Chapter 31: Flood Damage Prevention
§ 31-1. Statement of purpose.
§ 31-2. Terms defined.
§ 31-3. Lands to which chapter applies.
§ 31-4. Basis for establishing areas of special flood hazard.
§ 31-5. Interpretation.
§ 31-6 Penalties for offenses.
§ 31-7. Warning and disclaimer of liability.
§ 31-8. Designation of local administrator.
§ 31-9. Development permit required.
§ 31-10. Duties and responsibilities of local administrator.
§ 31-11. General standards.
§ 31-12. Specific standards.
§ 31-13. Floodways.
§ 31-14. Appeals board.
§ 31-15. Condition for variances.

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Williamsville, 3-23-87 as L.L. No. 2-1987. Sections 31-4, 31-8,31-10A(4), 31-11E(2) and (3), 31-12 and 31-13 amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch 1, General Provisions, Art. I. Other amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCE

Fire prevention and building code administration - See ch. 28.
Landscaping - See Ch. 57.
Zoning - See Ch. 112.
 
ARTICLE I
Purpose

§ 31-1. Statement of purpose.

A. Regulate uses which are dangerous to health, safety and property due to water or erosion hazards or which result in damaging increases in erosion or in flood heights or velocities.

B. Require that uses vulnerable to floods, including facilities which serve such uses, be protected against flood damage at the time of initial construction.

C. Control the alteration of natural floodplains, stream channels and natural protective barriers which are involved in the accommodation of floodwaters.

D. Control filling, grading, dredging and other development which may increase erosion or flood damages.

E. Regulate the construction of flood barriers which will unnaturally divert floodwaters or which may increase flood hazards to other lands.

F. Qualify for and maintain participation in the National Flood Insurance Program.

ARTICLE II
Definitions

§ 31-2. Terms defined.

B. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

APPEAL - A request for a review of the local administrator's interpretation of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variance.

AREA OF SHALlOW FlOODING - A designated AO or VO Zone on a community's Flood Ice Rate Map (FIRM with base flood depths from one (1) to three (3) feet where clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate and whet velocity flow may be evident.

AREA OF SPECIAL FlOOD HAZARD - The land in floodplain within a community subject to a one-percent greater chance of flooding in any given year. This area may be designated as Zone A, AE, AH, AO, Al through A99, V, VO, VE or VI through V30. It is also commonly referred to as the "base floodplain" or "one-hundred-year floodplain."

BASE FlOOD - The flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

BASEMENT - That portion of a building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.

BREAKAWAY WALL - A wall that is not part of the structural support of the building and is intended through its design and construction to collapse under specific lateral loading forces without causing damage to the elevated portion of the building or the supporting foundation system.

BUILDING - Any structure built for support, shelter, or enclosure for occupancy or storage.

CELLAR - The same meaning as "basement."

DEVElOPMENT - Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, paving, excavation or drilling operations, located within the area of special flood

ELEVATED BUILDING - A nonbasement building built to have the lowest floor elevated above the ground level by means of fill, solid foundation perimeter walls, pilings, columns (posts and piers) or shear walls.

FlOOD or FlOODING - A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

(1) The overflow of local stream waters.

(2) The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of waters from any source.

FLOOD BOUNDARY AND FlOODWAY MAP (FBFM) - An official map of the community published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of a riverine community's Flood Insurance Study. The FBFM delineates a

regulatory floodway along watercourses studied in detail in the Flood Insurance Study.

FLOOD HAZARD BOUNDARY MAP (FHBM) - An official map of a community, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where the boundaries of the areas of special flood hazard have been defined but no water surface elevation is provided.

FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM) - An official map of a community 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.

FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY - The official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The report contains flood profiles, as well as the Flood Boundary-Floodway Map and the water surface elevations of the base flood.

FLOODPROOFING - 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 facilities, structures and their contents.

FLOODWAY - The same meaning as "regulatory floodway."

FlOOR - The top surface of an enclosed area in a building (including basement) i.e., top of slab in concrete slab construction or top of wood flooring in wood frame construction

HIGHEST ADJACENT GRADE - The highest natural elevation of the ground surface, prior to construction, next to the proposed walls of a structure.

LOWEST FlOOR - Lowest level, including basement or cellar, of the lowest enclosed area- An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure usable solely for parking of vehicles, building or storage in an area other than a basement is not considered a building's "lowest floor," provided that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable nonelevation design requirements of this chapter.

MANUFACTURED HOME - A structure, transportable in one (1) or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. The term also includes park trailers, travel trailers and similar transportable structures placed on a site for one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days or longer and intended to be improved property.

MEAN SEA LEVEL - For purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or other datum to which base flood elevations shown on a community's Flood Insurance Rate Map are referenced.

MOBILE HOME - The same meaning as "manufactured home."

NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM (NGVD) - As corrected in 1929, a vertical control used as a reference for establishing varying elevations within the floodplain.

NEW CONSTRUCTION - Structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of this chapter.

ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR FLOOD - The same meaning as flood."

PRINCIPALLY ABOVE GROUND - At least fifty-one percent (51%) of the actual cash value of the structure, excluding land value, is above ground.

REGULATORY FLOODWAY - The channel of a watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water elevation more than a designated height as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in a Flood Insurance Study or by other agencies as provided in § 31-10B.

START OF CONSTRUCTION - The initiation, excluding planning and design, of any phase of a project, physical alteration of the property, and shall include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling; installation of streets and/or walkways; excavation for a basement, footings, piers or foundations or the erection of temporary forms. It also includes the placement and/or installation on the property of accessory buildings (garages, sheds), storage trailers and building materials. For manufactured homes, the actual start means affixing of the manufactured home to its permanent site.

STRUCTURE - A walled and roofed building, manufactured home or a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground.

SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT - Any repairs, reconstruction or improvement of a structure, the cost which equals or exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the market value of the structure either before the improvement or repair is started or, if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred. For the purposes of this definition, "substantial improvement" is considered to commence when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor or other structural part of the building commences, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure. The term does not, however, include either:

(1) Any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or local building, fir health, sanitary or safety code specifications which is solely necessary to assure safe living conditions or

(2) Any alteration of a structure or contribution structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a State Inventory of Historic Places.

VARIANCE - A grant of relief from the requirement this chapter which permits construction or use in manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this chapter.

ARTICLE III
General Provisions

A picture of 5583 Main St Village Hall pictured in 1949 was originally built with limestone mined from the Young's limestone quarry which occupied what is now The Country Club of Buffalo. click here to see a bigger picture.

A picture of Main St looking West taken in 1950. The Ronecker building on the right is now home to Marty's formal wear. Picture courtesy of Dan Crapsi. click here to see a bigger picture.