Escondido City Zoning Code
ARTICLE 4
FLOOD PLAIN FP OVERLAY ZONE
§ 33-50 Purpose.
It is the purpose of the flood plain (FP) overlay zone to provide land use regulations in areas with properties situated within the designated flood plains of rivers, creeks, streams and water courses to protect the public health, safety and welfare and to minimize losses to property and life due to flooding and periodic inundation by:
(a)
Restricting or prohibiting uses which are dangerous to health, safety or property in times of flood or cause excessive increases in flood heights or velocities; and
(b)
Requiring that uses vulnerable to floods, including public facilities which serve such uses, shall be protected against flood damage at the time of initial construction; and
(c)
Protecting individuals from buying lands which are unsuited for intended purposes because of flood hazard by identifying such lands.
The flood plain overlay zone will be used as a supplement to the basic underlying land use zone or zones. |
This zone shall be applied in a uniform manner to those properties which, after considering evidence from flood experience and engineering studies, are deemed subject to inundation by a 100 year flood. |
(Zoning Code, Ch. 102, § 1022.1)
§ 33-51 Floodway defined.
A designated floodway is defined as an area consisting of the channel of a stream and that portion of the adjoining flood plain which would serve both to adequately accommodate flood waters to be expected at frequent intervals in periods of heavy rainfall, including erosion, and which would be required to reasonably provide for the construction of flood control projects for the passage of design flood by means of flood control channels, and including the lands necessary for the construction of project levees.
(Zoning Code, Ch. 102, § 1022.2)
§ 33-52 Permitted principal uses and structures.
The following uses have a low flood damage potential and do not obstruct flood flows, provided they do not require structures, fill, or storage of materials or equipment:
(a)
Any use permitted in the underlying zone or zones, subject to the conditions and restrictions of such zone, except as regulated by this article;
(b)
Agricultural uses including field crops, orchards, vineyards and grazing;
(c)
Public recreation uses such as parks, golf courses, tennis courts, camping areas, picnicking areas, playgrounds and athletic areas;
(d)
Residential uses such as lawns, gardens, parking areas and play areas;
(e)
Commercial uses such as loading and unloading areas and parking lots;
(f)
Public flood control projects.
No building or structure shall be constructed, erected, moved, converted, structurally altered or enlarged, except as required by law, in the designated floodway zone, nor shall any other condition be permitted which would tend to cause stream channel alteration, or effect the carrying capacity of a floodway or otherwise constitute a threat to life and property. |
(Zoning Code, Ch. 102, § 1022.3)
§ 33-53 Conditional uses and structures.
The following uses shall be permitted subject to the issuance of a conditional use permit:
(a)
Private recreation uses similar to those specified in section 33-52;
(b)
Circuses, carnivals or other similar transient amusement enterprises;
(c)
Concession and refreshment stands and similar uses which do not require construction of permanent buildings;
(d)
Private flood control projects, subject to report and recommendation of the city engineer.
(Zoning Code, Ch. 102, § 1022.4)
§ 33-54 Development standards.
No structure (temporary or permanent), fill (including fill for roads and levees), deposit, obstruction, storage of materials or equipment, or other use may be permitted which, acting alone or in combination with existing or future uses, unduly affects the capacity of the floodway or unduly increases flood heights. The effects of a proposed use shall be considered based on a reasonable assumption that there will be an equal degree of encroachment extending for a significant reach on both sides of the stream. In addition all floodway uses shall be subject to the following standards:
(a)
Fill:
(1)
Any fill proposed to be deposited in the floodway must be shown to have some beneficial purpose and the amount thereof not greater than is necessary to achieve that purpose, as demonstrated by a plan submitted by the owner showing the uses to which the filled land will be put and the final dimensions of the proposed fill or other materials;
(2)
Such fill or other materials shall be protected against erosion by rip-rap, vegetative cover, bulkheading or other method approved by the city engineer.
(b)
Structures (temporary or permanent):
(1)
Structures shall not be designed for human habitation;
(2)
Structures shall have a low flood damage potential;
(3)
The structure or structures, if permitted, shall be constructed and placed on the building site so as to offer the minimum obstruction to the flow of floodwaters.
(A)
Whenever possible, structures shall be constructed with the longitudinal axis parallel to the direction of floodflow, and
(B)
So far as practicable, structures shall be placed approximately on the same floodflow as those of adjoining structures;
(4)
Structures shall be firmly anchored to prevent flotation which may result in damage to other structures, restriction of bridge openings and other narrow sections of the stream or river; and
(5)
Service facilities such as electrical and heating equipment shall be constructed at or above the regulatory flood protection elevation for the particular area or floodproofed.
(c)
Storage of material and equipment:
(1)
The storage or processing of materials that are in time of flooding buoyant, flammable, explosive or could be injurious to human, animal or plant life is prohibited;
(2)
Storage of other material or equipment may be allowed if not subject to major damage by floods and firmly anchored to prevent flotation or readily removable from the area within the time available after flood warning.
(Zoning Code, Ch. 102, § 1022.5)
§ 33-55 Evaluation of conditional uses and structures.
In evaluating a use for which a conditional use permit has been requested, the planning commission shall consider the following:
(a)
The danger to life and property due to increased flood heights or velocities caused by encroachments;
(b)
The danger that materials may be swept on to other lands or downstream to the injury of others;
(c)
The proposed water supply and sanitation systems and the ability of these systems to prevent disease, contamination and unsanitary conditions;
(d)
The susceptibility of the proposed facility and its contents to flood damage and the effect of such damage on the individual owner.
(e)
The importance of the services provided by the proposed facility to the community;
(f)
The availability of alternative locations not subject to flooding for the proposed use;
(g)
The compatibility of the proposed use with existing development and development anticipated in the foreseeable future;
(h)
The relationship of the proposed use to the comprehensive plan and flood plain management program for the area;
(i)
The safety of access to the property in times of flood for ordinary and emergency vehicles;
(j)
The expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise and sediment transport of the floodwaters expected at the site;
(k)
Such other factors which are relevant to the purposes of this chapter.
(Zoning Code, Ch. 102, § 1022.6)
§ 33-56 Liability.
The granting of approval shall not constitute a representation, guarantee or warranty of any kind or nature of the city or the planning commission, or by an officer or employee of either thereof, of the practicability or safety of any structure or other plan proposed and shall create no liability upon, or a cause of action against such public body, officer or employee for any damage that may result pursuant thereto.
(Zoning Code, Ch. 102, § 1022.7)
