It is the purpose of this article to promote the public health, safety and general welfare and to minimize public and private losses due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed to:

A.

Require that uses vulnerable to floods, including facilities that serve such uses, be protected against flood damage at the time of initial construction;

B.

Restrict or prohibit uses that are dangerous to health, safety and property due to water or erosion hazards, or which increase flood heights, velocities or erosion;

C.

Control the alteration of natural flood plains, stream channels, and natural protective barriers that are involved in the accommodation of floodwaters;

D.

Control filling, grading, dredging and other development that may increase flood damage or erosion; and

E.

Prevent or regulate the construction of flood barriers that will unnaturally divert floodwaters or that may increase flood hazards to other lands.

Areas of special flood hazard consist of those areas included in the 1995 base flood elevation data prepared by the United States Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.), and provided to the county by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the form of the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), effective date May 6, 1996, or as subsequently amended or revised. Said map is hereby declared part of and incorporated by reference into this code. The FIRM shall be maintained by the zoning administrator as part of the official zoning map of Sumter County readily available for public review and reference. The requirements of this district apply to all other zoning districts and parts thereof which exist in an area of special flood hazard.

Areas of special flood hazard also include those areas defined through standard engineering analysis by governmental agencies or private parties but not yet incorporated into a flood insurance study.

The boundaries of the FH district do not appear on the official zoning map of Sumter County, Georgia, but are coterminous with the areas of special flood hazard identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the flood insurance study.

The objectives of this article are to:

A.

Protect human life and health;

B.

Minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water and gas mains, electric, telephone and sewer lines, streets and bridges located in flood plains;

C.

Help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the sound use and development of flood prone areas in such a manner as to minimize flood blight areas;

D.

Minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects;

1.

Minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public;

E.

Minimize prolonged business interruptions; and

F.

Ensure that potential home buyers are notified that property is in a flood area.

No permit shall be issued for construction of any building or structure within the FH district until the plans for such construction have been submitted to and satisfactorily reviewed by the zoning administrator in conformance with Chapter 38 of the Code of Ordinances of Sumter County.

The degree of flood protection required by these regulations is considered reasonable for regulatory purposes and is based on engineering and scientific methods of study. Larger floods may occur on rare occasions or the flood height may be increased by man-made or natural causes, such as bridge openings restricted by debris. These regulations do not imply that areas outside the flood district boundaries or land uses permitted within such district will be free from flooding or flood damages. These regulations shall not create liability on the part of the government or any officer or employee thereof for any flood damage that results from reliance on these regulations or any administrative decision lawfully made under this article.