24.080 Floodway Variances.

A. Purpose. The purpose of Koodway variances is to grant relief from the requirement of Chapter 6 that permit

construction manner otherwise prohibited by Chapter 6. Floodway variances must only be issued in accordance

with standards set forth in provisions (A) through (F) of this section.

B. Investigation and Report. The Director shall determine from data submitted whether the proposed variance

meets the requirements of this chapter and prepare a report with recommendations and submit the report to the

appropriate reviewing authority, as described in Section 1.030.

C. Procedure. On matters to be reviewed by the Planning Commission the applicant shall be so notiJed and a

hearing date shall be established. On the date of the hearing, the Planning Commission shall consider the

Director’s report and any additional staM comment and shall permit the applicant or any other aMected person to

present any evidence which the Planning Commission deems to be relevant. The Planning Commission shall

approve, disapprove, or approve with modiJcations applications for which the Planning Commission is the

entitling body, or recommend approval, disapproval, or approval with modiJcations or give other appropriate

recommendation to the City Council, concerning applications for which the Planning Commission is an advisory

body.

D. Standards for Review of Applications. In considering applications for Koodway variances, the reviewing authority

shall consider all technical evaluations, all relevant factors, all applicable standards speciJed in other sections of

this Zoning Ordinance, and the following:

 1.  The danger that materials may be swept onto other lands to the injury of others;

 2.  The danger to life and property due to Kooding or erosion damage;

 3.  The susceptibility of the proposed facility and its contents to Kood damage and the eMect of such

damage on the individual owner;

 4.  The necessity to the facility of a waterfront location where applicable;

 5.  The importance of the services provided by the proposed facility to the community;

 6.  The availability of alternative locations for the proposed use which are not subject to Kooding or erosion

damage;

 7.  The compatibility of the proposed use with existing and anticipated development;

 8.  The relationship of the proposed use to the comprehensive plan and Koodplain management program

 for that area;

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 9.  The safety of access to the property in times of Kood for ordinary and emergency vehicles;

 10.  The expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise, and sediment transport of the Kood waters and the

eMects of wave action, if applicable, expected at the site; and

 11.  The costs of providing governmental services during and after Kood conditions, including maintenance

and repair of public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical, and water systems, and streets and

 bridges.

E. Generally, variances may be issued for new construction and substantial improvements to be erected on a lot

of one-half acre or less in size contiguous to and surrounded by lots with existing structures constructed below the

base Kood level, providing provisions (D)(1) through (11) of this section have been fully considered. As the lot size

increases beyond one-half acre, the technical justiJcation required for issuing a variance increases.

F. Conditions. Upon consideration of the 11 factors in provision (D) of this section and the purpose of this Zoning

Ordinance, the reviewing authority may attach such additional conditions to the granting of variances as deemed

necessary to further the purposes of this Zoning Ordinance.

G. Reporting. The reviewing authority shall maintain the records of all appeal actions and report any variances to

the Federal Flood Insurance Administration.

H. Conditions for Variances in Floodways.

 1.   Variances may be issued for the reconstruction, rehabilitation or restoration of structures listed on the

 National Register of Historic Places or the State Inventory of Historic Places, without regard to the procedures

 set forth in the remainder of this section.

 2.   Variances shall not be issued within any designated Koodway if any increase in Kood levels during the

base Kood discharge would result.

 3.   Variances shall only be issued upon a determination that the variance is the minimum necessary,

 considering the Kood hazard, to aMord relief.

 4.   Variances shall only be issued upon:

       a.  A showing of good and suLcient cause;

      b.  A determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the

      applicant; and

        c.  A determination that the granting of a variance will not result in increased Kood heights, additional

     threats to public safety, public expense, create nuisances, or fraud upon or victimization of the public

    pursuant to Section 6.080(D), or conKict with existing laws or ordinances.

 5.  Any applicant to whom a variance is granted shall be given written notice that if any structure is

permitted to be replaced with a lowest Koor elevation below the base Kood elevation that the cost of Kood

insurance will be commensurate with the increased risk resulting from the reduced lowest Koor elevation. A

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copy of the notice shall be recorded by the Floodplain Administrator in the oLce of the Sonoma County

Recorder and shall be recorded in a manner so that it appears in the chain of title of the aMected parcel of

 land.

I. Reviewing Authority. The Planning Commission shall be the reviewing authority for all Koodway variances and

may grant the variance, or may grant the variance subject to speciJed conditions, or may deny the variance. The

reviewing authority shall notify the applicant forthwith of any action taken.

J. Public Notice. Notice of Koodway variances shall be in accordance with Section 24.100. At no time shall the

required notiJcation be less than a 500-foot radius of the boundaries of the property at issue.

K. Recurrent Conditions. No variance shall be granted if the reviewing authority Jnds that the condition of the

speciJc piece of property, or the intended use of said property, for which variance is sought, is so general or

recurrent in nature as to make reasonably practicable the formulation of a general regulation for such condition.

L. Lapse of Variance. A variance shall lapse and shall become void after one year following the date on which the

variance became eMective unless prior to the expiration of one year a building permit is issued and construction is

commenced and diligently pursued toward completion on the site which was the subject of the variance

application or a zoning permit is issued authorizing occupancy of the site or structure which was the subject of the

variance application. A variance may be renewed for an additional period of one year; provided, that prior to the

expiration of one year from the date when the variance originally became eMective, an application for renewal of

the variance is made to the Director. The Director may grant or deny any application for renewal of a variance.

M. Enforcement. Violation of a variance, or of any conditions attached thereto, shall constitute a violation of this

Zoning Ordinance and shall be cause for enforcement action in accordance with Chapter 26.

N. Transferability. Unless speciJed otherwise at the time the variance is granted pursuant to the provisions of

this chapter, it shall run with the land and shall be valid for the successors in interest of the original grantee.

O. New Application. Following the denial or revocation of a variance, no application for the same or a

substantially similar variance on the same site shall be Jled within one year unless it can be shown that there has

been a substantial change in conditions or environs.

P. Appeal. Any determination made pursuant to this section may be appealed in accordance with Section 24.090.

(Ord. 2811 § 2 (Exh. 1), 2022.)