Article 1 — Statutory Authorization, Findings of Fact, Purpose, and Methods

The Legislature of the State of California has in Government Code Sections 65302, 65560, and 65800 conferred upon local governments the authority to adopt regulations designed to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare of its citizenry. Therefore, the City Council of the City of Pacifica does hereby adopt the following flood damage prevention regulations.

(§ 2(Exh. A), Ord. 822-C.S., eff. October 11, 2017)

(a)

The flood hazard areas of the City of Pacifica 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 uses that are inadequately elevated, floodproofed, or protected from flood damage. The cumulative effect of obstructions in special flood hazard areas which increase flood heights and velocities also contribute to flood losses.

(§ 2(Exh. A), Ord. 822-C.S., eff. October 11, 2017)

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 legally enforceable regulations applied uniformly throughout the community to all publicly and privately owned land within floodprone, mudslide (i.e., mudflow) or flood-related erosion areas. These regulations are 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 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; and streets and bridges located in special flood hazard areas;

(f)

Help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the sound use and development of special flood hazard areas so as to minimize future blighted areas caused by flood damage;

(g)

Ensure that potential buyers are notified that property is in a special flood hazard area; and

(h)

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

(§ 2(Exh. A), Ord. 822-C.S., eff. October 11, 2017)

In order to accomplish its purposes, this chapter includes regulations to:

(a)

Restrict or prohibit 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)

Require that uses vulnerable to floods, including facilities which serve such uses, be protected against flood damage at the time of initial construction;

(c)

Control the alteration of natural floodplains, stream channels, and natural protective barriers, which help accommodate or channel floodwaters;

(d)

Control filling, grading, dredging, and other development which may increase flood damage; and

(e)

Prevent or regulate the construction of flood barriers which will unnaturally divert floodwaters or which may increase flood hazards in other areas.

(§ 2(Exh. A), Ord. 822-C.S., eff. October 11, 2017)

Article 2. - Definitions

Unless specifically defined below, 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.

(a)

"A zone" - see "Special flood hazard area".

(b)

"Accessory structure" means a structure that is either:

(1)

Solely for the parking of no more than two (2) cars; or

(2)

A small shed for limited storage, with a floor area of one hundred twenty (120) square feet or less.

(c)

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

(d)

"Alluvial fan" means a geomorphologic feature characterized by a cone- or fan-shaped deposit of boulders, gravel, and fine sediments that have been eroded from mountain slopes, transported by flood flows, and then deposited on the valley floors, and which is subject to flash flooding, high velocity flows, debris flows, erosion, sediment movement and deposition, and channel migration.

(e)

"Apex" means a point on an alluvial fan or similar landform below which the flow path of the major stream that formed the fan becomes unpredictable and alluvial fan flooding can occur.

(f)

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

(g)

"Area of shallow flooding" means a designated AO or AH Zone on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM). The base flood depths range from one to three (3) feet; a clearly defined channel does not exist; the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate; and velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.

(h)

"Base flood" means a flood which has a one-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (also called the "100-year flood").

(i)

"Base flood elevation" or "BFE" means the elevation shown on the flood insurance rate map for Zones AE, AH, A1-30, VE and V1-V30 that indicate 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.

(j)

"Basement" means any area of a building having its floor subgrade - i.e., below ground level - on all sides.

(k)

"Biennial report" means the report that communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program must complete and submit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency every two (2) years that describes the community's progress in the previous two (2) years in implementing floodplain management measures and on its need for remapping and technical assistance.

(l)

"Breakaway walls" are any type of walls, 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 they are used or any buildings to which they might be carried by floodwaters. A breakaway wall shall have a safe design loading resistance of not less than ten (10) and no more than twenty (20) pounds per square foot. Use of breakaway walls must be certified by a registered engineer or architect and shall meet the following conditions:

(1)

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

(2)

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 a base flood.

(m)

"Building" - see "Structure".

(n)

"Coastal high hazard area" means a special flood hazard area extending from offshore to the inland limit of a primary frontal dune along an open coast and any other area subject to high velocity wave action from storms or seismic sources. It is an area subject to high velocity waters, including coastal and tidal inundation or tsunamis. The area is designated on a flood insurance rate map (FIRM) as Zone V1-V30, VE, or V.

(o)

"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.

(p)

"Encroachment" means the advance or infringement of uses, plant growth, fill, excavation, buildings, permanent structures or development into a floodplain which may impede or alter the flow capacity of a floodplain.

(q)

"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) was completed before July 27, 1988.

(r)

"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).

(s)

"Flood," "flooding," or "floodwater" mean:

(1)

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

(i)

The overflow of inland or tidal waters;

(ii)

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

(iii)

Mudslides (i.e., mudflows); and

(2)

The condition resulting from flood-related erosion, including 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 a flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in this subsection.

(t)

"Flood Boundary and Floodway Map" or "FBFM" mean the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency or Federal Insurance Administration has delineated both the special flood hazard areas and the floodway.

(u)

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

(v)

"Flood Insurance Study" means the official report provided by the Federal Insurance Administration that includes flood profiles, the Flood Insurance Rate Map, the Flood Boundary and Floodway Map, and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

(w)

"Floodplain" or "floodprone area" means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source - see "Flooding."

(x)

"Floodplain Administrator" is the city official designated by title to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.

