§ 54-513. Definitions.

(a)

General.

(1)

All terms used in this Article shall be defined and construed consistent with the definitions promulgated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the National Flood Insurance Program in 44 CFR, Parts 59 and 60;

(2)

For the purpose of this Article, certain abbreviations, terms, phrases, words and their derivatives shall be construed as set forth in this section;

(3)

Words used in the present tense include the future. Words in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter. The singular number includes the plural and the plural includes the singular; and

(4)

Words not defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the most recent edition of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

(b)

Definitions.

(1)

Accessory Structure (Appurtenant Structure) means a Structure which is located on the same parcel or lot or on a contiguous lot in the same ownership as the principal Structure and the use of which is incidental and subordinate to the use of the principal Structure. Accessory Structures should constitute a minimal initial investment, may not be used for human habitation, and be designed to have minimal Flood damage potential. Examples of Accessory Structures are detached garages, carports, and storage sheds. Examples of Appurtenant Structures are attached pool cages, patios, and decks.

(2)

Addition means any expansion to the vertical or horizontal perimeter of a building connected to the existing building by a common load-bearing structural connection.

(3)

Base Flood means the Flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year, also known as the 100-year Flood.

(4)

Basement means that portion of a building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.

(5)

Base Flood Elevation (B.F.E.) means the highest elevation of the water surface associated with the Base Flood, as shown in the-studies referenced in Section 54-514 (b) of this Article.

(6)

Breakaway Wall or Frangible Wall means a wall or partition independent of supporting structural members that will withstand design wind forces, but will fail under hydrostatic, wave and run-up forces associated with the design storm surge. Under such conditions, the wall will fail in a manner such that it dissolves or breaks up into components that will not act as potentially damaging missiles.

(7)

Building Official means the officer charged with authority to administer and enforce the County's adopted Building Code. The Building Official is the County officer responsible for the administration and enforcement of the County's adopted Floodplain Management Regulations, and is designated as the Floodplain Administrator.

(8)

Coastal High Hazard Area means the area subject to high velocity waters caused by, but not limited to, hurricane wave wash. The area is designated on a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) as Zone V1-30, or VE.

(9)

Code Enforcement Officer means any designated employee or agent of Sarasota County whose duty it is to enforce the codes and ordinances enacted by the Board of County Commissioners of Sarasota County. Employees or agents who may be designated as Code Enforcement Officers for the purposes of the enforcement of the provisions of this Article may include, but are not limited to, the County Floodplain Administrator, Code Enforcement Officers, Building Plan Reviewers, County Plans Engineer, Zoning Plan Reviewers, Building Inspectors, and Law Enforcement Officers.

(10)

Community Flood Hazard Area (CFHA) means the land identified in the Local Flood Study (LFS) as being in a Floodplain within Unincorporated Sarasota County subject to a one percent or greater chance of Flooding in any given year. (Visit https://www.scgov.net for additional information.)

(11)

County Administrator means the County Administrator or duly authorized representative.

(12)

Critical facility means an integral and readily identifiable facility such as schools, nursing homes, hospitals, police, fire and emergency response installations, installations which produce, use or store hazardous materials or hazardous waste, or other facilities that would potentially create a danger to the public health, safety, or welfare if the facility was compromised by flooding.

(13)

Development means any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavating, drilling operations, or storage of materials or equipment.

(14)

Enclosure means that portion of a building between the top of a floor that has a surface elevation lower than the required Base Flood Elevation (B.F.E.) and the bottom surface of the ceiling of said area enclosed by vertical walls.

(15)

Elevated Building means a non-basement building built to have the Lowest Floor elevated above the ground level by means of solid foundation perimeter walls, pilings, or columns.

(16)

Existing Construction or Existing Structure means Structures for which the Start of Construction commenced on or before June 15, 1971 or the adoption of earliest FIRM, whichever date is later.

(17)

Existing Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision means a Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision for which the Start of Construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the Manufactured Homes are affixed (including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) was commenced before June 15, 1971 or the adoption of earliest FIRM whichever date is later.

(18)

Expansion to an Existing Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision means the preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the Manufactured Homes are to be affixed (including the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads).

(19)

Flood or Flooding means:

a.

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

1.

The overflow of inland or tidal waters, or

2.

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

b.

The collapse of subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force of nature, such as flash Flood or an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in Flooding as defined in paragraph a, of this definition.

(20)

Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) means an official map of a community, on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has delineated both the Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) and the risk premium zones applicable to the community. The latest FIRM issued for unincorporated Sarasota County is referred to as the effective FIRM.

