Millville City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VIII
Floodplain District
§ 100-801 Purpose.
The purposes of the Floodplain District are to:
A.
Ensure public safety through reducing the threats to life and personal injury.
B.
Eliminate new hazards to emergency response officials.
C.
Prevent the occurrence of public emergencies resulting from water quality, contamination, and pollution due to flooding.
D.
Avoid the loss of utility services which, if damaged by flooding, would disrupt or shut down the utility network and impact regions of the community beyond the site of flooding.
E.
Eliminate costs associated with the response and cleanup of flooding conditions.
F.
Reduce damage to public and private property resulting from flooding waters.
G.
Establish uses that are compatible with areas prone to flooding.
§ 100-802 District boundaries; base flood elevation and floodway data.
The Floodplain District is herein established as an overlay district to all other districts. The district includes all special flood hazard areas within the Town of Millville designated as Zone A and AE on the Flood Insurance Rate Map ("FIRM") issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The map panels of the Worcester County FIRM that are wholly or partially within the Town of Millville are Panel Numbers 25027C1030E, 25027C1037E and 25027C1039E, dated July 4, 2011. The exact boundaries of the district may be defined by the one-hundred-year base flood elevations shown on the FIRM, and further defined by the Worcester County Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report dated July 4, 2011. The FIRM and FIS report are incorporated herein by reference and are on file with the Town Clerk, Planning Board, Building Inspector, Board of Health, and Conservation Commission.
§ 100-803 Notification of watercourse alteration.
In a riverine situation, the alteration or relocation of a watercourse shall require a special permit in accordance with the terms hereof, in addition to any other permits issued by the Millville Conservation Commission or the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Upon issuing a special permit for any alteration or relocation of a watercourse, the Planning Board shall provide a copy of thereof to the following entities:
A.
Adjacent communities of Uxbridge, Mendon, and Blackstone.
B.
The State of Rhode Island.
C.
NFIP State Coordinator.
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation 251 Causeway Street, Suite 800 Boston, MA 02114-2104 |
D.
NFIP Program Specialist.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region 1 99 High Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02110 |
§ 100-804 Use regulations.
[Amended 5-13-2024 ATM by Art. 18]
A.
Uses allowed by right. The following uses of low flood damage potential and causing no obstructions to flood flows are encouraged and allowed by right in the Floodplain District, provided they do not require structures, fill, or storage of materials or equipment:
(1)
Agricultural uses such as farming, grazing, truck farming, horticulture, etc.
(2)
Forestry and nursery uses.
(3)
Outdoor recreational uses, including fishing, boating, play areas, etc.
(4)
Conservation of water, plants, wildlife.
(5)
Wildlife management areas, foot, bicycle, and/or horse paths.
(6)
Temporary nonresidential structures used in connection with fishing, growing, harvesting, storage, or sale of crops raised on the premises.
(7)
Buildings lawfully existing prior to the adoption of these provisions.
B.
Uses allowed by special permit. All other uses and structures allowed in the underlying district as well as all substantial improvements of existing structures shall be allowed by special permit to be issued by the Millville Planning Board. Consideration of special permit applications shall be in accordance with § 100-606 of the Millville Zoning Bylaws as well as the following requirements:
(1)
Requirements.
(a)
No special permit may be issued unless the proposed use or structure is in compliance with MGL c. 131, § 40, and with the following:
[1]
The section of the Massachusetts State Building Code which addresses floodplain and coastal high-hazard areas (currently 780 CMR 115G, Flood Resistant Construction and Construction in Coastal Dunes), as may be amended.
[Amended 5-8-2023 ATM by Art. 20]
[2]
Wetlands Protection Regulations, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) (currently 310 CMR 10.00), as may be amended.
[3]
Inland Wetlands Restriction, DEP (currently 310 CMR 13.00), as may be amended.
[4]
Minimum Requirements for the Subsurface Disposal of Sanitary Sewage, DEP (currently 310 CMR 15, Title 5), as may be amended.
[6]
Any regulations or bylaws adopted by the Millville Board of Health.
