A Floodplain District is herein established
within the Town of Barnstable. The district includes all special flood
hazard areas within the Town designated as Zone AE, AO, or VE on the
Barnstable County Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) issued by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the administration of the National
Flood Insurance Program. The map panels of the Barnstable County FIRM
that are wholly or partially within the Town of Barnstable are Panel
Numbers 25001C0532J, 25001C0533J, 25001C0534J, 25001C0537J, 25001C0539J,
25001C0541J, 25001C0542J, 25001C0543J, 25001C0544J, 25001C0551J, 25001C0552J,
25001C0553J, 25001C0554J, 25001C0556J, 25001C0557J, 25001C0558J, 25001C0559J,
25001C0561J, 25001C0562J, 25001C0563J, 25001C0564J, 25001C0566J, 25001C0567J,
25001C0568J, 25001C0569J, 25001C0752J, 25001C0754J, 25001C0756J, 25001C0757J
and 5001C0776J, effective date July 16, 2014. The exact boundaries
of the district may be defined by the one-hundred-year base flood
elevations shown on the FIRM and further defined by the Barnstable
County Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report dated July 16, 2014. The
FIRM and FIS report are incorporated herein by reference and are on
file with the Town Clerk, Planning Board, Building Commissioner, and
Engineering Department.
Permits for new construction, alteration of structures, or other
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),
at or below the base flood elevation as specified with the A and V
Zones as determined by the Flood Insurance Study and designated on
the special FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps, shall be approved subject
to the following:
A.
New construction or substantial improvement (repair,
construction or alteration costing 50% or more of the market value
of the structure before improvement, or if damaged, before damage
occurred) of residential structures shall have the lowest floor (including
basement) elevated to not less than base flood elevations. New construction
or substantial improvement of nonresidential structures shall either
be similarly elevated or, together with attendant utility and sanitary
facilities, be floodproofed to not less than base flood elevations.
B.
Where floodproofing is utilized in accordance with Subsection A herein, a registered engineer or architect shall certify that the floodproofing methods are adequate to withstand the flood depths, pressures, velocities, impact and uplift forces and other factors associated with the base flood.
C.
Any new construction or substantial improvement to
be under taken within flood areas shall be in accordance with Massachusetts
State Building Code 780 CMR. The Building Commissioner shall review
all proposed development within flood areas to assure that all necessary
permits have been received from those governmental agencies from which
approval is required by federal or state law, including Sec. 404 of
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, U.S.C.
§ 1334, and shall obtain and maintain records of elevation
and floodproofing levels for new construction or substantial improvement
within the flood areas.
D.
Any new construction, alteration of structures or
other development which is removed from the A or V Zones by subsequent
FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map amendments shall only have to meet the
requirements of its new zone designation.
E.
All subdivision proposals and other proposed new developments
greater than 50 lots or five acres, whichever is lesser, shall include
within such proposals base flood elevation data.
F.
Subdivision and development proposals, including utility
and drainage systems, shall assure that they are located and designed
to be consistent with the need to minimize flood damage.
G.
In Zone AE, along watercourses that have not had a
regulatory floodway designated, the best available federal, state,
local, or other floodway data shall be used to prohibit encroachments
in floodways which would result in any increase in flood levels within
the community during the occurrence of the base flood discharge.
H.
In a riverine situation, the Conservation Division Administrator
or designee shall notify the following of any alteration or relocation
of a watercourse: Adjacent Communities, the NFIP State Coordinator,
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, 251 Causeway
Street, Suite 600-700, Boston, MA 02114-2104, and the NFIP Program
Specialist, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region I at 99 High
Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02110.
I.
Within
Zone AO on the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps, adequate drainage paths
must be provided around structures on slopes to guide floodwaters
around and away from proposed structures.
J.
No land
within areas designated as V (Velocity) Zones on the FEMA Flood Insurance
Rate Maps shall be developed unless such development is demonstrated
by the applicant to be located landward of the reach of the mean high
tide. All new construction and substantial improvement within the
V Zones shall be in full compliance with the Sate Building Code and
shall be certified by a registered professional engineer or architect
that the structure is securely anchored to adequately anchored pilings
or columns in order to withstand velocity waters and hurricane wave
wash.
K.
The following shall be prohibited within flood areas
designated as V Zones:
(1)
Any man-made alteration of sand dunes and salt marshes
which might increase the potential for flood damage.
L.
The Zoning Board of Appeals may authorize exceptions from the flood regulations of this section by special permit within the flood areas in accordance with §
240-125 herein, as in any other zoning district, and may grant special permit exceptions from the requirements of this section in the case of new structures or substantial improvement to be erected on a lot contiguous to and surrounded by lots with existing structures and constructed below the base flood elevation, provided that the following are met:
(1)
A showing of good and sufficient cause.
(2)
A determination that failure to grant the special
permit would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant.
(3)
A determination that the special permit will not result
in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety or
environment, extraordinary public expense, or any conflict with requirements
in accordance with Chapter 40A of the Massachusetts General Laws.
(4)
The Zoning Board of Appeals has notified the applicant
for the special permit in writing that the actuarial rates will increase
as the first-floor elevation decreases, and that such construction
below base flood elevation increases risks to life and property.
(5)
Favorable recommendation from the Board of Health
on all structures requiring sewerage disposal and/or water supply.
M.
Upon the granting of such a special permit or permits,
the Zoning Board of Appeals shall maintain a record of all such special
permits granted by said Board, including justification for their issuance,
and report such special permits in its annual report to the Flood
Insurance Administrator in accordance with the Housing and Urban Development
Guidelines.
N.
The Zoning Board of Appeals may grant a special permit for the reconstruction, rehabilitation or restoration of structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the State Inventory of Historic Places or the Old King's Highway Regional Historic District without regard to the procedures set forth in Subsection J herein.
