Title 20
MISCELLANEOUS PERMIT REGULATIONS

Chapters:

20.04 Floodplain Regulations

Chapter 20.04
FLOODPLAIN REGULATIONS

Sections:

20.04.010 Purpose.

20.04.020 Definitions.

20.04.030 Reference to other codes.

20.04.040 Implementation.

20.04.010 Purpose.

A.  Areas within the city and borough of Sitka may be subject to floodwater inundation which could result in a loss of life and property and pose health and safety hazards.

B.  Areas within the city and borough of Sitka have been found to be potentially flood prone pursuant to § 201 of the Federal Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973. Therefore, the municipality chooses to join the National Flood Insurance Program to make flood insurance and federal and federally regulated financial assistance available to the residents within the flood hazard areas. To do so, the municipality must meet the requirements for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program.

(Ord. 82-507 § 4 (part), 1982.)

20.04.020 Definitions.

A.  “Coastal high hazard area” means the area subject to high velocity waters due to wind, tidal action, storm, tsunami or any similar force, acting singly or in any combination resulting in a wave or series of waves of sufficient magnitude, velocity or frequency to endanger property and lives.

B.  “Flood hazard area” includes all the area within the corporate limits subject to the one-hundred-year flood as delineated in the Flood Hazard Boundary Map or the Flood Insurance Rate Map for the city and borough of Sitka, published by the Federal Insurance Administration. “Flood hazard area” includes the coastal high hazard area, where applicable. The municipality makes no guarantee that structures located outside the flood hazard area will not be subjected to flooding.

C.  “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.

D.  “Regulatory flood” is the one-hundred-year flood. The water surface evaluation of the regulatory flood, one hundred-year flood, is the water surface elevation delineated on the Flood Insurance Rate Map.

F.  “One-hundred-year flood” means a flood of a magnitude which can be expected to occur on the average of once every one hundred years. It is possible for this size flood to occur during any year. The odds are one to a hundred that this size flood will occur during a given year; there is a one percent chance that a flood will occur each year. Statistical analysis of available streamflow or coastal storm records, or analysis of rainfall and runoff characteristics of the watershed, or coastal topography and storm characteristics are used to determine the extent and depth of the one-hundred-year flood.

F.  “Structure” means a building and also includes mobile homes or other modular units and storage tanks or containers.

G.  “Substantially improved” means any remodeling, repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent of the fair market value of the structure either: (1) as such value exists before the improvement is started, or (2) as such value existed before the damage occurred.

(Ord. 82-520 § 4 (part), 1982; Ord. 82-507 § 4 (part), 1982.)

20.04.030 Reference to other codes.

Applicants are cautioned to refer to Chapter 6.12; Mobile Homes and Mobile Home Parks; Title 19, Building and Construction; and Title 21, Subdivisions; all of the Sitka General Code for other specific applicable provisions and regulations. (Ord. 82-507 § 4 (part), 1982.)

20.04.040 Implementation.

A.  The building official shall be responsible for maintaining for public use and inspection appropriate records and information relevant to implementation of this chapter. Such records and information shall include, but not be limited to:

1.   Floor elevations of all new or substantially improved structures located in the flood hazard area, and whether or not such structures have basements;

2.   Elevations to which structures are floodproofed;

3.   Flood hazard boundary maps;

4.   Flood insurance rate maps;

5.   Any reports or studies on flood hazards in the community, such as written by the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey or private firms;

6.   A copy of the annual report;

7.   A file of all permit applications, supporting documentation and the city and borough assembly action.

B.  In case any structure is constructed or substantially improved in violation of this chapter, the city and borough of Sitka, in addition to other remedies, may institute any proper actions or proceedings necessary, including enjoining of connections to public utilities, to restrain, correct or abate such violations.

C.  The administrator of the city and borough is authorized to enter into contracts and agreements with other government entities for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this chapter.

D.  The municipality must notify the state coordinating agency and the Federal Insurance Administration prior to altering or relocating any watercourse. Any such alteration or relocation must maintain the flood-carrying capacity of the watercourse.

E.  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as applying to any structure existing prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter unless they are substantially improved after the effective date.

(Ord. 82-507 § 4 (part), 1982.)