans, flood control works and floodplain management regulations.

"Floodplain management regulations"

means zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as floodplain ordinance, grading ordinance and erosion control ordinance) and other applications of police power, including State or local regulations, which provide standards for the purpose of flood damage prevention and reduction.

"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 real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures and their contents.

"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 more than a designated height.

"Functionally dependent use"

means a use which cannot perform its intended purpose unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water. The term includes only docking facilities, port facilities that are necessary for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers, and shop building and ship repair facilities, but does not include long-term storage or related manufacturing facilities.

"Fraud or victimization"

means, for the purpose of variances from these regulations or the building code, the intentional use of deceit to deprive another of rights or property, making a victim of the deprived person or the public. As it pertains to buildings granted variances to be constructed below the elevation required by the building code, future owners or tenants of such buildings and the community as a whole may bear the burden of increased risk of damage from floods, increased cost of flood insurance, and increased recovery costs, inconvenience, danger, and suffering.

"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:

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

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

Individually listed on the inventory of historic places maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation; or

Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified by the California Office of Historic Preservation.

"Lowest floor"

means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure, 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, that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of this chapter.

"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. For floodplain management purposes the term "manufactured home" also includes park trailers, travel trailers, and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than 180 consecutive days.

"Manufactured home park" or "manufactured home subdivision"

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

"Market value"

means the price at which a property will change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither party being under compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts. As used in these regulations, the term refers to the market value of buildings and structures, excluding the land and other improvements on the parcel. Market value may be established by one of the following methods: (1) actual cash value (replacement cost depreciated for age and quality of construction); (2) tax assessment value adjusted to approximate market value by a factor provided by the property appraiser; or (3) a qualified independent appraiser.

"Mean sea level,"

for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, means the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or other datum, to which base flood elevations shown on a community's flood insurance rate map are referenced.

"New construction,"

for floodplain management purposes, means structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of a floodplain management regulation adopted by this community.

"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 December 21, 1993.

"Nuisance"

means that which is injurious to safety or health of an entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons, or unlawfully obstructs the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any navigable lake, or river, bay, stream, canal, or basin.

"One-hundred-year flood" or "100-year flood"

means a flood which has a 1% annual probability of being equaled or exceeded. It is identical to the "base flood," which will be the term used throughout this chapter.

"Person"

means an individual or his/her/their agent, firm, partnership, association, or corporation, or agent of the aforementioned groups, or this State or its agencies or political subdivisions.

"Recreational vehicle"

means a vehicle that is built on a single chassis, 400 square feet (3,176. m2) or less when measured at the largest horizontal protection, 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. A recreational vehicle is ready for highway use when it is on its wheels or lacking system, is attached to the site only by quick disconnect type utilities and security devices and has no permanently attached additions.

"Remedy a violation"

means to bring the structure or other development into compliance with State or local floodplain management regulations, or, if this is not possible, to reduce the impacts of its noncompliance. Impacts may be reduced by protecting the structure or other affected development from flood damages, implementing the enforcement provisions of the ordinance or otherwise deterring future similar violations, or reducing 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.

"Special flood hazard area (SFHA)"

means an area having special flood or flood related erosion hazards, and shown on an FHBM or FIRM as Zone A, AE, A1-30, A99, AR, AO, AH, V, VO, VE, or V1-30.

"Start of construction"

means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, placement, or other improvement was within 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 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, including a gas or liquid storage tank, that is principally above ground, as well as a manufactured home.

"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 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

"Substantial improvement"

means any, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 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:

Any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of 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

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 the community'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.

"Watercourse"

means a river, creek, stream, channel or other topographic feature in, on, through, or over which water flows at least periodically.

(Ord. 41 § 1, 1993; Ord. 325 § 3, 2019; Ord. 374, 2/4/2025)