Trinity County Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

The Legislature of the state of California has in Government Code Sections 65302, 65560 and 65800 conferred upon local government units authority to adopt regulations designed to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare of its citizenry. Therefore, the board of supervisors does ordain as set out in this chapter.

(Ord. 1176 §1.1, 1993)

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

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

(Ord. 1176 §1.2, 1993)

It is the purpose of this chapter to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare, to protect fish and wildlife resources, and to minimize public and private losses due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed to:

A. Protect human life and health;

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

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

D. Minimize prolonged business interruptions;

E. Minimize damage to public facilities and utilities, such as water and gas mains, electricity, telephone and sewer lines, and streets and bridges located in areas of special flood hazards;

F. Help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the secondary use and development of areas of special flood hazard so as to minimize future flood blight areas;

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

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

I. Minimize impact to fish and wildlife resources that are associated with floodplains where such resources do not conflict with public health and safety.

(Ord. 1176 §1.3, 1993)

In order to accomplish its purposes, this chapter includes methods and provisions for:

A. Restricting or prohibiting uses which are dangerous to health, safety, and property due to water or erosion hazards, or which result in damaging increases in erosion, 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 and maintain fish and wildlife resources;

D. Controlling filling, grading, dredging, and other development which may increase flood damage;

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. 1176 §1.4, 1993)

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:

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

"Alluvial fan" means a geomorphologic feature characterized by a cone or fanshaped 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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"Area of special flood-related erosion hazard" means the land within a community which is most likely to be subject to severe flood-related erosion losses. The area may be designated as Zone E on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).

"Area of special flood hazard". See "Special flood hazard area" definition.

"Area of special mudslide hazard" means the area subject to severe mudslides, i.e. mudflows, the area designated as Zone M on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).

"Base flood" means the flood having a one-percent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year (also called the "one-hundred-year flood"). Base flood is the term used throughout this document.

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

"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 flood waters. A breakaway wall shall have a safe design loading resistance of not less than ten and nor 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:

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 the base flood.

"Building" see definition for "structure".

"Development" means any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations, or storage of equipment or materials.

"Encroachment" means the 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.

"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 the effective date of the floodplain management regulations adopted by the county.

"Expansion to an existing manufactured home park or subdivision" means the preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads).

"Flood, flooding, or flood water" means:

1. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow of inland or tidal waters; the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source; and/or mudslides (i.e. mudflows) (see "mudslides"); and

2. The conditions resulting from flood-related erosion (see "flood-related erosion".)

"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.

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

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

"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.

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

"Floodplain administrator" is the individual appointed to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.

"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.

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

"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.

"Flood-related erosion" means the collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of 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.

"Flood-related erosion area" or "flood-related erosion-prone area" means a land area adjoining the shore of a lake or other body or water, which due to the composition of the shoreline or bank and high water levels or wind-driven currents, is likely to suffer flood-related erosion damage.

"Flood-related erosion area management" means the operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood-related erosion damage, including but not limited to emergency preparedness plans, flood-related erosion control works, and floodplain management regulations.

"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".)

"Floodway encroachment lines" means the lines marking the limits of floodways on federal, state and local floodplain maps.

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

"Fraud and victimization" as related to Article IV, Variance Procedure, means that the variance granted must not cause fraud on or victimization of the public. In examining the requirement, the county will consider the fact that every newly constructed building adds to government responsibilities and remains a part of the community for fifty to one hundred years. Buildings that are permitted to be constructed below the base flood elevation are subject during all those year 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.

"Functionally dependent use" means a use which cannot perform its intended purpose unless it is locate 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.

"Governing body" is the local governing unit, i.e. county or municipality, that is empowered to adopt and implement regulations to provide for the public health, safety and general welfare of its citizenry.

"Hardship" as related to Article IV, Variance Procedure, means the exceptional hardship that would result from a failure to grant a requested variance. The county requires that the variance 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. All these problems can be resolved through 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.

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

"Historic structure" means any structure that is:

1. Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of the 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; 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.

"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 form temporary flooding.

"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.

"Lowest floor" means the lowest floor or the lowest enclosed area (including basement.) An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access or storage, in an area other than a basement area, is not considered a building's lowest floor, provided that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of this chapter.

"Manufactured home" means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. For floodplain management purposes, the term "manufactured home" also includes park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than one hundred eighty consecutive days but excludes recreational vehicles licensed and ready for highway use.

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

"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 as on the community's Flood Insurance Rate Map are referenced.

"Mudslide" (i.e., mudflow) describes a condition where there is a river, flow or inundation of liquid mud down a hillside, usually as a result of a dual condition of loss of brush cover and the subsequent accumulation of water on the ground, preceded by a period of unusually heavy or sustained rain.

"Mudslide (i.e. mudflow) prone area" means an area with land surfaces and slopes of unconsolidated material where the history, geology, and climate indicate a potential for mudflow.

"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 county, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

"New manufactured home park or subdivision" means a manufactured home park or subdivisions 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 the county.

"Obstruction" includes, but is not limited to, any dam, wall, wharf, embankment, levee, dike, pile, abutment, projection, 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.

