The Town Engineer is hereby appointed to administer and implement
the provisions of this chapter.
Application for a development permit shall be made to the Town
Engineer on forms furnished by him or her prior to any development
activities, and may include, but not be limited to, the following
plans in duplicate: plans drawn to scale showing the nature, location,
dimensions, and elevations of the area in question; dimensions and
elevations of the area in question; existing or proposed structures,
fill, storage of materials and drainage facilities; and the location
of the foregoing. Specifically, the following information is required:
A.
Application stage.
(1)
An application for a development permit shall include the following:
(a)
Elevation in relation to mean sea level of the proposed lowest floor (including basement) of all structures included in § 223-17A;
(b)
A description of the extent to which any watercourse will be
altered or relocated as a result of the proposed development;
(c)
A statement as to whether or not the proposed alterations to an existing structure meet the criteria of the substantial improvement definition in § 223-5;
(d)
A statement as to whether there will be dry access to the structure
during the one-hundred-year storm event.
B.
Construction stage: Upon completion of the applicable portion of
construction, the applicant shall provide verification to the Town
Engineer of the following as is applicable:
C.
Deficiencies detected during the review of the above listed shall
be corrected by the permit holder immediately and prior to further
progressive work being permitted to proceed. Failure to submit the
survey or failure to make said corrections required hereby shall be
cause for the issuance of a stop-work order for the project.
Duties of the Town Engineer shall include, but not be limited
to:
A.
Reviewing all permit applications to determine whether proposed building
sites will be reasonably safe from flooding.
B.
Reviewing all development permits to assure that the permit requirements
of this chapter have been satisfied.
C.
Advising permittees that additional federal or state permits may
be required, and if specific federal or state permit requirements
are known, requiring that copies of such permits be provided and maintained
on file with the development permit. These may concern, without limiting
the generality of the foregoing, Coastal Area Management, Water Diversion,
Dam Safety, and Corps of Engineers 404.
D.
Notifying the Regional Planning Agency and the affected municipality
at least 35 days prior to the public hearing if any change of regulation
or use of a flood zone will affect an area within 500 feet of another
municipality.
E.
Notifying adjacent communities and the Department of Environmental
Protection, Water Resources Unit, prior to any alteration or relocation
of a watercourse, and submitting evidence of such notification to
the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
F.
Assuring that maintenance is provided within the altered or relocated
portion of said watercourse so that the flood-carrying capacity is
not diminished.
G.
Recording the elevation (in relation to mean sea level) of the lowest floor (including basement) of all new or substantially improved structures, in accordance with § 223-17A.
H.
Where interpretation is needed as to the exact location of boundaries
of the areas of special flood hazard (for example, where an apparent
conflict arises between a mapped boundary and actual field conditions),
the Town Engineer shall make the necessary interpretation. A person
contesting the location of the boundary shall be given a reasonable
opportunity to appeal the interpretation as provided herein.
I.
When base flood elevation data or floodway data have not been provided pursuant to § 223-7 hereof then the Town Engineer shall obtain, review and reasonably utilize any base flood elevation and floodway data available from a federal, state or other source in order to administer the provisions of Article V.
J.
All records pertaining to the provisions of this chapter shall be
maintained in the office of the Town Engineer.
K.
The Town Engineer shall cause notice of the issuance of a development
permit within 15 days of its issuance to be published in a newspaper
having general circulation in the Town of Orange.
L.
The Town Engineer may request floodway data of an applicant for watercourses
without FEMA-published floodways. When such data is provided by an
applicant or whenever such data is available from any other source
(in response to the municipality's request or not), the community
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 foot at any point
within the community.
M.
When BFEs have been determined within areas of special flood hazard
on the community's FIRM but a regulatory floodway has not been
designated, the Town Engineer must require that no new construction,
substantial improvements, repair to structures which have sustained
substantial damage or other development, including fill, shall be
permitted which will increase the water surface elevation of the base
flood more than one foot at any point within the community when all
existing and anticipated development is considered cumulatively with
the proposed development.
