Carlisle City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XX
FP Floodplain Area Overlay
§ 255-138 Intent.
The intent of the FP Floodplain Area is to:
A.
Promote the general health, welfare and safety of the community.
B.
Reduce financial burdens imposed on the community, its governmental units and its individuals by preventing excessive development in areas subject to periodic flooding.
C.
Minimize danger to public health by protecting water supply and natural drainage.
D.
Promote responsible floodproofing measures within the floodplain districts.
§ 255-139 Establishment of districts.
The various floodplain conservation districts shall include areas subject to inundation by waters of the one-hundred-year flood. The basis for the delineation of these districts shall be the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) for the Borough of Carlisle, prepared by the Federal Insurance Administration (FIA), dated August 1951, and as may be officially amended or added to by the FIA. The three districts are to read as follows:
A.
District FP-1 (Floodway). This district is delineated for the purposes of this chapter using criteria that a certain area within the floodplain must be capable of carrying the water of the one-hundred-year flood without increasing the water surface elevation of that flood more than one foot at any point. The areas included in this district are specifically defined in the Floodway Data Table of the above-referenced Flood Insurance Study and shown on the accompanying Flood Boundary and Floodway Map.
B.
District FP-2 (Flood Fringe). This district shall be that area of the one-hundred-year flood not included in the floodway. The basis for the outermost boundary of this district shall be the one-hundred-year flood elevations contained in the flood profiles of the above-referenced Flood Insurance Study and as shown on the accompanying Flood Boundary and Floodway Map.
C.
District FP-3 (Approximate Floodplain).
(1)
This district shall be that floodplain area for which no detailed flood profiles or elevations have been provided. They are shown on the maps accompanying the FIS prepared by the FIA.
(2)
Where the specific one-hundred-year flood elevations cannot be determined for this area using other sources of data, such as the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Flood Information Reports and the United States Geological Survey--Flood Prone Quadrangles, then the applicant for the proposed use, development and/or activity shall determine this elevation in accordance with hydrologic and hydraulic engineering techniques.
(3)
Hydrologic and hydraulic analysis shall be undertaken only by professionals, engineers or others of demonstrated qualifications, who shall certify that the technical methods used reflect currently accepted technical concepts.
(4)
Studies, analysis and computations shall be submitted in sufficient detail to allow a thorough technical review by the Borough of Carlisle.
§ 255-140 Changes in delineation of districts.
The delineation of any floodplain conservation district boundaries may be revised and modified by the Borough Council where there are ranges, through natural or other causes, in either district or where ranges can be validated by further detailed engineering studies employing on-site survey techniques as approved or recommended by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, or the Cumberland County Soil Conservation Service. All such changes are subject to the review and approval of the Federal Insurance Administrator.
§ 255-141 Uses permitted by right.
A.
The following uses and no others, regardless of whether a use is allowed in an underlying zoning district, are permitted in District FP-1:
(1)
The following agricultural uses, excluding structures: farming; pasture; grazing; outdoor plant nurseries; horticulture;; forestry, lumbering and reforestation (excluding storage; and mill structures); and wild crop harvesting.
(2)
Public and private recreational uses not requiring permanent or temporary structures designed for human habitation, such as: parks, day camps, picnic groves, golf courses, shooting preserve, fishing preserves, boating clubs (excluding structures), game farms, fish hatcheries, wildlife and nature preserves, hiking areas and arboretum.
(3)
Previous parking lots where required by the regulations for a specific use.
(4)
Water-related uses such as docks, piers, bridges and river crossings of transmission lines.
(5)
Front, side and/or rear yards and uses customarily incidental thereto, except that no structures shall be permitted.
(6)
Utility facilities such as power plants, flowage areas, transmission lines, pipelines, water-monitoring devices, outlet installations for sewage treatment plants, sealed public and private water supply wells and accessory uses customarily incidental to any of the foregoing permitted uses.
B.
In Districts FP-2 and FP-3, the development and/or use of land will be permitted, provided that the development or use adheres to all the requirements of the underlying zone. In addition, all development in this district shall adhere to the flood damage controls stipulated in the Building Code of the Borough of Carlisle.[1]
§ 255-142 Special exception uses.
