This chapter shall be known as the "Floodplain and Watercourse Ordinance of the Township of Freehold."

A. It is hereby recognized that various streams and watercourses in the Township of Freehold are subject to siltation, erosion of banks, recurrent and increasing flooding and degradation of water quality and that such conditions endanger life and public and property, that such conditions are aggravated by development and encroachments in the streams and watercourses, and that the most appropriate method of alleviating such conditions is through regulation of developments and encroachments.

B. It is further recognized that the Department of Environmental Protection of the State of New Jersey has been authorized by law (N.J.S.A. 56:16A-50 et seq.) to delineate the flood hazard area portions of New Jersey's floodplains and to adopt rules and regulations concerning the development and use of land within the floodway and flood-fringe portions of all delineated flood hazard areas.

C. It is further recognized that the Department of Environmental Protection has delineated the flood hazard areas of certain of the larger streams within the Township and has adopted rules and regulations applicable to the floodway portions of said delineated flood hazard areas.

D. It is further recognized that the Department of Environmental Protection is authorized by law (N.J.S.A. 58:16A-56) to promulgate minimum standards for the adoption by municipalities of rules and regulations applicable to the flood hazard areas.

E. It is further recognized that the flood hazard areas of many of the Township streams and watercourses have not been delineated by the Department of Environmental Protection and, therefore, remain unregulated and unprotected under NJDEP rules and regulations.

F. It is further recognized that the Freehold Township Environmental Commission has surveyed, delineated, and mapped the floodplains of the streams and watercourses of the Township.

G. It is, therefore, determined that the special and paramount public interest in the streams, watercourses, flood hazard areas, floodplains and floodways justifies the regulation of property located therein as provided in this chapter, which is in the exercise of the police power of the Township for the protection of the persons and property of its inhabitants and for the preservation of the public health, safety, and general welfare.

For the purpose of this chapter, unless the content clearly indicates otherwise, the following words shall have the following meanings:

APPEAL - A request for a review of the Planning Board'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 the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for Freehold Township with base map flood depths from one to three feet where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate, and where velocity flow may be evident.

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

BANK - The area of land adjoining a watercourse sloping from level grade to the beginning of the channel.

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 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 supporting foundation system.

CHANNEL - The bed and banks which confine and conduct the continuously or intermittently flowing water of any stream or watercourse.

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 located within the area of special flood hazard.

ELEVATED BUILDING - A nonbasement building built, in the case of a building in an area of special flood hazard, to have the top 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 adequately anchored so as not to impair the structural integrity of the building during a flood of up to the magnitude of the base flood. In an area of special flood hazard, "elevated building" shall also include a building elevated by means of fill or solid foundation perimeter walls with openings sufficient to facilitate the unimpeded movement of floodwaters.

ENCROACHMENT - Any structure or obstruction within a stream or watercourse or within the flood hazard area or floodplain of such stream or watercourse.

EROSION - Detachment and movement of soil and rock fragments by water, wind, ice, or gravity.

EXCAVATION - Removal, displacement, or recovery by any means whatsoever of minerals, mineral substances, or organic substances, other than vegetation, from the water, land surface, or beneath the land surface, whether exposed or submerged. Normal agricultural activities shall not be considered to be excavation.

FILL - Sand, gravel, rocks, earth, vegetation, rubble, or other materials placed or deposited within a stream, watercourse, flood hazard area, or floodplain.

FLOOD DAMAGE POTENTIAL - The susceptibility of a land use or activity at a particular site to damage by potential floods at that site, as well as the potential of a land use or activity to cause or add to off-site flooding or flood-related damage.

FLOOD-FRINGE - That portion of any delineated flood hazard area, not designated as floodway, as depicted on maps prepared by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection or its predecessor agencies, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 58:16A-50 et seq., and filed in the offices of the Township Clerk and Engineer.

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

FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY - The official report 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;

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

FLOODPLAIN - The area of relatively flat land adjoining a stream or watercourse and subject to flooding from an overflow of such stream or watercourse, including lands delineated as floodplains on maps prepared by the Freehold Township Environmental Commission and filed in the offices of the Township Clerk and Engineer.

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.

