Napa County Municipal Code Art. II Definitions

Unless the context requires otherwise, the definitions in this chapter shall govern the provisions of this chapter only. In the interpretation and application of this chapter, all provisions shall be:

A. Considered as constituting minimum requirements which may be increased as is determined to be necessary by the county through its floodplain administrator;

B. Liberally construed in favor of the governing body; and

C. Deemed neither to limit nor repeal any other powers granted under state statutes.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

This chapter shall not be construed to alter or diminish any existing or vested water rights acquired under the laws of the state of California or of the United States of America.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Accessory structure" means a structure that is either:

A. Solely for the parking of no more than two cars; or

B. A small, low cost building used for limited storage, with a footprint not exceeding four hundred square feet. Determination of "low cost" shall be made by a reasonable determination of the floodplain administrator based on average square foot cost data provided by the building trade.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Accessory use" means any use subordinate to the main use and customarily a part thereof. An accessory use must be clearly incidental, related and subordinate to the main use, reasonably compatible with the other principal uses in the zoning district and with the intent of the zoning district, and cannot change the character of the main use. Unless provided otherwise in this chapter, accessory uses may be conducted in the primary structure or in structures other than the primary structure. Where the zoning regulations applicable to a zoning district specifically identify the accessory uses which are permitted in conjunction with a primary use in that zoning district, no other accessory uses in conjunction with the primary use will be permitted in that zoning district. Structures constituting an accessory use related to a winery are further regulated by Section 18.104.200 of this code.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Agricultural activities" means tilling of soil, to include planting, cultivation, harvest of crops and all related farming activities (other than with regard to forest products), and including the construction of wire fences and unimproved level roadways intended for farm use exclusively. Agricultural activities do not include the placement of fill or new construction or improvements of a structure.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Appeal" in this chapter, means a request for review of the floodplain administrator's interpretation of any provision of this chapter, or a request for a variance of that interpretation in accordance with Section 16.04.070 and Chapter 2.88 of this code.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Area of shallow flooding" means a designated AO or AH Zone on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) or an area determined by the floodplain administrator to lie entirely within Zone A where base flood elevations have not been determined by scientific methods but where characteristics of an area of shallow flooding exist. In areas of shallow flooding: (1) the base flood depths range from one to three feet; (2) a clearly defined channel does not exist; (3) the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate; and, (4) velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

See "Special flood hazard area."

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Base flood" means the flood event having a one-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Base flood elevation" (BFE) means the elevation of the base flood at any given location determined by:

A. The elevation shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for Zones AE, AH A1-30, VE and V1-V30 that indicates the water surface elevation resulting from a flood that has a one-percent or greater chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year; or

B. The elevation assumed or derived from accepted practices defined in Section 16.04.540 and approved by the floodplain administrator.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Basement" means any area of a building having its lowest floor elevation below ground level on all sides.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Board" means the board of supervisors of Napa County. The board is the body from whom relief may be sought from a decision on a permit, whether issued or denied by the floodplain administrator.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Breakaway wall" is any type of wall, whether solid or lattice, and whether constructed of concrete, masonry, wood, metal, plastic or any other suitable building material which is not part of the structural support of the building and which is designed to break away under abnormally high tides or wave action without causing any damage to the structural integrity of the building on which it is used or any buildings to which it might be carried by flood waters. A breakaway wall shall have a safe design loading resistance of not less than ten and no more than twenty pounds per square foot. Use of breakaway walls must be certified by a registered engineer or architect and shall meet the following conditions:

A. Breakaway wall collapse shall result from a water load less than that which would occur during the base flood, and

B. The elevated portion of the building shall not incur any structural damage due to the effects of wind and water loads acting simultaneously in the event of the base flood.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Channel" means a natural or artificial watercourse of perceptible extent, with a definite bed and banks to confine and conduct continuously or periodically flowing water.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"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, drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials. "Development" does not include agricultural activities.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"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 February 5, 1980.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Expansion to an existing manufactured home park or subdivision" means the preparation of additional sites at an existing manufactured home park or subdivision, 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)

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Facility" means any man-made or man-placed item other than a structure.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Flood" or "flooding" means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas as a consequence of (a) the overflow of inland or tidal waters, (b) the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source, and/or (c) 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 this definition.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Flood boundary and floodway map" (FBFM) 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.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Flood Insurance Rate Map" or "FIRM" means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Federal Insurance Administration has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the county.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Flood insurance study" means the official report provided by the Federal Insurance Administration that includes flood profiles, the flood boundary and floodway map, the FIRM, and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Flood insurance zone" means an area shown on the FIRM as having a specific degree of flood hazard.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Floodplain" means the lowland and relatively flat areas adjoining inland waters, including at a minimum that area subject to inundation by the base flood.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Floodplain administrator" is the county director of planning, building and environmental services, or designated representative appointed to administer, implement, and enforce this chapter by granting or denying floodplain management permits in accordance with its provisions.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

(Ord. No. 1379, § 76, 1-29-2013)

