8.05 FP/FW Flood Plain/Floodway Overlay District

(amended May 22, 2007) 

1. Title: This Resolution shall be known as the Douglas County Floodplain Resolution and shall constitute an addition and amendment to the Douglas County Zoning Resolution.
2. Statutory Authorization: The Legislature of the State of Nebraska has delegated the responsibility to local governmental units to adopt zoning resolutions designed to protect the public, health, safety and general welfare. The Legislature, in Sections 31-1001 to 31-1022, R.R.S. 2004, has further assigned the responsibility to adopt, administer and enforce floodplain management resolutions to the county, city or village with zoning jurisdiction over the flood-prone area.
3. Findings of Fact
4. Statement of Purpose of this resolution is to:
   
   
   1. Restrict or prohibit land uses which are dangerous to health, safety, or property in times of flooding or cause undue increases in flood heights or velocities;
   2.  that Requireuses vulnerable to floods, including public facilities which serve such uses, be provided with flood protection at the time of initial construction;
   3. Protect individuals from purchasing lands which are unsuited for intended purposes because of flood hazard; and
   4. Assure that eligibility is maintained for property owners to purchase flood insurance in the National Flood Insurance Program.
      
5. General Provisions
6. Flood Zone Development Permit
7. Administration:
   
   
   1. The Douglas County Planning & Zoning Coordinator or designee is hereby appointed to administer and implement the provisions of this resolution.
   2. The following additional duties are imposed upon the Douglas County Planning & Zoning Coordinator:
      1. Review all applications for Development Permits to assure that sites are reasonably safe from flooding and that the permit requirements of this resolution have been satisfied.
      2. Review applications for Development Permits to assure that all necessary permits have been obtained from federal, state or local governmental agencies.
      3. Notify adjacent communities and the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission prior to any alteration or relocation of a watercourse, and submit evidence of such notification to the Federal Insurance Administration.
      4. Assure than maintenance is provided within the altered or relocated portion of said watercourse so that the flood carrying capacity is not diminished.
      5. Verify and record the actual elevation of the lowest floor including basement (in relation to mean sea level), of all new construction or substantially improved structures; and
      6. Verify and record the actual elevation (in relation to mean sea level) to which new construction or substantially improved structures have been floodproofed.
         
8. Incorporated Reference Materials:
   
   
   1. The Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) of the Federal Insurance Administration for the County of Douglas, Nebraska, is adopted as an official zoning map of the County of Douglas and incorporated in this resolution by reference. This map is identified as No. 310055C and is composed of panels No. 25, 50, 75, 88, 135, 145, 153, 154, 155, 160, 161, 162, 165, 170, 179, 180, 280, 285, and 325 and a map index dated March 19, 2007 as amended.
      
      Copies of this map will be made available to the public at the Department of Permits and Inspections for inspection.
      
   2. The data contained in the Flood Insurance Study of the Federal Insurance Administration for the County of Douglas, Nebraska, is hereby incorporated into this resolution by reference. A copy of this study will be made available to the public at the Department of Permits and Inspections for inspection.
      
9. Warning and Disclaimer of Liability:
   
   This resolution does not imply that areas outside floodway and floodplain zoning district boundaries or land uses permitted within such districts will be free from flooding or flood damages. This resolution shall not create liability on the part of the County of Douglas or any officer, agent or employee thereof for any flood damages that may result from reliance upon this resolution or any administrative decision made thereunder.
   
10. Severability: if any section, clause, provision or portion of this resolution is adjudged unconstitutional or invalid the remainder of this ordinance shall not be affected thereby.
    
11. Uses Floodfringe (FF) Zoning District 
12. Uses - Floodway Districts (FW):
    
    
    1. Property contained within a floodway zoning district shall be subject to all of the restrictions imposed by this resolution upon areas lying within a floodplain zoning district.
    2. Only the following uses are permitted within a floodway zoning district:
       
       
       1. Open space uses not requiring a closed building, such as agricultural cropland, livestock feeding and grazing, or open public and private recreation areas.
       2. Wire fences, walls or other appurtenances may be constructed which would not constitute an obstruction or debris-catching obstacle to the passage of flood waters.
       3. Railroads, streets, bridges, public utility wire and pipelines for transmission and local distribution.
       4. Commercial excavation of materials from pits, strips, or pools; provided, that no stockpiling of materials, products or overburden shall be such as to create a potential restriction to the passage of flood waters.
       5. Non-restrictive improvements in stream channel alignment, cross section, and capacity in the normal maintenance thereof.
       6. Uses of a type not appreciably damaged by flood waters; provided, no structures for human habitation shall be permitted.
          
    3. The uses enumerated in b above shall only be permitted if it can be shown that they will not increase flood levels along the encroached floodway profile during occurrence of the base flood discharge during the base flood discharge. Certification of the foregoing by a registered engineer or architect shall be required.
       
13. Variances 
14. Non-Conforming Uses: Uses which do not conform to this resolution shall be governed by this section and not by Section 8.05 F of the Douglas County Zoning Resolutions. A structure or the use of a structure or premises which was lawful before the passage or amendment of this resolution but which is not in conformity with the provisions of this resolution may be continued subject to the following conditions:
    
    
    1. No such structure of use shall be expanded, changed, enlarged or altered in a way which increases its nonconformity.
    2. If such structure is abandoned or use discontinued for six consecutive months, any future use of the premises shall conform to this resolution.
    3. Uses or adjuncts thereof which are or become nuisances shall not be entitled to continue as nonconforming uses.
    4. If any nonconforming use or structure is destroyed by any means, including flood, it shall not be reconstructed if the cost is more than 50 percent of the market value of the structure or use before the damage occurred unless it is reconstructed in conformity with the provisions of this resolution. This limitation does not include the cost of any alteration to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary, building, or safety codes or resolutions or the cost of any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the inventory of historical places of the Nebraska Historical Society, provided that the alteration shall not preclude its continued designation.
       
15. Violations: Any person who violates any of the provisions of this Resolution shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor according to Nebraska Revised Statutes Sec. 23-174. Each day such violation continues after notice of violation has been given to the offender may be considered a separate offense. All parties holding a sufficient interest in the subject property to prevent such violation or any party who knowingly perpetrates or assists in violation and any party who knowingly perpetrates or assists in violation shall be guilty of violation. Any of the following acts shall constitute a violation:
    
    
    1. Development, improvement or substantial improvement without a Development Permit if one is required by the provisions of this resolution.
    2. Continuing a development, improvement or substantial improvement after the Development Permit for such has been duly revoked if it was required by the provisions of this resolution; or
    3. Deviating substantially from the terms of an application for a Development Permit as those terms were finally accepted by the Douglas County Department of Permits and Inspections.
       
16. Amendments: The resolutions, restrictions, and boundaries set forth in this resolution may from time to time be amended, supplemented changed, or appealed to reflect any and all changes in the National Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, provided, however, that no such action may be taken until after a public hearing in relation there, at which parties in interest and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. Notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in Douglas County, Nebraska. At least fourteen (14) days shall elapse between the date of this publication and the public hearing. A copy of such amendments will be provided to Federal Emergency Management Agency. These resolutions are in compliance with the National Flood Insurance Program Resolutions as published in Title 44 of the Code of Federal Resolutions and the 1983 Nebraska Flood Plain Management Act.
17. Definitions