GROUNDWATER - That water, beneath the land surface, which is below the water table.

HAZARDOUS MATERIAL - Includes, but not limited to, inorganic mineral acids of sulphur, fluorine, chlorine, nitrogen, chromium, phosphorus, selenium and arsenic and their common salts; lead, nickel, and mercury and their inorganic salts or metallo-organic derivatives; coal tar acids, such as phenols and oresols, and their salts; petroleum products; and radioactive materials.

IMPROVED PARKING AREA - An area for the temporary or permanent location of motor vehicles which has been modified from its natural condition by excavation, fill, structures, or pavement.

LOWEST FLOOR - The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area, including the 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 building's lowest floor, provided that such enclosure is not built so to render the structure in violation of other applicable nonelevation design requirements.

MANUFACTURED HOME - A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. For floodplain management purposes the term "manufactured home" shall also include park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than 180 consecutive days. For insurance purposes the term "manufactured home" does not include park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles.

MANUFACTURED HOME PARK OR MANUFACTURED HOME SUBDIVISION - A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.

MOTOR VEHICLE - Any vehicle propelled otherwise than by muscular power, excepting such vehicle as runs only upon rails or tracks.

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

OBSTRUCTION - Any building, structure, material or combination of materials placed in, along, across, or projecting into any stream, watercourse, flood hazard area, or floodplain which may impede, retard or change the direction of the flow of water either in itself or by catching or collecting debris carried by such water or that is placed where the flow of water might carry the same downstream to the damage of life or property.

PERSON - Corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint-stock companies, as well as individuals, the state and all political subdivisions of the state or any agencies or instrumentalities thereof.

PESTICIDE - Any substance or mixture of substance labeled, designed or intended for use in preventing, destroying, repelling, sterilizing or mitigating any insects, rodents, nemotodes, predatory animals, fungi, weeds and other forms of plant or animal life or viruses, except viruses on or in living man or other animals. The term "pesticide" shall also include any substance or mixture of substances labeled, designed or intended for use as a defoliant, desiccant, or plant regulator.

PETROLEUM PRODUCT - Oil or petroleum of any kind and in any form, including crude oils and derivatives of crude oils, whether alone, as sludge, oil refuse or oil mixed with other wastes.

RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL - Any natural or artificially produced substance or combination of substances which emit radiation spontaneously.

RATE OF LOCAL RUNOFF - Speed with which a given quantity of water will move across the land surface at the site of the proposed use or activity under the influence of gravity.

SEDIMENTATION - The transport and depositing of solid material by water.

SOLID WASTE - Garbage, sludge, refuse, trash, rubbish, debris or other discarded solid materials.

START OF CONSTRUCTION - For other than new construction or substantial improvements under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (P.L. 97-348), includes substantial improvement and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, 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 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, 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.

STREAM - Any natural course of running water, whether improved, unimproved, enclosed or realigned, which presently or prior to any improvement, enclosure or realignment had been cut by the erosion of running water; a channel with well-defined banks and bed and through which water flows ordinarily and frequently, but not necessarily continuously.

STRUCTURE - Any combination of materials forming a construction, assembly or erection, the use of which requires location on or below the surface of the land or water, or attachment to something having a location on or below the surface of the land or water, including but not limited to buildings, fences, signs, poles, light stanchions, dams, fills, levees, bulkheads, walls, dikes, jetties, embankments, wharves, piers, docks, landings, pipes, causeways, culverts, bridges, roads, parking lots and other paved areas, as well as a mobile home.

SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT - Any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure either:

A. Before the improvement or repair is started; or

B. If the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred. For the purpose of this definition, "substantial improvement" shall be considered to occur 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 health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to assure safe living conditions; or

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

SURFACE WATER - Water on the land surface.

VARIANCE - A grant of relief to a person from the requirements of this chapter which permits construction in a manner otherwise prohibited by this chapter where specific enforcement would result in unnecessary hardship.

WATER-CARRYING CAPACITY - The ability of a stream or watercourse to transport flow as determined by its shape, cross-sectional area, bed slope and coefficient of hydraulic friction.

