Salinas Municipal Code Div. I Generally

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 Salinas does hereby adopt the following floodplain management regulations.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

(a) The flood hazard areas of Salinas, California 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 flood-proofed, elevated or otherwise protected from flood damage also contribute to the flood loss.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

It is the purpose of this article 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 and private 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 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) To ensure that potential buyers are notified that property is in an area of special flood hazard; and

(h) To ensure that those who occupy the areas of special flood hazard assume responsibility for their actions.

(i) Minimize unnecessary disruption of commerce, access and public service during times of flooding.

(j) Require the use of appropriate construction practices in order to prevent or minimize future flood damage.

(k) Contribute to improved construction techniques in the floodplain.

(l) Meet the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program for community participation as set forth in Title 44 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 59.22.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

Pursuant to the requirement established in State statute that the City of Salinas administer and enforce the California Building Standards Code, the City Council of the City of Salinas hereby acknowledges that the building codes contain certain provisions that apply to the design and construction of buildings and structures in flood hazard areas. Therefore, these regulations are intended to be administered and enforced in conjunction with the building codes.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

In order to accomplish its purposes, this article 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 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. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this article shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage and to give this article its most reasonable application.

(a) "Accessory structure." See Section 37-50.010 of Salinas City Code. For floodplain management purposes, the term includes only accessory structures used for parking and storage.

(b) "Accessory use." See Section 37-50.010 of the Salinas City Code.

(c) "Agricultural structure" means a walled and roofed structure used exclusively for agricultural purposes or uses in connection with the production, harvesting, storage, raising, or drying of agricultural commodities and livestock, including aquatic organisms. Structures that house tools or equipment used in connection with these purposes or uses are also considered to have agricultural purposes or uses.

(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) "Alteration of watercourse" means a dam, impoundment, channel relocation, change in channel alignment, channelization, or change in cross-sectional area of the channel or the channel capacity, or any other form of modification which may alter, impede, retard or change the direction and/or velocity of the riverine flow of water during conditions of the base flood.

(f) "Apex" means the point of highest elevation on an alluvial fan, which on undisturbed fans is generally the point where the major stream that formed the fan emerges from the mountain front.

(g) "Appeal" means a request for a review of the floodplain administrator's interpretation of any provision of this article or a request for a variance.

(h) "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 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.

(i) "Area of special flood hazard." See "Special flood hazard area."

(j) "ASCE 24" means the standard Flood Resistant Design and Construction, referenced by the building code, developed and published by the American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA. Where cited, ASCE 24 refers to the edition of the standard that is referenced by the building code.

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

(l) "Base flood elevation (BFE)" 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).

(m) "Basement" means any floor below the first story in a building (below ground level), except that a floor level in a building having only one floor shall be considered a basement unless such floor qualifies as a first story.

(n) "Board of appeals" means the city council.

(o) "Break-away 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 flood waters. A break-away wall shall have a safe design loading resistance of no less than ten and no more than twenty pounds per square foot. Use of break-away walls must be certified by a registered engineer or architect and shall meet the following conditions:

(1) Break-away 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 the base flood.

(p) "Building code" means California Code of Regulations Title 24, the California Building Standards Code, the family of building codes specifically adopted by the State of California and composed of:

(1) Part 2, applicable to buildings and structures other than dwellings within the scope of this part.

(2) Part 2.5, applicable to one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses not more than three stories, and accessory structures.

(3) Part 10, applicable to existing buildings (as defined in that code).

(4) Other specified codes.

(q) "Design flood" means the flood associated with the greater of the following two areas:

(1) Area with a flood plain subject to a 1-percent or greater chance of flooding in any year.

(2) Area designated as a flood hazard area on a community's flood hazard map, or otherwise legally designated.

(r) "Design flood elevation (DFE)" means the elevation of the highest flood (generally the BFE including freeboard) that a retrofitting method is designed to protect against. In areas designated as Zone AO, the design flood elevation shall be the elevation of the highest existing grade of the building's perimeter plus the depth number (in feet) specified on the flood hazard map. In areas designated as Zone AO where a depth number is not specified on the map, the depth number shall be taken as being equal to 2 feet (610 mm).

(s) "Development." See Section 37-10.280 of the Salinas City Code.

(t) "Elevation Certificate" means an official record that shows new buildings and substantial improvements in all identified Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) are properly elevated. This elevation information is needed to show compliance with the floodplain management ordinance.

(u) "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.

(v) "Exceptional hardship" means, for the purpose of variances from these regulations or the building code, the exceptional difficulty that would result from a failure to grant a requested variance. Mere economic or financial hardship is not exceptional. Inconvenience, aesthetic considerations, physical handicaps, personal preferences, or the disapproval of one's neighbors do not rule, qualify as exceptional hardships. All of these circumstances can be resolved through other means without granting variances, even when the alternatives are more expensive or require the property owner to build elsewhere or put the parcel to a different use than originally intended.

