Harrisburg City Zoning Code

means making a different use of the land or water than that which existed on December 6, 1975. It includes a change which requires construction, alterations of the land, water, or other areas outside of existing buildings or structures, and which substantially alters or affects the land or water.

means any additions which increase or expand the area or amount of an existing use, or the level of activity.

means a use or activity which can be carried out only on, in, or adjacent to water areas because the use requires access to the water body for waterborne transportation, recreation, energy, production, or source of water.

means uses which are not directly dependent upon access to a water body, but which provide goods or services that are directly associated with water-dependent land or waterway use and which, if not located adjacent to water, would result in a public loss of the quality of goods or services offered.

means the land area, outside of all required setbacks, which is available for construction of a primary structure on a particular property.

means inhabited at any time of the year by anadromous or game fish species or fish that are listed as threatened or endangered species under the Federal or State Endangered Species Act. Fish use is determined from Oregon Department of Forestry stream classification maps.

means any material which reduces and prevents absorption of storm water into previously undeveloped land.

means grass or similar materials maintained as a ground cover of less than six inches in height. For purposes of this definition, lawn is not considered native vegetation regardless of the species used.

means taking one or more of the following actions listed in order of priority:

means a permanent loss of habitat units or habitat value resulting from a development action despite mitigation measures having been taken.

means a structure or use that does not conform to the standards of this zone but has been in continuous existence from prior to the date of adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter up to the present. Nonconforming uses are not considered violations and are generally allowed to continue, though expansion, reconstruction, or substantial improvement may be regulated.

means habitat mitigation measures undertaken in areas distant from a development action, and which are intended to benefit fish and wildlife populations other than those directly affected by that action.

means habitat mitigation measures undertaken within or in proximity to areas affected by a development action, and which are intended to benefit fish and wildlife populations directly affected by that action.

means the area adjacent to a river, lake, or stream, consisting of the area of transition from an aquatic ecosystem to a terrestrial ecosystem.

means a channel such as a river or creek that carries flowing surface water, including perennial streams and intermittent streams with defined channels, and excluding manmade irrigation and drainage channels.

means a building or other major improvement that is built, constructed or installed, not including minor improvements such as fences, utility poles, flagpoles, or irrigation system components that are not customarily regulated through zoning ordinances.

means any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure either:

means the stage or elevation at which water overflows the natural banks of streams or other waters of the State and begins to inundate upland areas. In the absence of physical evidence, the two-year recurrence interval flood elevation may be used to approximate the bank full stage or delineate the top of bank.

refers to the person in charge of land use activities and applications for the City, including that person's designee, and may refer to the City Planning Commission where multiple permits are being sought as stated in subsection (1)(c) of this section.

means a determination of wetland presence that includes marking the wetland boundaries on the ground and/or on a detailed map prepared by professional land survey or similar accurate methods. A delineation is a precise map and documentation of actual wetland boundaries on a parcel, whereas wetland boundaries identified on a Local Wetlands Inventory boundary are approximated with an accuracy target of five meters (approximately 16.5 feet). (See OAR 141-90-005 et seq. for specifications for wetland delineation reports.)

means a decision of the presence or absence of wetlands. A determination made in the office using existing available information including maps and aerial photography is an "off-site" determination and is considered advisory only. An "on-site" determination involves site-specific data collection consistent with the 1987 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual and Regional Supplements.

means the map and report attached to the ordinance codified in this chapter and incorporated by reference as City of Harrisburg Local Wetlands Inventory, and any subsequent revisions as approved by the Oregon Department of State Lands, which identify the location of wetlands and probable wetlands. The LWI is a comprehensive survey and assessment of all wetlands over one-half acre in size within the urbanizing area. This includes both locally significant wetlands and wetlands that are not identified as locally significant. This also includes "probable wetlands," which are areas noted during the course of the LWI field work that appear to meet, or do meet, wetland criteria but are small or of undetermined size, and are mapped as a point rather than a polygon on the LWI map.