WATERCOURSE - Any natural or man-made carrier of water which has a definite channel with a bed and banks and along which water has flowed either continuously or intermittently for a sufficient period of time to give it substantial existence, including, but not limited to streams, rivers, brooks, rills, ponds, springs and drainage ditches.

This chapter shall apply to all streams and areas of special flood hazard within the jurisdiction of the Township of Freehold.

A. Adoption by reference. The following reports and maps are hereby adopted by reference and made a part hereof:

(1) The Flood Insurance Study for the Township of Freehold, dated October 4, 1982, with accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Maps and Flood Boundary Maps and any revisions thereto are hereby adopted and declared to be a part of this chapter.

(2) Freehold Township Environmental Commission maps titled "Freehold Township, Floodplains" prepared by the firm of Dames and Moore, Consulting Engineers, Cranford, New Jersey, for the Freehold Township Environmental Commission and on file in the offices of the Township Clerk and Engineer.

B. Unmapped areas of special concern. This chapter shall apply to unmapped areas of special flood hazard concern in accordance with §166-7.

Any and all lands or portions of lands which extend into, traverse, or lie within the area of special flood hazard as delineated in the report and maps referenced in §166-4A(1), or floodplains of maps referenced in §166-4A(2), shall be subject to the rules and regulations as set forth herein. In cases where there are conflicts between the two maps, the more stringent shall apply.

A. Prohibited uses. No person shall hereafter engage in or cause other persons to engage in any of the following prohibited activities or land uses within any portion of a flood hazard area, except as permitted as a lawful preexisting use under §166-12:

(1) Placing, depositing or dumping any solid waste in a sanitary landfill or otherwise.

(2) Dumping, disposing or discharging of pesticides, domestic and industrial wastes, radioactive materials, petroleum products, or other hazardous materials, except as authorized under other provisions of law, including authorized Mosquito Control Commission programs.

B. Nonregulated (exempt) uses.

(1) For purposes of this subsection, nonregulated uses are activities and land uses within the flood hazard area which:

(a) Are not prohibited under Subsection A;

(b) Have an inherent low flood damage potential;

(c) Do not obstruct flood flows;

(d) Do not require channel modification or relocation;

(e) Do not increase significantly the local rate of runoff and/or erosion and sedimentation;

(f) Are undertaken with full on-site flood damage risks accepted by the owner or his assigns;

(g) Do not increase off-site flood damage potential; and

(h) Do not require erection of structures.

(2) Nonregulated uses in the area of special flood hazard and floodplain must satisfy the above conditions and shall include and be limited to:

(a) Residential. Residence improvement activities such as lawns, gardens, landscaping, play areas, park areas and fences.

(b) Private and public recreation. Playing fields, picnic grounds, swimming areas, parks, wildlife and nature preserves, game farms, hunting and fishing areas, shooting preserves, biking and horseback riding trails, tennis courts, basketball courts, driving ranges, archery ranges, target ranges, trap and skeet ranges and fish hatcheries.

(c) Agriculture. General cultivation, pasture, grazing, outdoor plant nurseries, horticulture, viticulture, truck farming, forestry, sod farming, and wild crop harvesting. Fences associated with these agricultural uses are nonregulated.

C. Regulated uses.

(1) For purposes of this subsection, regulated activities and land uses are those within the flood hazard area and floodplain which are not prohibited under Subsection A of this section, do not qualify as nonregulated (exempt) uses under Subsection B of this section, do not qualify as preexisting uses under §166-12 and which involve, incorporate or make use of one or more of the following:

(a) Structures (both temporary and permanent);

(b) Fill;

(c) Excavation; or

(d) Channel modifications or relocations.

(2) Regulated uses shall include but are not limited to the following:

(a) All nonregulated uses under Subsection B of this section when they involve any of the factors listed above;

(b) Public and private recreation facilities such as golf courses, tennis courts, swimming pools, boat launching ramps, docks, piers and wharves;

(c) Improved parking areas;

(d) Utilities and transportation such as railroads, streets, highways, bridges, pipelines, and transmission lines;

(e) Retaining walls, dams, bulkheads, and dikes; and

(f) Construction of or substantial improvement of residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, or other structures, including mobile homes.