Union City, NJ Chapter 175 Flood Damage Prevention

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the City of Union City 1-7-1997 as Ch. XXI of the 1996 Revised General Ordinances; amended in its entirety 5-21-2013. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Uniform construction codes — See Ch. 122.

Land development — See Ch. 223.

Subdivision of land — See Ch. 370.

§ 175-1 Administration.

Construction Official. The Construction Official shall be appointed to administer and implement this chapter by granting or denying development permit applications in accordance with its provisions.

§ 175-2 Duties and responsibilities of Construction Official.

The duties of the Construction Official shall include, but not be limited to:

A. Permit review. The Construction Official shall:

(1) Review all development permits to determine that the permit requirements of this chapter have been satisfied.

(2) Review all development permits to require that all necessary permits have been obtained from those federal, state or local governmental agencies from which prior approval is required.

(3) Review all development permits to determine if the proposed development adversely affects the flood-carrying capacity of the area of special flood hazard. For the purposes of this chapter, "adversely affects" shall mean damage to adjacent properties because of increase in flood levels attributed to physical changes to the channel and the area of special flood hazard.

(a) If it is determined that there is no adverse effect and the development is not a building, then the permit shall be granted without further consideration.

(b) If it is determined that there is an adverse effect, then technical justification, i.e., a registered professional engineer, for the proposed development shall be required.

(c) If the proposed development is a building, then the provisions of this chapter shall apply.

B. Use of other base flood data. The Construction Official shall obtain, review and reasonably utilize any base flood elevation data available from a federal, state or other source, in order to assure that:

(1) All new construction and substantial improvements of residential structures have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated to or above the base flood level.

(2) All new construction and substantial improvements of nonresidential structures have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated or floodproofed to or above the base flood level.

(3) If it is determined by the Construction Code Official that there is an adverse effect, then technical justification (i.e., registered professional engineer) for the proposed development may be required.

C. The Construction Official shall:

(1) Verify and record the actual elevation, in relation to mean sea level, of the lowest habitable floor, including basement, of all new or substantially improved structures.

(2) For all new or substantially improved floodproofed structures:

(a) Verify and record the actual elevation, in relation to mean sea level.

(b) Maintain the floodproofing certifications required.

(3) Maintain for public inspection all records pertaining to the provisions of this chapter.

§ 175-3 Alteration of watercourses.

The Construction Official shall:

A. Notify adjacent communities and the state coordinating agency prior to any alteration or relocation of a watercourse and submit evidence of such notification to the Federal Insurance Administration.

B. Require that maintenance is provided within the altered or relocated portion of such watercourse so that the flood-carrying capacity is not diminished.

§ 175-4 Interpretation of FHBM boundaries.

The Construction Official also shall make interpretations where needed as to the exact location of the boundaries of the areas of special flood hazards, for example, where there appears to be a conflict between a mapped boundary and actual field conditions.