Yreka Municipal Code Art. I Purpose and Methods

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 city council of the city of Yreka does ordain as follows.

(Ord. 750 (part), 1999).

(a) The flood hazard areas of the city of Yreka 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 floodproofed, elevated or otherwise protected from flood damage also contribute to the flood loss.

(Ord. 750 (part), 1999).

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 provisions designed:

(a) To protect human life and health;

(b) To minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood 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 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 sound use and development of areas of special flood hazard so as to minimize future flood blight areas;

(g) To insure that potential buyers are notified that property is in an area of special flood hazard; and

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

(Ord. 750 (part), 1999).

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 or 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 flood-plains, 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 hazards in other areas.

(Ord. 750 (part), 1999).

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.

"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.

Area of Special Flood Hazard. See "Special flood hazard area."

"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").

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

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

"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.

"Flood or flooding" means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from: (1) the overflow of flood waters, (2) the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source, and/or (3) 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 or water, an unusually high water level in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in this definition.

"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.

"Flood insurance study" 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.

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

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

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

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

"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."

"Functionally dependent use" means a use that cannot perform its intended purpose unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water. The term includes 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.

"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 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.

"Lowest floor" means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or flood resistance 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.

"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.

"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.

"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 this community, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

"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 term "base flood," which will be the term used throughout this chapter.

"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.

"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 of recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.

"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 federal financial exposure with regard to the structure or other development.

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

"Special flood hazard area (SFHA)" means an area having special flood or flood-related erosion hazards, and shown on a FHBM or FIRM as Zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, A99 or AH.

"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, 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.

"Structure" means a walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage tank, that is principally above ground, 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, including 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 a "historic structure," provided that the alteration will not preclude the struc-ture's continued designation as a "historic structure."

"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 in full compliance 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 chapter is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.

(Ord. 750 (part), 1999).