This chapter shall be known as the "Floodplain Management Ordinance
for Kent County, Maryland."
This chapter shall apply to the unincorporated territory of Kent County,
Maryland. It is the intent of this chapter that the extent of its applicability
shall be automatically changed in accordance with the provisions hereof or
provisions of state law which may affect the applicability of this chapter.
A.
It is the purpose of this chapter to:
(1)
Protect human life and health.
(2)
Minimize public and private property damage.
(3)
Encourage the use of appropriate construction practices
in order to prevent or minimize flood damage in the future.
(4)
Protect individuals from unwittingly buying lands and
structures subject to flood hazards.
(5)
Reduce financial burdens imposed on the community by
preventing unwise development in areas subject to flooding.
(6)
Provide for public awareness for flooding potential.
(7)
Protect the biological and environmental quality of the
watersheds in Kent County.
B.
This chapter provides a unified, comprehensive approach
to floodplain management which addresses the natural floodplain functions
and the requirements of the federal and state programs concerned with floodplain
management, namely the National Flood Insurance Program (44CRF59-79), the
state's Waterway Construction Permit Program for Nontidal Floodplain,
the state's Tidal and Nontidal Wetlands Permit Programs, the United States
Army Corps of Engineers' Section 10 and 404 Permit Programs and the state's
Coastal Zone Management Program.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
A detached structure on the same parcel of property as the principal
structure, the use of which is incidental to the principal structure, e.g.,
a shed or detached garage.
The one-hundred-year frequency flood event as indicated in the Flood
Insurance Study, as amended, the elevation of which is used for regulatory
purposes in this chapter.
An enclosed area which is below grade on all four (4) sides.
A wall that is not part of the structural support of a building and
is intended to collapse under specific lateral loading forces without causing
damage to the supporting foundation system of the building.
A permit to legally occupy or use a building for the intended purpose.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including
but not limited to buildings or other structures, dredging, fill, grading,
paving, clearing, excavation, dumping, extraction or storage of equipment
or materials. This term shall also include the subdivision of land.
Supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to certify
as-built elevations of structures above mean sea level as established by the
National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD).
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation
of normally dry land areas from overflow of inland or tidal waters or rapid,
unusual accumulation of runoff from any source.
Map which depicts the minimum special flood hazard area to be regulated
by this chapter (unless a Floodway Map is available).
A relatively flat or low land area adjoining a river, stream, watercourse
or drainageway which is subject to partial or complete inundation;
An area subject to the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff or surface
waters from any source; or
Land typically adjacent to a body of water with ground surface elevations
that are inundated by the base flood.
Any combination of structural and nonstructural changes which reduce
or eliminate flood damage to improved property.
Form supplied by FEMA to certify that a building has been designed
and constructed to be structurally dry floodproofed to the flood protection
elevation.
The elevation of the base flood plus one-foot freeboard.
The channel and adjacent land area required to discharge the waters
of the one-hundred-year flood of a watercourse without increasing the water
surface elevations more than a specific height.
That portion of the floodplain outside the floodway.
Map which depicts floodways and special flood hazard areas to be
regulated by this chapter.
An increment of elevation added to the base flood elevation to provide
a factor of safety for uncertainties in calculations, wave actions, subsidence
or other unpredictable effects.
A structure listed individually on the National Register of Historic
Places, the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties, the Kent County Historical
Survey or preliminarily determined as meeting the requirements for such listing
by the Maryland Historic Trust or the Secretary of the Interior or determined
as contributing to the historic significance of a historic district registered
with the Secretary of the Interior.
The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area, including basement.
An unfinished enclosure constructed of flood-resistant materials used solely
for parking of vehicles, storage or building access in an area other than
a basement is not the "lowest floor," as long as it is supplied with water-equalizing
vents.
A transportable structure which is built on a permanent chassis and
is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when connected
to the required utilities.
A structure for which the start of construction (herein defined)
commenced on or after the effective date of the adoption of a Floodplain Management
Ordinance (November 5, 1985), and includes any subsequent improvements.
National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 elevation reference points
set by the National Geodetic Survey based on mean sea level.
A signed agreement which states that the proposed structure will
not be used for human habitation without first complying with the requirements
of this chapter.
The base flood having one (1) chance in a hundred (one-percent chance)
of being equaled or exceeded in any year.
Any structure occupying a site for more than one hundred eighty (180)
days per year.
A vehicle built on a single chassis which is four hundred (400) square
feet or less at the longest horizontal projection, self-propelled or towable,
and designed primarily for temporary living while traveling or camping.