Wetlands are determined to be "locally significant wetlands" based on Oregon Administrative Rules for Identifying Significant Wetlands (OAR 141-86-300 through 141-86-350). If the assessed wetland unit provides "diverse" wildlife habitat, "intact" fish habitat, "intact" water quality function, or "intact" hydrologic control function, then the wetland is locally significant. Locally significant wetlands are identified on the City's Local Wetlands Inventory as such. Locally significant wetlands also constitute the wetland protection area (unless otherwise indicated in this section).

means a wetland function and quality assessment methodology developed by the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) to assess water quality, hydrologic control, fish habitat, and wildlife habitat.

means an area inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.

means a professional with a background in wetland science and knowledgeable of the process for conducting wetland delineations and determinations.

means an area subject to the provisions of this chapter that consists of wetlands determined to be locally significant as shown on the LWI map, plus 20 feet around the boundary of the significant wetland. The locally significant wetland areas identified on the LWI map (dated November 11, 2010) are referred to as HA-2, HA-19, and HA-24.

includes all State jurisdictional wetlands, mapped or not, that are subject to the State Removal-Fill Law administered by DSL. All wetlands are "potentially jurisdictional wetlands." Wetlands on the LWI map which are not identified as locally significant are considered "other potentially jurisdictional wetlands." These wetlands are not subject to wetland protection area standards in the City of Harrisburg, but, like all wetland areas, are subject to DSL notice/review and potentially subject to DSL and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permitting.

means features of a development that are not directly related to the primary purpose of the development.

means a request for a review of the interpretation of any provision of this section or a request for a variance.

means a designated Zone AO, AH, AR/AO or AR/AH on a community's flood insurance rate map (FIRM) with a one percent or greater annual chance of flooding to an average depth of one to three feet where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable, and where velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.

means the land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. It is shown on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM) as Zone A, AO, AH, A1-30, AE, A99, AR. "Special flood hazard area" is synonymous in meaning and definition with the phrase "area of special flood hazard."

means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

means the elevation to which floodwater is anticipated to rise during the base flood.

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

means an enclosed area below the base flood elevation in which the interior grade is not more than two feet below the lowest adjacent exterior grade and the height, measured from the interior grade of the crawl space to the top of the crawl space foundation, does not exceed four feet at any point.

See "Structure."

means a facility for which even a slight chance of flooding might be too great. Critical facilities include, but are not limited to, schools, nursing homes, hospitals, police, fire and emergency response installations, installations which produce, use, or store hazardous materials or hazardous waste.

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

means, for insurance purposes, a nonbasement building which has its lowest elevated floor raised above ground level by foundation walls, shear walls, posts, piers, pilings, or columns.

means placement of any materials such as soil, gravel, crushed stone, or other materials that change the elevation of the floodplain. The placement of fill is considered "development."

means the volumetric space available to an adult or juvenile individual of the identified 16 ESA-listed fish to access.

means the volumetric space available to an adult or juvenile individual of the identified 16 ESA-listed fish to exit or leave from.

See "Flood insurance study."

means the official map of a community, on which the Federal Insurance Administrator has delineated both the special hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the community. A FIRM that has been made available digitally is called a digital flood insurance rate map (DFIRM).

means an examination, evaluation and determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, or an examination, evaluation and determination of mudslide (i.e., mudflow) and/or flood-related erosion hazards.

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

means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source. See "Flood or Flooding."

means the volume of floodwater that an area of floodplain can hold during the one-percent annual chance flood.

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 a designated height. Also referred to as "regulatory floodway."

means the existing measurements of the structure related to the three floodplain functions and their proxies. The footprint related to floodplain storage refers to the volumetric amount of developed space measured from the existing ground level to the BFE, and the footprint related to water quality refers to the area of impervious surface that the structure creates.

means a use which cannot perform its intended purpose unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water. The term includes only docking facilities, port facilities that are necessary for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers, and ship building and ship repair facilities, and does not include long-term storage or related manufacturing facilities.

means use of natural or human-made hydrologic features to manage water and provide environmental and community benefits. Green infrastructure uses management approaches and technologies that use, enhance, and/or mimic the natural hydrologic cycle processes of infiltration, evapotranspiration, and reuse. At a large scale, it is an interconnected network of green space that conserves natural systems and provides assorted benefits to human populations. At a local scale, it manages stormwater by infiltrating it into the ground where it is generated using vegetation or porous surfaces, or by capturing it for later reuse. Green infrastructure practices can be used to achieve no net loss of pervious surface by creating infiltration of stormwater in an amount equal to or greater than the infiltration lost by the placement of new impervious surface.

means activities with the sole purpose of restoring habitats that have only temporary impacts and long-term benefits to habitat. Such projects cannot include ancillary structures such as a storage shed for maintenance equipment, must demonstrate that no rise in the BFE would occur as a result of the project and obtain a CLOMR and LOMR, and have obtained any other required permits (e.g., CWA Section 404 permit).

means standing dead, dying, or diseased trees or ones with a structural defect that makes it likely to fail in whole or in part and that present a potential hazard to a structure or as defined by the community.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality defines hazardous materials to include any of the following:

means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.

