[Amended 11-13-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-7]

The Legislature of the State of New Jersey has, in N.J.S.A. 40:48-1 et seq., delegated the responsibility to local governmental units to adopt regulations designed to promote public health, safety, and general welfare of their citizenry.

A. The flood hazard areas of Springfield Township are subject to periodic inundation which results in loss of life and property, health and safety hazards, disruption of commerce and governmental services, extraordinary public expenditures for flood protection and relief, and impairment of the tax base, all of which adversely affect the public health, safety, and general welfare.

B. These flood losses are caused by the cumulative effect of obstructions in areas of special flood hazard which increase flood heights and velocities, and, when inadequately anchored, damage uses in other areas. Uses that are inadequately floodproofed, elevated or otherwise protected from flood damage also contribute to the flood loss.

It is the purpose of this article to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare, and to minimize public and private losses due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed:

A. To protect human life and health;

B. To minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects;

C. To minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public;

D. To minimize prolonged business interruptions;

E. To minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water and gas mains, electric, telephone and sewer lines, streets, and bridges located in areas of special flood hazard;

F. To help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the use and development of areas of special flood hazard so as to minimize future flood blight areas.

G. To insure that potential buyers are notified that property is in an area of special flood hazard; and

H. To ensure that those who occupy the areas of special flood hazard assume responsibility for their actions.

In order to accomplish its purposes, this article includes methods and provisions for:

A. Restricting or prohibiting 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. Requiring that uses vulnerable to floods, including facilities which serve such uses, be protected against flood damage at the time of initial construction;

C. Controlling the alteration of natural floodplains, stream channels, and natural protective barriers, which help accommodate or channel floodwaters;

D. Controlling filling, grading, dredging, and other development which may increase flood damage; and

E. Preventing or regulating the construction of flood barriers which will unnaturally divert floodwaters or which may increase flood hazards in other areas.

Unless specifically defined below, words or phases used in this article shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage and to give this article its most reasonable application:

APPEAL - A request for a review of the Construction Code Officials interpretation of any provision of this article or a request for a variance.

AREA OF SHALLOW FLOODING - A designated AO, AH, or VO zone on the Townships Flood Insurance Rate Map [FIRM] with a one-percent or greater annual chance of flooding to an average depth of one to three feet where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable and where velocity flow maybe evident. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.

AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD - The land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one-percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

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

BASEMENT - Any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.

BREAKAWAY WALL - A wall that is 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 supporting foundation system.

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

ELEVATED BUILDING - A nonbasement building (i) built in the case of a building in an area of special flood hazard to have the top of the elevated floor or in the case of a building in a coastal high hazard area to have the bottom of the lowest horizontal structural member of the elevated floor elevated above the ground level by means of piling, columns (posts and piers), or shear walls parallel to the flow of the water, and (ii) adequately anchored so as not to impair the structural integrity of the building during a flood up to the magnitude of the base flood. In an area of special flood hazard, elevated building also includes a building elevated by means of fill or solid foundation perimeter walls with openings sufficient to facilitate the unimpeded movement of floodwaters.

FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM) - The official map on which the Federal Insurance Administration has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY (FIS) - The official report provided in which the Federal Insurance Administration has provided flood profiles, as well as the Flood Boundary/Floodway Map and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

FLOOD OR FLOODING - A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

A. The overflow of inland or tidal waters; and/or

B. The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.

FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS - Zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as a floodplain ordinance, grading ordinance and erosion control ordinance) and other applications of police power. The term describes such state or local regulations, in any combination thereof, which provide standards for the purpose of flood damage prevention and reduction.

FLOODWAY - The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than 0.2 foot.

HISTORIC STRUCTURE - Any structure that is:

A. Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register;

B. Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;

C. Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior; or

D. Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:

(1) By an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior; or

(2) Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.

LOWEST FLOOR - The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area including basement. An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, usable solely for the parking of vehicles, building access or storage in an area other than a basement is not considered a buildings lowest floor provided that such enclosure is not built so to render the structure in violation of other applicable nonelevation design requirements.

NEW CONSTRUCTION - Structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of a floodplain regulation adopted by a community and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

RECREATIONAL VEHICLE - A vehicle which is:

A. Built on a single chassis;

B. Four hundred square feet or less when measured at the longest horizontal projections;

C. Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light-duty truck; and

D. Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.

