The purposes of this district are to:
A.
Provide that the lands in the Town of Chelmsford subject
to seasonal or periodic flooding as described hereinafter shall not
be used for residence or other purposes in such manner as to endanger
the health or safety of the occupants thereof.
B.
Protect, preserve and maintain the water table and
water recharge areas within the Town so as to preserve present and
potential water supplies for the public health and safety of the residents
of the Town of Chelmsford.
C.
Assure the continuation of the natural flow of the
watercourse(s) within the Town of Chelmsford in order to provide adequate
and safe floodwater storage capacity to protect persons and property
against the hazards of flood inundation.
[Amended 4-28-2003 ATM by Art. 20; 4-26-2004 ATM by Art. 27; 4-26-2010 ATM by Art.
14; 4-28-2014 ATM by Art. 22]
The Floodplain District and Floodway District is herein established
as an overlay district. The underlying permitted uses are allowed,
provided that they meet the following additional requirements as well
as those of the Massachusetts State Building Code dealing with construction
in floodplains. The Floodplain District and Floodway District includes
all special flood hazard areas within the Town of Chelmsford designated
as Zone A and AE on the Middlesex County Flood Insurance Rate Map
(FIRM) issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for
the administration of the National Flood Insurance Program. The map
panels of the Middlesex County FIRM that are wholly or partially within
the Town of Chelmsford are panel numbers 25017C0118E, 25017C0119E,
25017C0138E and 25017C0231E dated June 4, 2010; and 25017C0232F, 25017C0234F,
25017C0242F, 25017C0251F, 25017C0252F, 25017C0253F, 25017C0254F, 25017C0256F,
25017C0258F, 25017C0261F and 25017C0262F dated July 7, 2014. The exact
boundaries of the District may be defined by the one-hundred-year
base flood elevations shown on the FIRM and further defined by the
Middlesex County Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report dated July 7,
2014. The FIRM and FIS report are incorporated herein by reference
and are on file with the Town Clerk, Planning Board, Inspector of
Buildings and Conservation Commission.
[Amended 4-28-2003 ATM by Art. 20; 4-26-2004 ATM by Art. 27]
A.
Floodway data. In Zone A and AE, along watercourses
that have not had a regulatory floodway designated, the best available
federal, state, local, or other floodway data shall be used to prohibit
encroachments in floodways which would result in any increase in flood
levels within the community during the occurrence of the base flood
discharge.
[Amended 4-26-2010 ATM by Art. 14]
B.
Base flood elevation data. Base flood elevation data
is required for subdivision proposals or other developments greater
than 50 lots or five acres, whichever is the lesser, within unnumbered
A zones.
Notify, in a riverine situation, the following
of any alteration or relocation of a watercourse:
A.
Adjacent communities.
B.
Bordering states.
C.
NFIP State Coordinator, Massachusetts Office of Water
Resources, 251 Causeway Street, Suite 600-700, Boston, MA 02114-2104.
[Amended 4-26-2004 ATM by Art. 27]
D.
NFIP Program Specialist, FEMA Region I, 99 High Street,
6th Floor, Boston, MA 02110.
[Amended 4-26-2004 ATM by Art. 27]
A.
The Floodplain District is established as an overlay
district to all other districts. All development in the district,
including structural and nonstructural activities, whether permitted
by right or by special permit, must be in compliance with MGL c. 131,
§ 40 and with the following:
(1)
Section of the Massachusetts State Building Code which
addresses floodplain and coastal high-hazard areas (currently 780
CMR).
[Amended 4-26-2004 ATM by Art. 27; 4-26-2010 ATM by Art. 14; 4-28-2014 ATM by Art.
22]
(2)
Wetlands Protection Regulations, Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) (currently 310 CMR 10.00).
(3)
Inland Wetlands Restriction, Department of Environmental
Protection (currently 310 CMR 13.00).
[Amended 4-26-2004 ATM by Art. 27]
(4)
Minimum Requirements for the Subsurface Disposal of
Sanitary Sewage, Department of Environmental Protection (currently
310 CMR 15, Title 5).
B.
Any variances from the provisions and requirements
of the above-referenced state regulations may only be granted in accordance
with the required variance procedures of these state regulations.
C.
In the Floodplain District, no new building shall
be erected or constructed and no existing structure shall be altered,
enlarged or moved, no dumping, filling or earth transfer or relocation
shall be permitted and no land, building or structure shall be used
for any purposes except:
(1)
Conservation of water, plants and wildlife.
(2)
Outdoor recreation, including play areas, nature study,
boating, fishing and hunting, where otherwise legally permitted, but
excluding buildings and structures.
(3)
Noncommercial signs (as permitted in the residential
districts), wildlife management areas, foot, bicycle, and/or horse
paths and bridges, provided that such uses do not affect the natural
flow pattern of watercourses.
(4)
Grazing and farming, including truck gardening and
harvesting of crops.
(5)
Forestry and nurseries.
D.
All subdivision proposals must be designed to assure that:
[Added 4-28-2014 ATM by Art. 22]
[Amended 4-28-2003 ATM by Art. 20]
In the floodway, designated on the Flood Insurance
Rate Map, the following provisions shall apply:
A.
All encroachments, including fill, new construction,
substantial improvements to existing structures and other development,
are prohibited unless certification by a registered professional engineer
is provided by the applicant demonstrating that such encroachment
shall not result in any increase in flood levels during the occurrence
of the one-hundred-year flood.
B.
Any encroachment meeting the above standard shall
comply with the floodplain requirements of the State Building Code.
C.
If a property owner questions the location of a floodplain
or floodway district, the owner may engage, at the owner's own cost,
a registered licensed surveyor with the approval of the Town Engineer
to determine if the land in question is within the floodplain or floodway
district. The landowner shall be responsible for the cost for this
determination. The Board of Appeals, in consultation with the Town
Engineer, shall decide whether or not to accept the surveyor's determination.
D.
No new building or portion thereof located within
the Floodplain District shall be allowed to connect to the municipal
wastewater system or to a private wastewater system that discharges
to the municipal wastewater system.
In the Floodplain District, the Board of Appeals may grant a special permit for exception for uses or structures in addition to those allowed under § 195-80, subject to the following:
A.
The applicant has referred the request to the Planning
Board, the Town Engineer, the Board of Health and the Conservation
Commission for review and recommendation as provided in MGL c. 40A,
§ 11;
B.
The land is shown to be neither subject to flooding
nor unsuitable for the proposed use because of hydrologic and/or topographic
conditions;
C.
The proposed use will not be detrimental to the public
health, safety and welfare;
D.
The proposed use will comply in all respects with
the provisions of the underlying district or districts within which
the land is located; and
E.
Any loss of floodplain or floodway shall be compensated
for at a similar elevation within the same local watershed.