means any structure that is:

means a location (e.g., a site where no net loss standards are implemented) that is approximately equivalent to another (e.g., the impacted site) relative to the same 100-year water surface elevation contour or base flood elevation. This may be estimated based on a point that is along the same approximate line perpendicular to the direction of flow.

means the interconnection of groundwater and surface water such that they constitute one water supply and use of either results in an impact to both.

means a surface that cannot be penetrated by water and thereby prevents infiltration and increases the amount and rate of surface water runoff, leading to erosion of stream banks, degradation of habitat, and increased sediment loads in streams. Such surfaces can accumulate large amounts of pollutants that are then "flushed" into local water bodies during storms and can also interfere with recharge of groundwater and the base flows to water bodies.

means an official FEMA determination, by letter, to amend or revise effective flood insurance rate maps and flood insurance studies. The following are categories of LOMCs:

means an approach to land development (or redevelopment) that works with nature to manage stormwater as close to its source as possible. It employs principles such as preserving and recreating natural landscape features and minimizing effective imperviousness to create functional and appealing site drainage that treats stormwater as a resource rather than a waste product. "Low-impact development" refers to designing and implementing practices that can be employed at the site level to control stormwater and help replicate the predevelopment hydrology of the site. Low-impact development helps achieve no net loss of pervious surface by infiltrating stormwater in an amount equal to or greater than the infiltration lost by the placement of new impervious surface. LID is a subset of green infrastructure.

means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or flood-resistant 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 section.

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 attached to the required utilities. The term "manufactured dwelling" does not include a "recreational vehicle" and is synonymous with "manufactured home."

means a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured dwelling lots for rent or sale.

(MHHW) means the average of the higher-high water height of each tidal day observed over the National Tidal Datum Epoch.

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.

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 the City of Harrisburg and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

means a standard where adverse impacts must be avoided or offset through adherence to certain requirements so that there is no net change in the function from the existing condition when a development application is submitted to the state, tribal, or local jurisdiction. The floodplain functions of floodplain storage, water quality, and vegetation must be maintained.

means mitigation occurring outside of the project area.

means mitigation occurring within the project area.

means the line on the shore established by the fluctuations of water and indicated by physical characteristics such as a clear, natural line impressed on the bank; shelving; changes in the character of soil; destruction of terrestrial vegetation; the presence of litter and debris; or other appropriate means that consider the characteristics of the surrounding areas.

means surfaces that allow rain and snowmelt to seep into the soil and gravel below. Pervious surface may also be referred to as permeable surface.

means appropriate subject matter expert that is defined by the community.

means a section of a stream or river along which similar hydrologic conditions exist, such as discharge, depth, area, and slope. It can also be the length of a stream or river (with varying conditions) between major tributaries or two stream gages, or a length of river for which the characteristics are well described by readings at a single stream gage.

means a vehicle which is:

means of, adjacent to, or living on, the bank of a river, lake, pond, or other water body.

means the outer boundary of the riparian buffer zone is measured from the ordinary high-water line of a fresh waterbody (lake; pond; ephemeral, intermittent, or perennial stream) or mean higher-high water line of a marine shoreline or tidally influenced river reach to 170 feet horizontally on each side of the stream or 170 feet inland from the MHHW. The riparian buffer zone includes the area between these outer boundaries on each side of the stream, including the stream channel. Where the RBZ is larger than the special flood hazard area, the no net loss standards shall only apply to the area within the special flood hazard area.

means the area outside of the RBZ and floodway but still within the SFHA.

means the art and science of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests and woodlands.

See "Area of special flood hazard."

includes substantial improvement and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, placement, or other improvement was within 180 days from the date of the permit. 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 dwelling 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. For a substantial improvement, the "actual start of construction" means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of a building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.

means, for floodplain management purposes, a walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage tank, that is principally above ground, as well as a manufactured dwelling.

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 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

means any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 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, include any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of 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 any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a State inventory of historic places.

means the volume of flood capacity and fish-accessible/egressable habitat from the existing ground to the base flood elevation that has not been reduced due to activity that meets FEMA's definition of development. Examples of development that impede undeveloped space includes, but is not limited to, the addition of fill, structures, concrete structures (vaults or tanks), pilings, levees and dikes, or any other development that reduces flood storage volume and fish accessible/egressable habitat.

means a grant of relief by the City of Harrisburg from the terms of a floodplain management regulation.

means the failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant 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 section is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.

means a structure for commerce or industry which cannot exist in any other location and is dependent on the water by reason of the intrinsic nature of its operations.

means the height, in relation to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929, or other datum, of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of coastal or riverine areas.