"One-hundred-year flood"-see base flood".

"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.

"Principal structure" means a structure used for the principal use of the property, as distinguished from an accessory use.

"Public safety and nuisance" as related to Article IV, Variance Procedure, 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, or river, bay, stream, canal, or basin.

"Ready for highway use" means that a recreational vehicle is on its wheels or jacking system, is attached to the site only by quick disconnect-type utilities and security devices, and has no permanently attached additions.

"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.

"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.

"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 this chapter or otherwise deterring future similar violations, or reducing federal financial exposure with regard to the structure or other development.

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

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

"Special flood hazard area (SFHA)" means an area having special flood or flood-related erosion hazards, and shown on a Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM) or Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) as Zone A, Zone AE, Zone AO, Zone A1-A30, Zone A99, Zone AH, Zone E, or Zone M.

"Start of construction" includes substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, 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 system. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling; nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers, or foundations or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure. For a substantial improvement, the actual start of construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of a building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.

"Structure" means a walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage tank, that is principally aboveground, as well as a manufactured home.

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

"Substantial improvement" means any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other proposed new development of a structure, the cost of which 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:

1. Any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or county health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to assure safe living conditions; or

2. Any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a State Inventory of Historic Places.

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

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

"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.

"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. 1176 §2.0, 1993)

This chapter shall apply to all areas of special flood hazards within the jurisdiction of the county.

(Ord. 1176 §3.1, 1993)

The areas of special flood hazard are identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the Federal Insurance Administration in a scientific and engineering report entitled "Flood Insurance Study for Trinity County", dated August 16, 1988, as amended on February 16, 1990, and any future revisions, with accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Maps, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District, report entitled floodplain Management Services Special Study, Weaverville Streams, Trinity County, California, dated August 1989, with accompanying flood maps and Trinity River aerial photographs dated 1/17/74 and 1/21/74 (Flight #1, TRP 5 & 6 and Flight #2, TRP 7 & 8, respectively) are hereby adopted by reference and declared to be part of this chapter. These Flood Insurance Studies are on file at the Trinity County Planning Division, P.O. Box 2490, 303 Trinity Lakes Blvd., Weaverville, CA 96093-2490. These Flood Insurance Studies are the minimum areas of applicability of this chapter and amy be supplemented by studies for other areas which allow implementation of this chapter and which are recommended to the board of supervisors by the floodplain administrator.

(Ord. 1176 §3.2, 1993)

All departments, officials, and public employees of the county, which are vested with the duty or authority to issue permits or licenses, shall conform to the provisions of this chapter and shall issue no such permits or licenses for uses, buildings, or purposes where the same would be in conflict with the provisions of this chapter, and any such permits or licenses, if issued in conflict with the provisions of this chapter, shall be null and void.

A. It shall be the duty of the building inspector to enforce the provisions of this chapter pertaining to the erection, construction, reconstruction, moving, conversion, alteration or addition to any building or structure. It shall be the duty of the sheriff and all officers of the county herein and/or otherwise to enforce this chapter, and all the provisions of the same.

B. Any person, firm or corporation who violates any of the regulatory provisions of this chapter is guilty of an offense punishable as a misdemeanor or infraction. Any person convicted of a misdemeanor shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not to exceed six months in the county jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Any person convicted of an infraction shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred fifty dollars. Each person is guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which any violation is committed, continued, or permitted, and shall be punished accordingly.

C. Any building or structure that is set up, erected, constructed, altered, enlarged, converted, moved, or maintained, contrary to the provisions of this chapter, and/or any use of any land, building or premises, established, conducted, operated, or maintained contrary to the provisions of this chapter, or shall be, is hereby declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance, and the district attorney of the county shall, upon order of the board of supervisors, immediately commence action or proceedings for the abatement and removal and enjoinment thereof in the manner provided by law, and shall take such other steps and shall apply to such court or courts as may have jurisdiction, to grant such relief as will enjoin any person, firm or corporation from setting up, erecting, building, maintaining, or using any such building or structure or using any property contrary to the provision of this chapter.

D. The remedies provided for herein shall be cumulative and not exclusive.

(Ord. 1176 §3.3, 1993)

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

B. Specifically, areas of the county zoned "Flood Hazard" pursuant to Section 29.4B of the Trinity County Zoning Ordinance and those areas shown as being within the one-hundred-year floodplain of the Trinity River by the aerial photographs dated 1/17/74 and 1/21/74 (Flight #1 TRP 5 & 6 and Flight #2 TRP 7 & 8, respectively) are ineligible for issuance of a Floodplain Development Permit for construction of a permanent structure pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 1176 §3.4, 1993)

In the interpretation and application of this chapter, 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. 1176 §3.5, 1993)

The degree of flood protection required by this chapter 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 manmade or natural causes. This chapter does not imply that land outside the areas of tho special flood hazards or uses permitted within such areas will be free from flooding or flood damage. This chapter shall not create liability on the part of the county, any officer or employee thereof, the state of California, the Federal Insurance Administration, of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for any flood damages that result from reliance on this chapter or any administrative decision.

(Ord. 1176 §3.6, 1993)