[Ord. 5-2015, 12/3/2015]
Unless specifically defined in § 8-802 below, words and phrases used in this chapter shall be interpreted so as to give this chapter its most reasonable application.
[Ord. 5-2015, 12/3/2015]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A use or structure on the same lot with, and of a nature
customarily incidental and subordinate to, the principal use or structure.
Any person, partnership, business or corporation applying
for a land use permit involving regulated activities in an identified
floodplain.
A flood which has a one-percent chance of being equaled or
exceeded in any given year (also called the "one-hundred-year flood"
or "one-percent annual chance flood").
The volume of water resulting from a base flood as it passes
a given location within a given time, usually expressed in cubic feet
per second (cfs).
Refers to the elevation shown on the Flood Insurance Rate
Map for Zones AE, AH, and A1-30 that indicates the water surface elevation
resulting from a flood that has a one-percent or greater chance of
being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
Any area of the building having its floor below ground level
on all sides.
The Hopewell Township Board of Supervisors.
A combination of materials to form a permanent structure
having walls and a roof. Included shall be all manufactured homes
and trailers to be used for human habitation.
A space which will remain totally dry during flooding; the
structure is designed and constructed to prevent the passage of water
and water vapor.
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development,
or any successor agency.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,
or any successor agency.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate,
including, but not limited to, the construction, reconstruction, renovation,
repair, expansion or alteration of buildings or other structures;
the placement of manufactured homes; streets and other paving; utilities;
filling, grading and excavation; mining; dredging; drilling operations;
storage of equipment or materials; and the subdivision of land.
A structure or activity which changes, expands or diminishes
the course, current or cross section of a watercourse or floodplain.
A space which will remain dry during flooding, except for
the passage of some water vapor or minor seepage; the structure is
substantially impermeable to the passage of water.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency.
A temporary inundation of normally dry land areas.
The official map on which the Federal Emergency Management
Agency has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard and the
risk premium zones applicable to the community.
The official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency that includes flood profiles, the Flood Insurance Rate Map,
the Flood Boundary and Floodway Map, and the water surface elevation
of the base flood.
The Pennsylvania Flood Plain Management Act, 32 P.S. 679.101
et seq.
A relatively flat or low land area which is subject to partial
or complete inundation from an adjoining or nearby stream, river or
watercourse; and/or any area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation
of surface waters from any source.
Any combination of structural and nonstructural additions,
changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood
damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary
structures and their contents.
The designated area of a floodplain required to carry and
discharge floodwaters of a given magnitude. For the purposes of this
chapter, the floodway shall be capable of accommodating a flood of
the one-hundred-year magnitude.
Any structure that is:
Listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places
(a listing maintained by the Department of the Interior) or preliminarily
determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements
for individual listing on the National Register.
Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the
Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered
historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary
to qualify as a registered historic district.
Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places
in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved
by the Secretary of the Interior.
Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places
in communities with historic preservation programs that have been
certified either:
The floodplain area specifically identified in this chapter
as being inundated by the one-hundred-year flood.
Any of the following activities:
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts
or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings,
whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential
building on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or
tenure.
The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially
or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective
occupants by means of, or for the purpose of, streets, common areas,
leaseholds, condominiums, building groups or other features.
A subdivision of land.
A permit specifically issued for activities regulated in
a floodplain area by this chapter.
The lowest floor of the lowest fully enclosed area (including
basement). An unfinished, flood-resistant, partially enclosed area,
used solely for parking of vehicles, building access and incidental
storage, in an area other than a basement area is not considered the
lowest floor of a building, provided that such space is not designed
and built so that the structure is in violation of the applicable
nonelevation design requirements of this chapter.
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 home" includes park trailers, travel trailers,
recreational and other similar vehicles, which are placed at one or
more locations on a single property, or upon multiple contiguous properties
under the same ownership, within an identified floodplain for more
than 180 consecutive days.
A parcel of land under single ownership which has been planned
and improved for the placement of two or more manufactured homes for
nontransient use.