"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.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Floodplain management regulations" means this chapter and other zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as a grading ordinance and erosion control ordinance), and other applications of police power which control development in flood-prone areas. The term describes such state or local regulations in any combination thereof, which provide standards for the purpose of flood damage prevention and reduction.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

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

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"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 one foot. The floodway shall be as shown on maps entitled "Flood Insurance Rate Map, Napa County, California and unincorporated areas" dated September 26, 2008, and shall be kept on file in the office of the department of planning, building and environmental services.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

(Ord. No. 1379, § 77, 1-29-2013)

"Footprint" means the area at ground level within the exterior walls of a structure.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Hardship" as referenced in Section 16.04.670 of this chapter means the exceptional hardship that would result from a failure to grant the requested variance. The variance must be 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. These issues may be resolved by other means without granting a variance, even if the alternative is more expensive, or requires the property owner to build elsewhere or put the parcel to a different use than originally intended.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

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

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Historic structure" means any structure that is:

A. 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;

B. Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of the registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior 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 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 without approved programs.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Hydraulic characteristics" means the features of a watercourse which determine its water conveyance capacity. They include the following features, without limitation:

A. Size and configuration of a cross section of the watercourse;

B. Alignment of the watercourse;

C. Gradient of the watercourse;

D. Texture of materials along the watercourse;

E. Amount and type of vegetation within the watercourse; and

F. Size, configuration and other characteristics of structures within the watercourse.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Lowest floor" means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement).

A. 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 non-elevation design requirements of this chapter including, but not limited to:

1. The construction materials and methods standards in Section 16.04.690;

2. The standards for utilities in Section 16.04.690;

3. The anchoring standards in Section 16.04.700; and

4. The flood openings standard in Section 16.04.740.

B. For residential structure, all subgrade enclosed areas are prohibited as they are considered to be basements (see "Basement" definition). This prohibition includes below-grade garages and storage areas.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

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

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

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

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"MSL" or "mean sea level" means, for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929, North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988, or other datum, to which base flood elevations shown on a community's FIRM are referenced.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"New construction," for floodplain management purposes, means structures or facilities for which the building permit was issued on or after February 5, 1980, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures or facilities.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"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 the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed on or after February 5, 1980.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Nonresidential structure" means a building used independently from a residential structure which includes but is not limited to: small business concerns, churches, schools, farm buildings (including grain bins and silos), meeting houses, recreational buildings, agricultural and industrial structures, warehouses, wineries and accessories to winery structures. It does not include structures that are defined as accessory structures to a residential use.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Obstruction" includes, but is not limited to, any dam, wall, wharf, 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 or 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.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"One-hundred-year flood" or "100-year flood" means the base flood.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Parcel" means any plot, lot or acreage shown as a unit on the latest equalized county assessment roll.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Recreational vehicle" means a vehicle which is:

1. Built on a single chassis;

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

3. Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty truck; and

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

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Remedy the 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. Ways that impacts may be reduced include protecting the structure or other affected development from flood damages, implementing the enforcement provisions of this chapter, deterring future similar violations or reducing federal financial exposure with regard to the structure or other development.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Residential structure" means a structure used as a personal or family dwelling with occupancy used primarily for a private household.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Riparian zone" means an area extending laterally outward fifty feet beyond the top of the banks on either side of a watercourse channel, except that the riparian zone of the Napa River from the southern boundary of the county to Zinfandel Lane shall include an area extending laterally outward one hundred feet beyond the top of the banks on either side of its channel.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

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

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Special flood hazard area (SFHA)" means an area in the floodplain subject to a one-percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year and shown on a FBFM or FIRM as zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, A99, AH, V, V1-30 or VE.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Start of construction" means and 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 sidewalks; 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 the 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.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Structure" means anything that is built or constructed, or any piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined in some definite manner whether installed on, above, or below the surface of the land.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

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

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Substantial improvement" means any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other new development of a structure or facility, the cumulative cost of which over a ten-year period 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:

A. Any project for the improvement of a structure or facility in order to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary, or building code specifications, and which are intended solely 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.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Technical bulletins" means those technical bulletins issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide guidance concerning the building performance standards of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which are contained in Title 44 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations at Section 60.3. Copies of the technical bulletins can be obtained from the FEMA Regional Office. Technical bulletins and other FEMA publications can be ordered from the FEMA Publications Service Center at 1-800-480-2520. The technical bulletins are also available at the FEMA web site at www.fema.gov.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Top of the bank" means the upper elevation of land which confines water flowing in a watercourse to the channel in the normal course of water flow.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"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.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

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

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Water surface elevation" means the height, in relation to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929, North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988, or other scientific water surface elevation datum from verifiable sources, of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of coastal or riverine areas.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

"Watercourse" means all areas shown within the one-hundred-year floodplain boundary on maps identified as "FIRM (Flood Insurance Rate Map) Napa County, California, (unincorporated area)" on file in the office of the county department of planning, building and environmental services. "Watercourse" shall not include any areas within the boundaries of any incorporated city, but shall include all areas as defined under Section 16.04.510 of this chapter.

(Ord. 1307 § 1 (part), 2008)

(Ord. No. 1379, § 78, 1-29-2013)