The date of issue of the building permit for any development, including
new construction and substantial improvements, provided that the actual start
of the construction or improvement was within one hundred eighty (180) days
of permit issuance. The actual "start of construction" is the placement of
slab or footings, files, columns or actual placement of a manufactured home.
For substantial improvement, the "start of construction" is the first alteration
of any structural part of the building.
A walled and roofed building, including but not limited to manufactured
homes, gas and liquid storage tanks, garages, barns and sheds.
The division of a lot, tract or parcel of land into two (2) or more
lots, parcels, sites or other divisions of land. It includes resubdivision
and, when appropriate to the context, shall refer to the process of subdividing
or the land subdivided.
Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of
restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would equal or exceed
fifty percent (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 fifty percent (50%) of the market value of the structure
(less land value) either:
"Substantial improvement" occurs when the first alteration of any wall,
ceiling, floor or other structural part of the building commences. The minimum
repairs needed to correct previously identified violations of local health,
safety or sanitary codes and alterations to historic structures which do not
preclude their continued designation as historic structures are not considered
"substantial improvements." In floodway and coastal high hazard areas, permits
shall be tracked by property location to determine if the cumulative value
of improvements constitute "substantial improvement" of a structure.
Any structure completely removed within one hundred eighty (180)
days from issuance of the permit.
The grant of relief from a term or terms of this chapter.
Any land which is:
Considered private wetland or state wetland pursuant to Title 9, Wetlands
and Riparian Rights, of the Natural Resources Article of the Annotated Code
of Maryland; or
Defined as wetland under the procedures described in the Federal Manual
for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands by the Federal Interagency
Committee for Wetland Delineation 1989, as amended.
The degree of flood protection provided by this chapter is considered
reasonable for regulatory purposes and is based on engineering experience
and scientific methods of study. Floods of greater magnitude may occur or
flood heights may be increased by man-made or natural causes. This chapter
does not imply that flooding will not occur outside of the delineated floodplain
zone, nor that permitted development and land uses within the floodplain will
be free of flooding and associated flood damage. This chapter does not create
liability on the part of the community or any officer or employee thereof
for any damage which may result from reliance on this chapter.
A.
Identification of flood zones. The regulatory floodplain
shall be those areas of Kent County, Maryland, which are subject to the one-hundred-year
flood, delineated on the most recent revision of the community's Floodway
Maps and Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) and described in the Flood Insurance
Study (FIS) prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Floodway
Maps and the FIS, if available for the community, must be used. Areas along
nontidal streams that do not have FEMA delineations as described above are
subject to regulation by this chapter and the state.
B.
The floodplain shall be comprised of the following subdivisions:
(1)
Nontidal floodplains: these floodplains consist of the
floodway and floodway fringe. Nontidal floodplains may have detailed engineering
study data, profiles and water surface elevations or may have approximate
delineations only.
(2)
Tidal floodplains: those areas subject to coastal or
tidal flooding by the one-hundred-year flood. These areas are flooded due
to high tides, hurricanes, tropical storms and steady on-shore winds.
(3)
Coastal high hazard areas: those areas subject to coastal
or tidal flooding with the addition of high-velocity water and wind action.
These areas are designated as V-Zones on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps.
C.
Floodplain zone determination. The Planning Office will
determine the floodplain zone in which the development activity is proposed
using the Floodway Maps and FIS if available or, if not, by using the FIRM.
Without prior approval from FEMA, the community shall use no other data to
enforce floodplain management regulations. Where map boundaries and elevations
disagree, elevations prevail, with no approval from FEMA required.
D.
Approximate floodplain determination. For development
proposed in the approximate floodplain (no water surface elevations or floodway
data provided), the applicant must use the best available information to determine
the elevation of the one-hundred-year flood and the extent of the floodway
and must delineate these on the site plan submitted for approval. For new
subdivisions, the applicant must have the one-hundred-year flood elevations
certified by a registered professional engineer based on hydrologic and hydraulic
analyses which include a floodway analysis. For construction or fill on existing
property, if no data are available, the point-on-the-boundary method may be
used. In this method, the distance is scaled from a reference point at the
site to the edge of the one-hundred-year floodplain boundary indicated on
the FIRM. An elevation of the one-hundred-year flood is determined at the
point by survey.
E.
Unmapped streams. In cases in which development is proposed
in the vicinity of unmapped streams which have no delineated one-hundred-year
floodplain, a one-hundred-foot flood protection setback from the banks of
the stream shall be used. State permits may be required, and applicants are
advised to seek a determination from the state.