(w) "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 the final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed before the effective date of the floodplain management regulations adopted by a community.

(x) "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).

(y) "Flood or flooding or flood water" means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

(1) The overflow of inland or tidal waters;

(2) The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source; and/or mudslides (i.e., mudflows);

(3) Any other condition resulting from flood-related erosion.

(z) "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 hazard and the floodway.

(aa) "Flood control project" means a dam or barrier design and constructed to keep water away from or out of a specified area, including but not limited to levees, floodwalls, and channelization.

(bb) "Flood damage-resistant materials" means any construction material capable of withstanding direct and prolonged contact with floodwaters without sustaining any damage that requires more than cosmetic repair.

(cc) "Flood hazard area" means the greater of the following two areas:

(1) The area within a floodplain subject to a one-percent or greater chance of flooding in any year.

(2) The area designated as a flood hazard area on the community's flood hazard map, or otherwise legally designated.

(dd) "Flood hazard boundary map [FHBM]" means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency or Federal Insurance Administration has delineated the areas of flood hazards.

(ee) "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.

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

(gg) "Floodplain or flood-prone area" means any land areas susceptible to being inundated by water from any source (see definition of "flooding").

(hh) "Floodplain administrator" is the individual appointed to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations. The city engineer is hereby appointed to be the floodplain administrator.

(ii) "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.

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

(kk) "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. Refer to FEMA Technical Bulletins TB 1-93, TB 3-93, and TB 7-93 or most recent updates for guidelines on dry and wet floodproofing.)

(ll) "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."

(mm) "Floodway fringe" means that area of the one-hundred-year floodplain shown on the FEMA floodway maps that could be completely obstructed without increasing the water surface elevation of the one-hundred-year flood more than one foot at any point.

(nn) "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.

(oo) "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, but does not include long-term storage or related manufacturing facilities.

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

(qq) "Historic structure" means any structure that is either:

(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 the Interior;

(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; or

(rr) "Letter of Map Change (LOMC)" means an official determination issued by FEMA that amends or revises an effective Flood Insurance Rate Map or Flood Insurance Study. Letters of Map Change include:

(1) Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA): An amendment based on technical data showing that a property was incorrectly included in a designated special flood hazard area. A LOMA amends the current effective Flood Insurance Rate Map and establishes that a specific property, portion of a property, or structure is not located in a special flood hazard area.

(2) Letter of Map Revision (LOMR): A revision based on technical data that may show changes to flood zones, flood elevations, special flood hazard area boundaries and floodway delineations, and other planimetric features.

(3) Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill (LOMR-F): A determination that a structure or parcel of land has been elevated by fill above the base flood elevation and is, therefore, no longer located within the special flood hazard area. In order to qualify for this determination, the fill must have been permitted and placed in accordance with the community's floodplain management regulations.

(4) Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR): A formal review and comment as to whether a proposed flood protection project or other project complies with the minimum NFIP requirements for such projects with respect to delineation of special flood hazard areas. A CLOMR does not revise the effective Flood Insurance Rate Map or Flood Insurance Study; upon submission and approval of certified as-built documentation, a Letter of Map Revision may be issued by FEMA to revise the effective FIRM.

(ss) "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.

(tt) "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.

(uu) "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, 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:

a. The wet floodproofing standard in Section 9-06.34(c)(3);

b. The anchoring standards in Section9-06.34(a));

c. The construction materials and methods standards in Section 9-06.34(b); and

d. The standards for utilities in Section 9-06.36.

(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.

(vv) "Manufactured home" means a structure that is factory-fabricated, built 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, and which complies with requirements adopted by the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development. 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 one hundred eighty consecutive days. The term "manufactured home" does not include a "recreation vehicle."

(ww) "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.

(xx) "Market value" shall be determined by estimating the cost to replace the structure in new condition and adjusting that cost figure by the amount of depreciation which has accrued since the structure was constructed. The cost of replacement of the structure shall be based on a square foot cost factor determined by reference to a building cost estimating guide recognized by the building construction industry. The amount of depreciation shall be determined by taking into account the age and physical deterioration of the structure and functional obsolescence as approved by the floodplain administrator, but shall not include economic or other forms of external obsolescence. Use of replacement costs or accrued depreciation factors different from those contained in recognized building cost estimating guides may be considered only if such factors are included in a report prepared by an independent professional appraiser and supported by a written explanation of the differences.

(yy) "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 a community's flood insurance rate map are referenced.

(zz) "New construction" means, for floodplain management purposes, structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of a floodplain management regulation adopted by the city, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

(aaa) "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 the effective date of floodplain management regulations adopted by this community.

