For the purposes of these regulations, the Special Flood Hazard areas are zones A, A1-30, AE, and AH as delineated on the Flood Insurance rate map as part of the Flood Insurance Study prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.) dated August 9, 1999.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of these regulations, within areas of special flood hazards, no buildings or structures shall be built and no land shall be used, excavated or filled without approval by the Building Inspector in accordance with the provisions of this section and all other requirements of these regulations which are in concert with this section.

all necessary permits required under federal or state law by other governmental agencies, must be obtained.

5.2.1

New Construction and Substantial Improvements: New construction and substantial improvements shall be (1) anchored to prevent flotation, collapse or lateral movement on the structure resulting from hydrodynamic and hydrostatic loads, including the effects of buoyancy; (2) constructed with materials and utility equipment resistant to flood damage; (3) constructed by methods and practices that minimize flood damage; (4) constructed with electrical, heating, ventilation, plumbing, air conditioning equipment, and other service facilities that are designed and/or located so as to prevent water from entering or accumulating within the components during conditions of flooding.

5.2.2

Utilities and drainage systems must be located and designed to be consistent with the need to minimize flood damage. Water should be prevented from entering or accumulating within the components.

5.2.3

New water and sewer systems, including on-site systems, must be located and designed to avoid impairment and minimize infiltration of floodwaters into the systems and discharges from the systems into floodwaters.

5.2.4

Any manufactured (mobile) home (including a recreational vehicle placed on a site for one-hundred-eighty (180) consecutive days or longer) shall be installed using methods and practices, which minimize flood damage. Elevation construction standards include piling foundations placed no more than ten (10) feet apart, and the provision of reinforcement for piers more than six feet (6') above ground level.

5.2.5

The Building Inspector shall review all permit applications to determine whether proposed building sites will be reasonably safe from flooding.

5.2.6

As-built elevations and levels to which any flood proofing is effective must be submitted to the Building Inspector who shall maintain these records.

5.3.1

In unnumbered A zones, the developer and the Building Official shall obtain, review, and reasonably utilize, base flood elevation and floodway data from alternative sources, prior to its being provided by FIA (Federal Insurance Administration) through its Flood Insurance Rate Study, as criteria for requiring that the standards of Sections 5.3.2, 5.3.3, and 5.5 be met.

5.3.2

In Zones A1-30, AE, or AH, new construction and substantial improvements, must meet the following standards:

5.3.2.1

Residential structures shall have the lowest floor (including basement) elevated to or above the base flood level.

5.4.2.2

Nonresidential structures shall have the lowest floor (including basement) elevated to or above the base flood level; or to be flood proofed to or above that level provided the standards of Section 5.3.3 are met.

5.3.3

Flood Proofing: Non-residential structure located in all A-zones may be flood proofed in lieu of being elevated provided that together with all attendant utilities and sanitary facilities the areas of the structure below the required elevation are water tight with walls substantially impermeable to the passage of water, and use structural components having the capability of resisting hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and the effect of buoyancy. A registered professional engineer or architect shall review and/or develop structural designs, specifications, and shall certify that the design and methods of construction which are in accordance with acceptable standards of practice for meeting the provisions of this subsection.

5.3.4

All manufactured homes (including "mobile" homes placed on a site for one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days or longer) to be placed or substantially improve shall be:

5.3.4.1

Elevated so that the lowest floor is above the base flood elevation; and

5.3.4.2

Placed on a permanent foundation which itself is securely anchored and to which the structure is securely anchored so that it will resist flotation, lateral movement, and hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressures. Anchoring may include, but not be limited to, the use of over the top or frame ties to ground anchors.

the developer must notify adjacent communities and the State Coordinating office prior to any alteration or relocation of a watercourse and submit copies of such notifications to the PZC and FEMA. No permit shall be issued for any proposed alteration or relocation of a watercourse unless the flood carrying capacity is maintained.

5.5.1

In A zones where base flood elevations have been determined, but before a floodway is designated, no new construction, substantial improvement, or other development (including fill) shall be permitted which will increase base flood elevations more than one (1) foot at any point along the watercourse when all anticipated development is considered cumulatively with the proposed development.

5.5.2

Should data be requested and/or provided, the Town shall adopt a regulatory floodway based on the principle that the floodway must be able to convey the waters of the base flood without increasing the water surface elevation more than one (1) foot at any point along the watercourses.

5.5.3

The regulatory floodways established by FEMA on the flood boundary and floodway map are adopted and incorporation herein by reference. Since the floodway is an extremely hazardous area due to the velocity of floodwaters, which carry debris and potential projectiles and have erosion potential, any development or encroachment (including fill) which would result in any increase (0.00) in flood levels during base flood discharge is prohibited. To demonstrate a less than 0.00 increase the applicant must provide hydraulic analysis performed in accordance with standard engineering practices.

5.6.1

Agriculture and farming.

5.6.2

Forestry and nurseries.

The following uses may be permitted when granted a Special Permit by the Planning & Zoning Commission:

5.7.1

Residential, commercial and industrial structures; this includes both primary and secondary structures.