START OF CONSTRUCTION - (For other than new construction or substantial improvements under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act) includes substantial improvements and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, placement, or other improvement was within 180 days of the permit date. The actual start means either the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site such as the pouring of a slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation, or the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways, nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings or piers, or foundations or the erection of temporary forms, nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure. For a substantial improvement, the actual start of construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of a building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.

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

SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE - Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT - Any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred substantial damage, regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either:

A. Any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local code enforcement officer and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions; or

B. Any alteration of a historic structure, provided that the alteration will not preclude the structures continued designation as a historic structure.

VARIANCE - A grant of relief from the requirements of this article which permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this article.

This article shall apply to all areas of special flood hazards within Springfield Township.

The areas of special flood hazard identified by the Federal Insurance Administration in a scientific and engineering report entitled The Flood Insurance Study for the Township of Springfield dated January 28, 1983, with accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Maps and Flood Boundary-Floodway Maps, is hereby adopted by reference and declared to be a part of this article. The Flood Insurance Study is on file in the office of the Construction Code Official.

No structure or land shall hereafter be constructed, located, extended, converted, or altered without full compliance with the terms of this article and other applicable regulations. Any person who violates this article or fails to comply with any of its requirements shall upon conviction be subject to the penalties provided for in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article III, of this Code, and, in addition, shall pay all costs and expenses involved in the case. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the Township from taking such other lawful action as is necessary to prevent or remedy any violation.

This article is not intended to repeal, abrogate, or impair any existing easements, covenants, or deed restrictions. However, where this article and another ordinance, easement, covenant, or deed restriction conflict or overlap, whichever imposes the more stringent restrictions shall prevail.

In the interpretation and application of this article, all provisions shall be:

A. Considered as minimum requirements;

B. Liberally construed in favor of the governing body; and

C. Deemed neither to limit nor repeal any other powers granted by state law.

The degree of flood protection required by this article is considered reasonable for regulatory purposes and is based on scientific and engineering considerations. Larger floods can and will occur on rare occasions. Flood heights maybe increased by man-made or natural causes. This article does not imply that land outside the area of special flood hazards or uses permitted within such areas will be free from flooding or flood damages. This article shall not create liability on the part of the Township, any officer or employee thereof or the Federal Insurance Administration for any flood damages that result from reliance on this article or any administrative decision lawfully made thereunder.

A.development permit shall be obtained before construction or development begins within any area of special flood hazard established in § 215-61. Application for a development permit shall be made on forms furnished by the Construction Code Official and may include, but not be limited to, plans in duplicate drawn to scale showing the nature, location, dimensions, and elevations of the area in question, existing or proposed structures, fill, storage of materials, drainage facilities, and the location of the foregoing. Specifically, the following information is required:

A. Elevation, in relation to mean sea level, of the lowest floor (including basement) of all structures;

B. Elevation, in relation to mean sea level, to which any structure has been floodproofed;

C. Certification by a registered professional engineer or architect that the floodproofing methods for any nonresidential structure meet the floodproofing criteria in § 215-70; and

D. Description of the extent to which any watercourse will be altered or relocated as a result of proposed development.

The Construction Code Official is hereby designated to administer and implement this article by granting or denying development permit applications in accordance with its provisions.

Duties of the Administrative Officer shall include, but not be limited to:

A. Permit review.

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

(2) Review all development permits to determine 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 is located in the floodway, assure that the encroachment provisions of § 215-71A are met.

B. Use of other base flood and floodway data. When base flood elevation and floodway data has not been provided in accordance with § 215-61, Basis for establishing areas of special flood hazard, the Construction Code Official 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 § 215-70, Specific standards, Subsections G(1) (residential construction) and G(2) (nonresidential construction).

C. Information to be obtained and maintained.

(1) Obtain and record the actual elevation in relation to mean sea level of the lowest floor (including basement) of all new or substantially improved structures, and whether or not the structure contains a basement.

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

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

(b) Maintain the floodproofing certifications required in § 215-66C.

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

D. Alteration of watercourses.

(1) Notify adjacent communities and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection prior to any alteration or relocation of a watercourse, and submit evidence of such notification to the Federal Insurance Administration.

(2) Require that maintenance is provided within the altered or relocated portion of said watercourse so the flood-carrying capacity is not diminished.

E. Interpretation of FIRM boundaries. 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 filed conditions). The person contesting the location of the boundary shall be given a reasonable opportunity to appeal the interpretation as provided in § 215-69.