(21)

Flood Insurance Study is the official hydraulic and hydrologic report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The report contains Flood profiles, as well as the Flood Insurance Rate Maps, Flood Boundary Floodway Maps, the water surface elevation of the Base Flood, and other related information.

(22)

Floodplain means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source (see definition of "Flood or Flooding" in this Article).

(23)

Floodplain Management Regulations means this Article and other zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances, and other applications of regulatory requirements which control Development in identified Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA), Community Flood Hazard Areas (CFHA), and otherwise legally designated flood hazard areas of unincorporated Sarasota County. This term describes federal, state or local regulations in any combination thereof, which provide standards for preventing and reducing Flood loss and damage.

(24)

Floodproofing means any combination of structural and non-structural 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.

(25)

Flood-Resistant Material means any building material capable of withstanding direct and prolonged contact with floodwaters without sustaining significant damage, such as materials described in FEMA Technical Bulletin 2-93 or materials found by the Floodplain Administrator to provide equivalent resistance to such damage. The term "prolonged contact" means at least 72 hours of immersion, and the term "significant damage" means any damage requiring more than low-cost cosmetic repair (such as painting).

(26)

Floodway or Regulatory Floodway means 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 one foot.

(27)

Free of Obstruction for New Construction and Substantial Improvements in Coastal High Hazard Areas and Floodways means the practice of not constructing attached or unattached construction elements such as garages, decks, swimming pools, Accessory Structures, Appurtenant Structures or any other type of Obstructions below Base Flood Elevation (B.F.E.) within the footprint or around the perimeter of a Structure that may alter the physical characteristics of Flooding or significantly increase wave or debris impact forces.

(28)

Functionally Dependent Use means a use which cannot be used for its intended purpose unless it is located, or carried out in close proximity to water. The term includes only docking facilities, port facilities that are necessary for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers, and ship building and ship repair facilities and does not include long-term storage, or related manufacturing facilities.

(29)

Hardship (as related to Variances from the requirements of this article) means the need that would result from a failure to grant the requested Variance. The County requires that the circumstances be exceptional, unusual, and peculiar to the property involved. Economic or financial difficulty alone is not exceptional. Inconvenience, aesthetic considerations, physical handicaps, personal preferences, or the disapproval of one's neighbors likewise cannot qualify.

(30)

Highest Adjacent Grade means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction, next to the proposed walls of a Structure.

(31)

Historic Structure means any Structure that is:

a.

Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of the Interior) 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 or a 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 Interior, or

2.

Directly by the Secretary of Interior without approved programs.

(32)

Local Flood Study (LFS) means Unincorporated Sarasota County Flood Study(s), or other study(s) from which the Sarasota County Floodplain Administrator has determined to be best available data.

(33)

Lowest adjacent grade means the lowest elevation, after the completion of construction, of the ground, sidewalk, patio, deck support, or basement entryway immediately adjacent to the Structure.

(34)

Lowest Floor means a building's lowest enclosed area (including Basement). The Floodplain Administrator shall not consider an unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access or storage other than a Basement to be the building's Lowest Floor, provided that such enclosure does not violate the applicable non-elevation design requirements of this Article.

(35)

Manufactured Home means a Structure, transportable in one 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 Recreational Vehicles, and similar transportable Structures placed on a site for longer than 180 consecutive days.

(36)

Manufactured Home Park or Manufactured Home Subdivision means the premises where Manufactured Homes are parked for non-transient living or sleeping and where lots are set aside or offered for sale or lease for use by Manufactured Homes for living or sleeping purposes, including any land, building, Structure, or facilities used by occupants of Manufactured Homes on such premises.

(37)

Market Value means the replacement value of a building or Structure, less the value of all forms of depreciation as supported by a well-recognized cost estimator, not to include the vacant land value, Accessory Structures, and Appurtenant Structures such as pools, pool cages, detached garages and any other Structure not structurally attached.

For the purpose of determining Market Value the applicant may use the Sarasota County Property Appraiser's Office assessed value of improvement plus 20 percent or an Appraisal Report prepared by a State of Florida Certified Residential Appraiser or State of Florida Certified General Appraiser which meets the requirements of the version of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice ("USPAP") incorporated by reference in Florida Administrative Rule 61J1-9.001. As contemplated by Standards Rule 1-2 of USPAP, the applicant's appraiser shall identify all intended users of the Appraisal Report, including the Floodplain Administrator, and the intended use as ensuring compliance with this Article. The Floodplain Administrator shall perform a review of the following: (1) whether the Appraisal Report accurately reflects the characteristics of the building or Structure (e.g., total square footage and number of rooms compared to tax records, condition of the building or Structure, quality of construction); and (2) whether the replacement value excludes the vacant land value, Accessory Structures, and Appurtenant Structures such as pools, pool cages, detached garages and any other Structure not structurally attached. Further, the Floodplain Administrator shall use whichever Market Value is higher.

