Charleston Township
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE V
Natural Hazard Areas
§ 300-500 Purpose.
The purpose of this article is to protect persons and property from undue and unnecessary exposure to natural conditions and locations which will result in threats to their health and safety, and damage and/or destruction.
§ 300-501 Flood-prone areas.
No building or structures shall be built nor fill material placed in any area found or designated hereafter as flood prone except as a special exception subject to the requirements of this chapter and approval of the Zoning Hearing Board.
A.
Delineation. Flood-prone areas shall be those areas designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as having a flood hazard for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program and reviewed and accepted by the Township Board of Supervisors. Said designation and delineation may be changed and/or amended from time to time as more information and study is prepared; however, for purposes of this chapter said areas shall include all areas subject to flooding by the 100-year flood as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; or the twenty-five-year flood or runoff for small watershed and drainage areas as defined by the use of the methods and procedures as established in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service[1] Engineering Field Manual for Conservation Practices (the most recent edition available at the time delineation is undertaken, presently the 1969 edition) whichever is greater for all streams, both seasonal and perennial, identified or delineated on the 7 1/2-minute U.S. Geological Survey Quadrangle Sheets for Charleston Township.
[1]
Editor's Note: See now the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
B.
Use of flood-prone areas:
(1)
No flood-prone area shall be used for construction of any building or structure except in a manner which will result in the ground floor being at least one foot above the flood elevation defined by § 300-501A above and which will not result in the obstruction of the floodway.
(2)
No earth, rock, or other fill material nor any physical barrier shall be built or placed in the designated flood-prone area except as found by the Zoning Hearing Board to be in the better common good of the residents of Charleston Township.
§ 300-502 Steep slopes and slide hazard areas.
No area having a slope in excess of 25% for 100 feet measured horizontally across the slope, nor any area identified by the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service's soils maps for Tioga County (unpublished data at present) as being slide prone shall be used for the construction of any building or structure except after approval as a special exception by the Zoning Hearing Board, subject to the requirements of this chapter.
A.
Delineation. Delineation of steep slope and slide hazard areas shall be the responsibility of the landowner, certified by a professional engineer, upon a general finding that said areas may exist on the site by the Zoning Officer.
B.
If use of steep slope and slide hazard areas is requested, plans shall be prepared and presented which remonstrate appropriate design considerations to preclude any potential damage to the proposed use and which have been certified by a professional engineer.