A.
The following uses may be permitted in District FP-1 as a special exception when authorized by the Zoning Hearing Board (within § 255-197):
(1)
Sewage treatment plants and sewage pumping stations, provided that they are protected from flooding by dikes or more equally effective means.
(2)
Dams, culverts and bridges approved by DEP.
(3)
Streets and driveways.
(4)
Impoundment basin outfalls.
(5)
Storm sewers.
(6)
Other uses that are clearly similar to the above special exception uses, provided that the effect is not to alter substantially the cross-sectional profile of the stream basin at the point of the proposed construction or use.
B.
In District FP-2 and FP-3, all provisions for special exceptions in District FP-1 shall apply, except that paved roads and driveways shall be permitted by right and not special exception in District FP-2 and FP-3 because of their importance as an accessory use to structural development.
§ 255-143 Special regulations.
A.
All uses, activities and development occurring within any Floodplain District shall be undertaken only in strict compliance with all other applicable codes and ordinances such as the Borough Building Code and the Borough Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.[1]
B.
Prior to any proposed alteration or relocation of any watercourse within the Borough, a permit shall be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Dam and Encroachment Division. Furthermore, notification of the proposal shall be given to all affected adjacent municipalities. Copies of such notification shall be forwarded to both the Federal Insurance Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
C.
Within District FP-1 (Floodway), no encroachments, including fill, new construction or other development which would result in any increase in the elevation of the one-hundred-year flood shall be permitted.
D.
The placement of any manufactured home, including park trailers, travel trailers or other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than 180 days or of any park trailer, travel trailer or other similar vehicle if it is being used for habitation, regardless of the duration of its placement, within any district of the Floodplain Conservation District is prohibited, provided that an otherwise permitted modular or prefabricated home not designed for subsequent transporting after initial installation shall not be prohibited solely by reason of this item.
E.
In case of any dispute concerning the boundaries of a floodplain district, an initial determination shall be made by the Zoning Officer.
F.
Any party aggrieved by a decision of the Zoning Officer as to the boundaries of the Floodplain District, which may include the grounds that the said data referred to therein is or has become incorrect because of changes due to natural or other causes, may appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board as provided in Article XXVIII. The burden of proof in such an appeal shall be on the appellant.
G.
The Floodplain District shall be deemed an overlay on any zoning district now or hereafter applicable to any lot. Should the Floodplain District be declared inapplicable to any tract by reason of action of the Borough Council in amending this chapter or the Zoning Officer, the Zoning Hearing Board or any court of competent jurisdiction in interpreting the same, the zoning applicable to such lot shall be deemed to be the district in which it is located without consideration of this article.
H.
Within any Floodplain District, hospitals, jails and nursing homes are prohibited.
I.
The following structure and/or storage is prohibited within the Floodplain District:
(1)
Any new or substantially improved structure which will be used for the production or storage of, but not limited to, the following dangerous materials or substances, or which will be used for any activity requiring the maintenance of a supply (more than 550 gallons or other comparable volume or any amount of radioactive substances) of, but not limited to, the following dangerous materials or substances on the premises, shall be subject to the provisions of this section, in addition to all other applicable provisions:
Acetone | |
Ammonia | |
Benzene | |
Calcium carbide | |
Carbon disulfide | |
Celluloid | |
Chlorine | |
Hydrocyanic acid | |
Hydrochloric acid | |
Magnesium | |
Nitric acid and oxides of nitrogen | |
Petroleum products (gasoline, fuel oil, etc.) | |
Phosphorus | |
Potassium | |
Sodium | |
Sulfur and sulfur products | |
Pesticides, including insecticides, fungicides and rodenticides | |
Radioactive substances, insofar as such substances are not otherwise regulated |
§ 255-144 Liability.
The grant of a permit under this chapter or approval of a subdivision plan in the Floodplain District shall not constitute a representation, guaranty or warranty of any kind by the Borough or by any official or employee thereof of the practicability or safety of the proposed use and shall create no liability upon the Borough, its officials or employees.