(y)

"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, floodplain management regulations, and open space plans.

(z)

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

(aa)

"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. For guidelines on dry and wet floodproofing, see FEMA Technical Bulletins TB 1-93, TB 3-93, and TB 7-9(3)

(ab)

"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. Also referred to as "regulatory floodway."

(ac)

"Floodway fringe" is that area of the floodplain on either side of the "regulatory floodway" where encroachment may be permitted.

(ad)

"Fraud and victimization," as related to Article 6 of this chapter, means that the variance granted must not cause fraud on or victimization of the public. In examining 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 (50) to one hundred (100) years. Buildings that are permitted to be constructed below the base flood elevation are subject during all those years to increased 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. In addition, future owners may purchase the property, unaware that it is subject to potential flood damage, and can be insured only at very high flood insurance rates.

(ae)

"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 ship building and ship repair facilities, and does not include long-term storage or related manufacturing facilities.

(af)

"Governing body" is the local governing unit, including the City Council of the City of Pacifica, that is empowered to adopt and implement regulations to provide for the public health, safety, and general welfare of its citizenry.

(ag)

"Hardship," as related to Article 6 of this chapter, means the exceptional hardship that would result from a failure to grant the requested variance. The City Council requires that the variance be exceptional, unusual, and peculiar to the property involved. Each of the following conditions, standing alone, shall not constitute exceptional hardship:

(1)

Inconvenience;

(2)

Aesthetic considerations;

(3)

Physical handicaps;

(4)

Property owner preferences;

(5)

Disapproval of neighboring property owners; or

(6)

Economic/financial hardship.

(ah)

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

(ai)

"Historic structure" means any structure that is:

(1)

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;

(2)

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;

(3)

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

(4)

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.

(aj)

"Levee" means a man-made 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.

(ak)

"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.

(al)

"Lowest floor" means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area, including basement (see "Basement" definition).

(1)

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 applicable non-elevation design requirements, including, but not limited to:

(i)

The flood openings standard in Section 7-5.501(c)(3);

(ii)

The anchoring standards in Section 7-5.501(a);

(iii)

The construction materials and methods standards in Section 7-5.501(b); and

(iv)

The standards for utilities in Section 7-5.50(2)

(2)

For residential structures, 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.

(am)

"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".

(an)

"Manufactured home park or subdivision" means a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two (2) or more manufactured home lots for sale or rent.

(ao)

"Market value" is defined in the City of Pacifica substantial improvement and substantial damage procedures. See Section 7-5.402(b)(1).

(ap)

"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 Flood Insurance Rate Map are referenced.

(aq)

"New construction", for floodplain management purposes, means structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after July 27, 1988, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

(ar)

"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 July 27, 1988.

(as)

"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 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.

(at)

"One-hundred-year flood" or "100-year flood" - see "Base flood."

(au)

"Person" means an individual or his or her agent, firm, partnership, association, or corporation, or agent of such, or the state or its agencies or political subdivisions.

(av)

"Primary frontal dune" means a continuous or nearly continuous mound or ridge of sand with relatively steep seaward and landward slopes immediately landward and adjacent to the beach and subject to erosion and overtopping from high tides and waves during major coastal storms. The inland limit of the primary frontal dune occurs at the point where there is a distinct change from a relatively mild slope.

(aw)

"Program deficiency" means a defect in a community's floodplain management regulations or administrative procedures that impairs effective implementation of those floodplain management regulations.

(ax)

"Public safety and nuisance" as related to Article 6 of this chapter, means that the granting of a variance must not result in anything 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, river, bay, stream, canal, or basin.

(ay)

"Recreational vehicle" means both of the following:

(1)

A motor home, travel trailer, truck camper, or camping trailer, with or without motive power, designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, emergency, camping, travel, seasonal, or other similar occupancy, that meets all of the following criteria:

(i)

It is built on a single chassis;

(ii)

It contains three hundred twenty (320) square feet or less of internal living room area, excluding built-in equipment, including, but not limited to, wardrobe, closets, cabinets, kitchen units or fixtures, and bath or toilet rooms;

(iii)

It contains four hundred (400) square feet or less of gross area when measured at maximum horizontal projections; and

(iv)

It is either self-propelled, truck-mounted, or permanently towable by a light-duty truck.

(2)

A park trailer, as defined in California Health and Safety Code Section 18009.3.

(az)

"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 more than one foot.

(ba)

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

(bb)

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

(bc)

"Sand dunes" mean naturally occurring accumulations of sand in ridges or mounds landward of the beach.

(bd)

"Sheet flow area" - see "Area of shallow flooding."

(be)

"Special flood hazard area" or "SFHA" mean an area in the floodplain subject to a one-percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. It is shown on an FHBM or FIRM as Zone A, AO, A1-A30, AE, A99, AH, V1-V30, VE or V.

(bf)

"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 (180) days of the permit date. "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.

(bg)

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

(bh)

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

(bi)

"Substantial improvement" means any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty (50%) 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 Building 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."

(bj)

"V zone" see "coastal high hazard area."

(bk)

"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.

(bl)

"Violation" means the failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with the 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.

(bm)

"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 datum, of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of coastal or riverine areas.

(bn)

"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.

(§ 2(Exh. A), Ord. 822-C.S., eff. October 11, 2017)