The replacement of existing work with equivalent materials
for the purpose of its routine maintenance and upkeep, but not including
the cutting away of any wall, partition or portion thereof, the removal
or cutting of any structural beam or bearing support, or the removal
or change of any required means of egress, or rearrangement of parts
of a structure affecting the exitway requirements; nor shall minor
repairs include addition to, alteration of, replacement or relocation
of any standpipe, water supply, sewer, drainage, drain leader, gas,
oil, waste, vent or similar piping, electric wiring or mechanical
or other work affecting public health or general safety.
Structures for which the start of construction commenced
on or after September 16, 1981, and includes any subsequent improvements
thereto.
A flood that has a one-percent chance of occurring annually
(i.e., frequency of one time every 100 years) but may occur in any
year.
The person or persons designated by the Township's Board
of Supervisors to issue permits pursuant to this chapter. Unless otherwise
designated, the permit officer shall be the Township's Zoning
Officer.
An individual, partnership, public or private association
or corporation, firm, trust, estate, municipality, governmental unit,
public utility or any other legal entity whatsoever which is recognized
by law as the subject of rights and duties.
A vehicle which is:
Built on a single chassis;
Not more than 400 square feet, measured at the largest horizontal
projections;
Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty
truck; and
Not designed for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary
living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use.
The one-hundred-year flood elevation plus 1.5 feet.
Flood-related damages sustained by a structure on two separate
occasions during a ten-year period for which the cost of repairs at
the time of each such flood event, on average, equals or exceeds 25%
of the market value of the structure before the damages occurred.
[Added by Ord. 2-2016, 3/3/2016]
Refers to an area in the floodplain subject to a one-percent
or greater chance of flooding in any given year. It is shown on the
FIRM as Zone A, AO, A1-A30, AE, A99, or AH.
Refers to and includes substantial improvement and other
proposed new development and means the date the land use permit was
issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction,
rehabilitation, addition, placement, or other improvement was within
180 days after the date of the land use permit and shall be completed
within 12 months after the date of issuance of the land use permit,
unless a time extension is granted, in writing, by the floodplain
administrator. 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 home on a foundation. Permanent construction does
not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading, and filling;
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.
Anything constructed or erected on the ground or attached
to the ground, including, but not limited to, buildings, sheds, manufactured
homes and other similar items. This term includes any man-made object
having an ascertainable stationary location on or in land or water,
whether or not affixed to land.
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land
by any means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions
of land, including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose,
whether immediate or future, of lease, partition by the court for
distribution to heirs, or devisees, transfer of ownership, or building
or lot development; provided, however, that the subdivision by lease
of land for agricultural purposes into parcels of more than 10 acres,
not involving any new street or easement of access or any residential
dwelling, shall be exempted.
The Hopewell Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance [Chapter 22].
Any repair, reconstruction or improvement of an existing
manufactured home park or manufactured home subdivision, where such
repair, reconstruction or improvement of the streets, utilities and
pads will equal or exceed 50% of the value of the streets, utilities
and pads before the repair, reconstruction or improvement is started.
Damage from any cause sustained by a structure whereby the
cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would
equal or exceed 50% or more of the market value of the structure before
the damage occurred.
Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other improvement
of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% 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 either:
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.
Any alteration of an historic structure, provided that the alteration
would not preclude the structure's continued designation as an
historic structure.
The Township of Hopewell, York County, Pennsylvania.
The statewide building code adopted by the Pennsylvania General
Assembly in 1999, applicable to new construction in all municipalities,
whether administered by the municipality, a third party or the Pennsylvania
Department of Labor and Industry. Applicable to residential and commercial
buildings, the UCC adopted the most-current International Residential
Code (IRC) and International Building Code (IBC), by reference, as
the construction standard applicable to the commonwealth floodplain
construction.
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
44 CFR 60.3(b)(5), (c)(4), (c)(10), (d)(3), (e)(2), (e)(4), or (e)(5)
is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation
is provided.
A channel or conveyance of surface water having a defined
bed and banks, whether natural or artificial, with perennial or intermittent
flow.
An area that is saturated by surface water or groundwater
at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under
normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically
adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, as determined in accordance
with the 1987 United States Army Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation
Manual.
The Zoning Officer of Hopewell Township.
The Hopewell Township Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 22].
