ADWR. The Arizona Department of Water Resources.

Accessory structure. A structure that is on the same parcel of property as a principal structure, the use of which is incidental to the use of the principal structure.

Appeal. A request for a review of the floodplain administrator’s interpretation of any provision of this Chapter or a request for a variance.

Area of Shallow Flooding. A designated AO or AH zone on a community’s 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 may be 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. These areas are designated as Zone A, AO, AH and A1-30 on the FIRM and other areas determined by the criteria adopted by the director of ADWR.

Base Flood. Shall have the same meaning as “One-Hundred Year Flood” as defined in this Chapter.

Basement. Any area of the building having its floor sub-grade (below ground level) on all sides.

Building. See structure.

Community. Any state, area or political subdivision thereof, or any Indian tribe or authorized tribal organization, or authorized native organization, which has authority to adopt and enforce floodplain management regulations for the areas within its jurisdiction.

Cumulative Substantial Damage. The cumulative total of all repairs of substantial damage to a repetitive loss structure. Such repairs shall not cumulatively increase the market value of the structure more than 49 percent of the market value during the life of the structure. This term does not, however, include either:

Cumulative Substantial Improvement. The cumulative total of (i) all improvements, modifications, or additions to existing buildings during the preceding 5 years and (ii) all reconstruction and repairs to damaged buildings during the preceding 5 years. When the improvements, modifications, additions, reconstruction or repairs equal or exceed the 50% substantial improvement threshold, the structure must be brought into compliance.

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, or storage of equipment or materials.

Encroachment. The advance or infringement of uses, plant growth, fill, excavation, buildings, permanent structures or development into a floodplain, which may impede or alter the flow capacity of a floodplain.

Erosion. The process of the gradual wearing away of landmasses. This peril is not, per se, covered under the Program.

Existing Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision. 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, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, construction of streets and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete slabs) is completed before the effective date of the floodplain management regulations adopted by the community.

Expansion to an Existing Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision. 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).

FEMA. The Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Flood or Flooding. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from: (A) the overflow of flood waters; (B) the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source; and/or (C) the collapse or 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 this definition.

Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). The official map of a community, on which FEMA has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

Flood Insurance Study. The official report provided by FEMA that includes flood profiles, FIRM and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

Floodplain or Flood-Prone Area. Any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source.

Floodplain Administrator. The Town of Fountain Hills official designated by title to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.

Floodplain Board. The Town Council of the Town of Fountain Hills at such times as they are engaged in the enforcement of this Chapter.

Floodplain Management. The operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damage, including but not limited to emergency preparedness plans, flood control works and floodplain management regulations.

Floodplain Management Regulations. This Chapter and other zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as grading and erosion control) and other applications of police power that control development in flood-prone areas. This term describes federal, state or local regulations in any combination thereof, that provide standards for preventing and reducing flood loss and damage.

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.

Flood-Related Erosion. The collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of 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 a flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding.

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 a designated height. Also referred to as Regulatory Floodway.

Floodway Fringe. The area of the floodplain on either side of the Regulatory Floodway where encroachment may be permitted.

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

Governing Body. The Town Council of the Town of Fountain Hills.

Hardship. As related to Article 14-6 of this Chapter, means the exceptional difficulty that would result from a failure to grant the requested variance. The governing body requires that the variance be exceptional, unusual and peculiar to the property involved. Mere economic or financial hardship alone is not exceptional. Inconvenience, aesthetic considerations, physical handicaps, personal preferences or the disapproval of one’s neighbors likewise cannot, as a rule, qualify as an exceptional hardship. All of these problems can be resolved through other means without granting a variance, even if the alternative is more expensive, or requires the property owner to build elsewhere or put the parcel to a different use than originally intended.

Highest Adjacent Grade. The highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.

Historic Structure. Any structure that is any of the following:

Levee. A man-made structure, usually an earthen embankment, designed and constructed in accordance with sound engineering practices to contain, control or divert the flow of water so as to provide protection from temporary flooding.

Lowest Floor. The lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area, including basement. An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access or storage in an area other than a basement area 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 or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when attached to the required utilities. The term Manufactured Home does not include a recreational vehicle.

Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision. A parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for sale or rent.

Market Value. The amount determined by estimating the cost to replace the structure in new condition and adjusting that cost figure by the amount of depreciation that has accrued since the structure was constructed. The cost of replacement of the structure shall be based on a square foot cost factor determined by reference to a building cost estimating guide recognized by the building construction industry. The amount of depreciation shall be determined by taking into account the age and physical deterioration of the structure and functional obsolescence as approved by the floodplain administrator, but shall not include economic or other forms of external obsolescence. Use of replacement costs or accrued depreciation factors different from those contained in recognized building cost estimating guides may be considered only if such factors are included in a report prepared by an independent professional appraiser and supported by a written explanation of the differences.

Mean Sea Level. Means, for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988, or other datum to which base flood elevations shown on a community’s FIRM are referenced.

New Construction. Structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of an initial FIRM or after December 31, 1974, whichever is later, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures. For floodplain management purposes, “new construction” means structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of a floodplain management regulation adopted by a community and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

New Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision. 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, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed on or after the effective date of floodplain management regulations adopted by the community.

Obstruction. Includes, but is not limited to, any 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.

One-Hundred Year Flood. A flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

Person. An individual or the individual’s agent, a firm, a partnership, an association or corporation, or an agent of the aforementioned groups, or the state or its agencies or political subdivisions.

Recreational Vehicle. A vehicle that is:

Regulatory Flood Elevation. An elevation one foot above the base flood elevation for a watercourse for which the base flood elevation has been determined and shall be determined by the criteria developed by the director of ADWR for all other watercourses.

Regulatory 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 one foot.

Repetitive Loss Structure. A structure covered by a contract for flood insurance issued pursuant to the NFIA that has incurred flood-related damage on two occasions during any 10-year period ending on the date of the event for which a second claim is made, in which the cost of repairing the flood damage, on average, equaled or exceeded 25 percent of the market value of the structure at the time of each such flood event. In addition to the current claim, the NFIP must have paid the previous qualifying claim.

Sheet Flow Area. Means Area of Shallow Flooding, as defined above.

Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). An area in the floodplain subject to a one percent or greater chance flooding in any given year. It is shown on a FIRM as Zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, A99 or AH.

Start of Construction. Includes substantial improvement and other proposed new development, 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. For construction, the actual start means either the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site, such as the pouring of 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. The Start of 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. 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, including a gas or liquid storage tank, which is principally aboveground, as well as a manufactured home.

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 percent 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 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, however, include either:

Variance. A grant of relief from the requirements of this Chapter that permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this Chapter.

Violation. The failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with the community’s floodplain management regulations. A structure or other development without the elevation certificate, other certifications or other evidence of compliance required in this Chapter is presumed to be in violation until such time as that documentation is provided.

Water Surface Elevation. The height, in relation to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988, or other datum, of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of riverine areas.

Watercourse. A lake, river, creek, stream, wash, arroyo, channel or other topographic feature on or over which waters flow at least periodically. Watercourse includes specifically designated areas in which substantial flood damage may occur. (16-02, Added, 06/02/2016; 05-09, Amended, 09/15/2005)