Skip to main content
Loading…
Article II. General Provisions
This article is included in your selections.
This section is included in your selections.

Unless specifically defined in this section, words or phrases used in this chapter shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage and to give this chapter its most reasonable application.

"Accessory structure" means any structure whose use is supplemental to the primary land use or structure, including but not limited to, utility pads, pumphouse, sanicans, storage sheds, etc.

"Administrator" means the town of Cathlamet public works director or his/her designee.

"Appeal" means a request for a review of the administrator’s interpretation of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variance.

"Area of shallow flooding" means a designated AO or AH zone on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM). The base flood depths range from one to three feet; a clearly defined channel does not exist; the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate; and velocity flow may be evident. AO is characterized as sheet flow and AH indicates ponding.

"Area of special flood hazard" means the land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. Designation on maps always includes the letters A or V. Commonly referred to as the "100-year flood" or "base flood" area.

"Best available information" means in the absence of official flood insurance rate map data, communities can use data from federal, state or other sources, provided this data has either been generated using technically defensible methods or is based on reasonable historical analysis and experience.

"Board" means the council of the town of Cathlamet of Wahkiakum County.

"Critical facility" means a facility for which even a slight chance of flooding might be too great. Critical facilities include, but are not limited to, schools, nursing homes, hospitals, police, fire and emergency response installations and installations which produce, use or store hazardous materials or hazardous wastes.

"Designation floodway" means the regulatory floodway which has been delineated on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM) or the flood boundary/floodway maps (FBFM) of a community’s flood insurance study and is included in this chapter.

"Development" means any human-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.

"Flood" or "flooding" means 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 of runoff of surface waters from any source.

"Flood damage potential" means the potential for damage to development located within the flood control zone from floodwaters or debris contained within floodwaters and/or the damage caused by the displacement of development located within the floodplain.

"Flood insurance rate map (FIRM)" means 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" means the official report provided by the Federal Insurance Administration that includes flood profiles, the flood boundary-flood map (FBFM), and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

"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.

"Lowest floor" means 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 requirement of this chapter.

"Manufactured home" means 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" also includes 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 subdivision" means a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.

"New construction" means structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after October 1, 1989.

"Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, organization, cooperative, public or municipal corporation or any agency of the state or local governmental unit however designated.

"Start of construction" includes substantial improvement, and means the date any permit was issued. 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 state 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 foundation 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.

"Structure" means a walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground. Manufactured homes are considered structures.

"Substantial improvement" means any repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent 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 purposes of this definition "substantial improvement" is 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:

(a) 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

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

"Subdivision" means a division of land into four or more lots, tracts, parcels, sites or divisions where any one of the lots, tracts, parcels, sites or divisions is less than five acres in size and shall include all resubdivision, as defined by county ordinance.

Time Computation. For the purposes of this chapter, the time within which an act is to be done shall be computed by excluding the first day, and including the last, unless the last day is a legal holiday as defined in RCW 1.16.050 or Sunday, and then it is also excluded.

"Variance" means a grant of relief from the requirements of this chapter which permits construction in a manner which would otherwise be prohibited by this chapter. (Ord. 377 § 2, 1996)