(b)
Prior to the grant of a special permit hereunder, an applicant shall demonstrate compliance with the foregoing. Any variances from the provisions and requirements of the above-referenced state regulations may only be granted in accordance with the required variance procedures of these state regulations. To the extent that such a variance has been granted or is required, an applicant shall provide proof of receipt of the same prior to the issuance of a special permit hereunder.
(2)
In addition to the foregoing requirements, the Planning Board shall consider the following in determining whether to issue a special permit:
(a)
In Zone AE along watercourses that have a regulatory floodway designated within the Town of Millville on the Worcester County Flood Insurance Rate Maps, encroachments are prohibited in the regulatory floodway which would result in any increase in flood levels within the community during the occurrence of the base flood discharge.
(3)
All applications for special permits shall include a site and development plan. Said plans shall, at a minimum, show existing contour intervals of site and elevations of existing structures.
(4)
There shall be established a "routing procedure" which will circulate or transmit one copy of the site and development plan to the Conservation Commission, Planning Board, Board of Health, Building Inspector, Town Engineer, Highway Surveyor, Town Clerk, Board of Selectmen and Board of Assessors for comments which will be considered by the Planning Board prior to issuing applicable permits.
(5)
Floodway data. In Zones A and AE, along watercourses that have not had a regulatory floodway designated, the best available federal, state, local, or other floodway data shall be used to prohibit encroachments in floodways which would result in any increase in flood levels within the community during the occurrence of the base flood discharge.
(6)
Base flood elevation data. Base flood elevation data are required for subdivision proposals or other developments greater than 50 lots or five acres, whichever is the lesser, within unnumbered A Zones.
§ 100-805 Definitions.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
An area having special flood-related hazards, shown as Zone AE on the Millville FIRM.
The flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
Any man-made 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.
The Floodplain District.
Administers the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA provides a nationwide flood hazard area mapping study program for communities as well as regulatory standards for development in the flood hazard areas.
An official map of a community issued by FEMA that depicts, based on detailed analyses, the boundaries of the one-hundred-year and five-hundred-year floods and the one-hundred-year floodway. (For maps done in 1987 and later, the floodway designation is included in the FIRM.)
An official map of a community issued by FEMA where the boundaries of the flood and related erosion areas having special hazards have been designated as Zone A or E.
An official map of a community on which FEMA has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard and the risk-premium zones applicable to the community.
An examination, evaluation, and determination of flood hazards, and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, or an examination, evaluation, and determination of flood-related erosion hazards.
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.
The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement or cellar). 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 NFIP Regulation 60.3.
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 connected to the required utilities. For floodplain management purposes, the term "manufactured home" also includes park trailers, travel trailers, and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than 180 consecutive days. For insurance purposes, the term "manufactured home" does not include park trailers, travel trailers, and other similar vehicles.
A parcel, or contiguous parcels, of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
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 a community. For the purpose of determining insurance rates, "new construction" means structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of an initial FIRM or after December 31, 1974, whichever is later.
See "base flood."
See "floodway."
Relating to, formed by, or resembling a river (including tributaries), stream, brook, etc.
An area having special flood and/or flood-related erosion hazards, and shown on an FHBM or FIRM as Zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, A99, AH, V, V1-V30, or VE.
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 home. "Structure," for insurance coverage purposes, means a walled and roofed building, other than a gas or liquid storage tank, that is principally above ground and affixed to a permanent site, as well as a manufactured home on a foundation. For the latter purpose, the term includes a building while in the course of construction, alteration, or repair, but does not include building materials or supplies intended for use in such construction, alteration, or repair, unless such materials or supplies are within an enclosed building on the premises.
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% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
Any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure either (a) before the improvement or repair is started, or (b) if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred. For the purposes of this definition, substantial improvement is considered to occur when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of the building commences, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure.
The one-hundred-year floodplain area where the base flood elevation (BFE) has not been determined. To determine the BFE, use the best available federal, state, local or other data.
The one-hundred-year floodplain where the base flood elevation has been determined.
An area having special flood hazards, as shown on the Millville FIRM.
Areas identified in the community Flood Insurance Study as areas of moderate or minimal flood hazard. Zone X replaces Zones B and C on new and revised maps.