(bbb) "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.

(ccc) "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.

(ddd) "One-hundred-year flood" or "100-year flood" means a flood which has a one percent annual probability of being equaled or exceeded. It is identical to the "base flood," which will be the term used throughout this article.

(eee) "Permit for floodplain development" means an official document or certificate issued by the community, or other evidence of approval or concurrence, which authorizes performance of specified development activities that are located in flood hazard areas and that are determined to be compliant with these regulations.

(fff) "Person" means an individual or his agent, firm, partnership, association or corporation, or agent of the aforementioned groups, or this state or its agencies or political subdivisions.

(ggg) "Recreation vehicle." See Section 37-50.190 of the Salinas City Code.

(hhh) "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.

(iii) "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 article or otherwise deterring future similar violations, or reducing state or federal financial exposure with regard to the structure or other development.

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

(kkk) "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, AO, A1—30, AE, A99 or AH.

(lll) "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 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.

(mmm) "Structure" means anything constructed or erected on the ground or which is attached to something erected on the ground, including a manufactured home.

(nnn) "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.

(ooo) "Substantial improvement" means any repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other proposed new development of a structure, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent of the market value of the structure before "start of construction" of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred "substantial damage," regardless of the actual repair work performed. For the purpose of this definition "substantial improvement" is considered to occur when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor or other structural part of the building commences, whether or not the alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure. 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 local code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions; or

(2) Any alteration of an "historic structure," provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a "historic structure."

(ppp) "Utility and Miscellaneous Group U" means buildings and structures of an accessory character and miscellaneous structure not classified in any special occupancy, as described in the building code.

(qqq) "Variance" means a grant of relief from the requirements of this article which permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this article.

(rrr) "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 article is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.

(sss) "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.

(ttt) "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.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

This article shall apply to all areas of special flood hazards within the jurisdiction of the City of Salinas.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

The areas of special flood hazard identified by the Federal Insurance Administration (FIA) of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the flood insurance study (FIS) in a scientific and engineering report entitled "The Flood Insurance Study for the City of Salinas," dated May 4, 1981, and accompanying flood insurance rate maps (FIRMs) and flood boundary and floodway maps (FBFMs), dated November 4, 1981, and all subsequent amendments and/or revisions, are hereby adopted by reference and declared to be a part of this article. The flood insurance study (FIS) is on file at the Salinas Permit Center, 65 West Alisal Street, Engineering and Transportation Department. This FIS and attendant mapping are the minimum area of applicability of this article and may be supplemented by studies for other areas which allow implementation of this article and which are recommended to the city council by the floodplain administrator.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

No structure or land shall hereafter be constructed, located, extended, converted, or altered without full compliance with the term of this article and other applicable regulations. Violation of the requirements (including violations of conditions and safeguards established in connection with conditions) shall constitute a misdemeanor. Alternatively, and in the discretion of the city attorney, any violation of the requirements set forth in this article may be prosecuted administratively pursuant to the provisions of the City Code. Nothing herein shall prevent the city from taking such legal action available to it under the law as may be necessary to prevent or remedy any violation.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

The provisions of these regulations shall not be deemed to nullify any provisions of local, State or federal law.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

This article is not intended to repeal, abrogate, or impair any existing easements, covenants, or deed restrictions. However, where this article and another ordinance, easement, covenant, or deed restriction conflict or overlap, whichever imposes the most stringent restrictions shall prevail.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

In the interpretation and application of this article, all provisions shall be:

(a) Considered as minimum requirements;

(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. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

The degree of flood protection required by this article is considered reasonable for regulatory purposes and is based on scientific and engineering considerations. Larger floods can and will occur on rare occasions. Flood heights may be increased by man-made or natural causes. This article does not imply that land outside the areas of special flood hazards or uses permitted within such areas will be free from flooding or flood damages. This article shall not create liability on the part of the city, any officer or employee thereof, the state of California, the Federal Insurance Administration, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for any flood damages that result from reliance on this article or any administrative decision lawfully made hereunder.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

This article and the various parts thereof are hereby declared to be severable. Should any section of this article be declared by the courts to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the article as a whole, or any portion thereof other than the section so declared to be unconstitutional or invalid.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)

These regulations, in conjunction with the building codes, provide minimum requirements for development located in flood hazard areas, including the subdivision of land; filling, grading and other site improvements; installation of utilities; installation, placement and replacement of manufactured homes; placement of recreational vehicles; installation of tanks; temporary structures and temporary or permanent storage; utility and miscellaneous Group U buildings and structures; certain building work exempt from permit under the building codes; and flood control projects.

(Ord. No. 2671(NCS), § 2, 9-12-2023)