ACCESSORY BUILDING/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 1% 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.

BASE FLOOD. The flood having a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

BASEMENT. Any area of a 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.

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 and storage of materials or equipment.

ELEVATION CERTIFICATE. An administrative tool of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that is used to provide elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with community floodplain management ordinances, to determine the proper insurance premium rate, and to support a request for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or Letter of Map Revision based on fill (LOMR-F).

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 National Flood Insurance Program.

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

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

FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY (FIS). The official report provided by FEMA that includes flood profiles, the 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. (See "Flood or Flooding".)

FLOODPLAIN ADMINISTRATOR. The community official appointed to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.

FLOODPLAIN BOARD. The Board of Directors of the Flood Control District of Maricopa County, or the City Council of the City of Goodyear, at such times as they are engaged in the enforcement of this chapter. (FLOODPLAIN BOARD as defined in A.R.S. § 48-3601 for counties).

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

FLOOD PROOFING. 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.

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 area 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. That area of the floodplain on either side of the "Regulatory Floodway" where encroachment may be permitted.

FUNCTIONALLY DEPENDENT USE. A use which 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 local governing unit (i.e., county or municipality), which is empowered to adopt and implement regulations to provide for the public health, safety and general welfare of its citizenry.

HARDSHIP. Related to Article 16-6, "Variance Procedure" of this chapter means the exceptional hardship which 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:

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 (See "Basement" definition). 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 non elevation 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.

MEAN SEA LEVEL. For purposes of the NFIP, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988 or other datum, to which base flood elevations are shown on a community’s FIRM are referenced.

NEW CONSTRUCTION. For the purposes of determining insurance rates, 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 the 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 the 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 common name for the flood having a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. (See "Base Flood" definition).

PERSON. Any individual or the individual’s agent, a firm, partnership, association, or corporation, or agent of the aforementioned groups, or this 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 Water Resources 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 a designated height.

SHEET FLOW AREA. See "Area of Shallow Flooding."

SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA. An area in the floodplain subject to a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year, shown on a Flood Insurance Rate Map as Zone A, AO, AE, AH or A99.

START OF CONSTRUCTION. Includes substantial improvement and other proposed 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. 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. 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. 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, that is principally above ground, or 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% 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% 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. This term does not, however, include either:

VARIANCE. A grant of relief from the requirements of this chapter which 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. (Prior Code, Art. 16-2) (Ord. 05-956, passed 8-22-2005; Am. Ord. 20-1478, passed 8-24-2020)