5.7.2

Public and private open-type recreational uses; including, but not necessarily limited to golf, tennis, equitation, swimming, boating, parks, game farms, and athletic fields.

5.7.3

Municipal sewer plant or public utility structure not subject to major flood damage.

5.7.4

Parking as an accessory use to either a special use or for a use permitted immediately adjacent to the floodplain.

5.7.5

Filling or excavation of land. The filling of land within the special flood hazard area is permitted, subject to the following requirements as well as those of Section 5.5 above.

5.7.5.1

An application must be submitted to the Planning & Zoning Commission for its consideration and approval, which shall include the following information:

5.7.5.1.1

An engineering plan prepared by a registered professional engineer showing the existing and proposed contours and the effect upon flooding and drainage conditions on adjacent properties.

5.7.5.1.2

The engineering plan shall show the location and elevation of all proposed buildings, and building permits shall be issued only for buildings shown on such approved plans.

5.7.5.1.3

The proposed filling of land for the purpose of building construction shall be logical extensions of land lying at higher elevations.

5.7.5.1.4

The filling of land shall not retard the flow of the stream or significantly reduce the volume of the storage, which alleviates flooding elsewhere.

5.7.5.1.5

Application for approval for construction and/or land filling within any encroachment lines established by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection shall be considered and approved only with the approval in writing of the said State Water Resources Commissioner.

5.8.1

Regulatory Floodway: 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.

5.8.2

Base Flood: The flood having a one (1) percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

5.8.3

Flood Insurance Rate Map (F.I.R.M.): An official map of a community on which the F.E.M.A. Administrator has delineated both the special hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

5.8.4

Flood or Flooding:

5.8.4.1

A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

5.8.4.1.1.

The overflow of inland or tidal waters.

5.8.4.1.2.

The unusual and rapid accumulation or run-off of surface waters from any source.

5.8.4.1.3.

Mudslides (i.e., mudflows), which are proximately caused or precipitated by accumulations of water on or under the ground.

5.8.4.2

The collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge, or by similarly unusual or unforeseeable event which results in flooding.

5.8.5

New construction: For insurance purposes, new construction will pertain to structures for which the start of construction or substantial improvement commenced on or after the effective date of the Flood Insurance Rate Map.

5.8.5.1

For flood plain management purposes, new construction means structures for which the start of construction or substantial improvement commenced after the effective date of these regulations.

5.8.6

Start of construction: Includes substantial improvement and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction repair, reconstruction, or improvement was within one hundred eighty (180) days of the permit date. The actual start means the first placement of permanent construction of a structure (including a manufactured home) on a site, such as the pouring of slabs or footings, installation of piles, construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation or placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading, and filling; 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.

5.8.7

"Structure" for flood plain management purposes, is 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 or foundation. For the latter purpose, the term included a building 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.

5.8.8

"Development" shall be defined as "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 or storage of equipment or materials".

5.8.9

"Flood proofed" is defined to mean "watertight with walls substantially impermeable to the passage of water and with structural components having the capability of resisting hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and effects of buoyancy".

5.8.10

Substantial damage: Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its origin before damaged condition would equal or exceed fifty (50) percent of the structure before the damage occurred.

5.8.11

Mean Sea Level 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.

5.8.12

Area of Special Flood Hazard is the land in the floodplain within a community subject to one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

5.8.13

Lowest floor 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 store, in an area other than a basement area is not considered a building's lowest floor.

5.8.14

Manufactured home means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. The term also includes recreational vehicles, park trailers, travel trailers, and similar transportable structures placed on a site for one hundred eighty (180) days or longer and intended to be improved property.

5.8.15

Flood Insurance Study is the official report by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The report contains flood profiles, the water surface elevation of the base food, and other flood data.

5.8.16

Recreational Vehicles means a vehicle which is:

a. built on a single chassis;

b. four hundred (400) square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;

c. designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and

d. designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.

5.8.17

Substantial Improvement means any combination of repairs, reconstruction, alteration, or improvements to a structure-taking place over a ten-year period, in which the cumulative cost equals or exceeds fifty (50) percent of the market value of the structure. The market value of the structure should be; 1) the appraised value of the structure "using the cost approach to value" prior to the start of the initial repair or improvement, or 2) in the case of damage, the value of the structure prior to the damage occurring. 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 term does not, however, include any improvement project required to comply with existing health, sanitary, or safety code specification, which are solely necessary to assure safe living conditions.

In all special flood hazard areas the following requirement shall apply:

5.9.1

All subdivision proposals shall be consistent with the need to minimize flood damage;

5.9.2

All subdivision proposals shall have public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical and water systems located and constructed to minimize flood damage;

5.9.3

All subdivision proposals shall provide adequate drainage to reduce exposure to flood hazards; and

5.9.4

Base flood elevation data shall be provided for all subdivision proposals and other proposed developments (including manufactured home parks and subdivisions) which are five (5) acres of fifty (50) lots, whichever occurs first, and are located in Zone A.