(38)

Mean Sea Level (MSL) means, for the purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or other datum, to which Base Flood Elevations are shown on a community's Flood Insurance Rate Map and other legally adopted flood studies are referenced.

(39)

New Construction means any Structure for which the Start of Construction commenced on or after June 15, 1971, or the adoption of the earliest Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) whichever is later, and includes any subsequent improvements to such a Structure.

(40)

New Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision means a manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including a minimum, the installations utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed on or after June 15, 1971.

(41)

Non-Special Flood Hazard Area - an area that is in a moderate-to-low risk flood zone designated as Zone X or (Shaded) X, B, or C, and defined on Sarasota County's adopted Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM).

(42)

Obstruction includes, but is not limited to, any swimming pool, deck, patio, bulkhead, mounded septic system, fence, dam, wall, wharf, embankment, levee, dike, pile, abutment, protection, excavation, channelization, bridge, conduit, culvert, building, wire, fence, rock, gravel, refuse, fill, Structure, vegetation or other material in, along, across or projecting into any watercourse which may alter, impede, retard or change the direction and/or velocity of the flow of water, or due to its location, its propensity to snare or collect debris carried by the flow of water, or its likelihood of being carried downstream.

(43)

Occupancy Classification means the use and habitation of all buildings and structures as specified in the latest edition of the Florida Building Code.

(44)

Recreational Vehicle means a vehicle as defined pursuant to F.S. Section 320.01.

(45)

Repetitive Loss means Flood-related damages sustained by a Structure on two separate occasions during a ten-year period ending on the date of the event for which the second claim is made, in which NFIP losses of at least $1,000.00 each have been paid.

(46)

Special flood hazard area (SFHA) or Area of special flood hazard means the land in the floodplain within unincorporated Sarasota County subject to a one percent or greater chance of Flooding in any given year. These areas are designated as Zones A, Al through A30, AE, VI through V30, or VE and defined on Sarasota County's adopted Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM).

(47)

Sand Dune means the coastal dune system that is composed of ridged, hilly, flat, or depressional sandy overwash areas that buffer and protect coastal Development from storm wave activity. Coastal dune systems are most often, but not always, covered by salt-tolerant, beachfront vegetation.

(48)

Start of Construction for other than New Construction or Substantial Improvements under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (P.L. 97-348), means the date the building permit was issued for either a New Structure or Substantial Improvement to an Existing Structure, provided the actual Start of Construction, repair, reconstruction, or improvement was within 180 days of the permit date. The actual start means the first placement of permanent construction of a Structure (including a Manufactured Home) on a site, such as the pouring of slabs or footings, installation of piles, 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; the installation of streets and/or walkways; the excavation for a basement, footings, piers or foundations; the erection of temporary forms; or the installation on the property of Accessory Structures. For a Substantial Improvement, the actual start of construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of a Structure, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the Structure.

(49)

Structure means that which is constructed such as a walled and roofed building that is constructed principally above ground, a Manufactured Home, a gas or liquid storage tank, or a swimming pool. For the purpose of this article residential modular Structures shall be built on permanent foundations and shall be required to meet or exceed the minimum elevation and non-elevation requirements established by the Base Flood Elevation (B.F.E.).

(50)

Substantial Damage means damage of any origin sustained by a Structure whereby the cost of restoring the Structure to its undamaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the Market Value of the Structure before the damage occurred.

(51)

Structurally Independent Compliant Lateral Additions see definition 54-513(b)(2) "Addition".

(52)

Substantial Improvement means any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other improvement of a Structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent 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, include:

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 County 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 Structure's continued designation as a Historic Structure.

(53)

Variance means a grant of relief or relaxation of the terms or standards of the Sarasota County Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance.

(54)

Violation means the failure of a Structure or other Development to be fully compliant with this Article.

(55)

Violator means the persons or entities owning, occupying, or controlling the property on which a Violation as defined herein, has occurred or remains uncorrected, as well as the persons or entities whose acts or omissions caused the Violation.

(Ord. No. 2002-013, § 2, 4-24-2002; Ord. No. 2003-085, § 3, 10-8-2003; Ord. No. 2008-084, § 3, 7-8-2008; Ord. No. 2009-024, § 4, 9-22-2009; Ord. No. 2009-060, § 2, 4-14-2010; Ord. No. 2012-010, §§ 1, 2, 4-11-2012; Ord. No. 2016-043, § 3, 9-7-2016)