(1) General standards. In all special flood hazard areas (SFHAs) the following provisions are required:

(a) New construction, substantial improvements and repair to structures that have sustained substantial damage cannot be constructed or located entirely or partially over water unless they are a functionally dependent use or facility.

(b) New and replacement water supply systems shall be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of floodwaters into the systems [(CFR 60.3(a)(5)].

(c) New and replacement sanitary sewage systems shall be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of floodwaters into the systems and discharges from the systems into floodwaters [CFR 60.3(a)(6)(i)].

(d) On-site waste disposal systems shall be located to avoid impairment to them or contamination from them during flooding [CFR 60.3(a)(6)(ii)].

(e) Above-ground storage tanks (i.e., oil, propane, etc.) which are located outside or inside of the structure must either be elevated above the base flood elevation (BFE) on a concrete pad, or be securely anchored to prevent flotation or lateral movement with the top of the fill pipe extending above the BFE and having a screw fill cap that does not allow for the infiltration of floodwater.

(f) Notify adjacent communities and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection prior to any alteration or relocation of a watercourse, and assure that the flood-carrying capacity within the altered or relocated watercourse is maintained [CFR 60.3(b)(6) and (7)].

(g) If any portion of a structure lies within the SFHA, the entire structure is considered to be in the SFHA and must meet the construction requirements of the flood zone.

(h) Compensatory storage. The water-holding capacity of the floodplain, except those areas which are tidally influenced, shall not be reduced. Any reduction caused by filling, new construction or substantial improvements involving an increase in footprint to the structure shall be compensated for by deepening and/or widening of the floodplain. Storage shall be provided on-site, unless easements have been gained from adjacent property owners; it shall be provided within the same hydraulic reach and a volume not previously used for flood storage; it shall be hydraulically comparable and incrementally equal to the theoretical volume of floodwater at each elevation, up to and including the 100-year flood elevation, which would be displaced by the proposed project. Such compensatory volume shall have an unrestricted hydraulic connection to the same waterway or water body. Compensatory storage can be provided off-site with approval by the Director of Community Development.

(i) Equal conveyance. Within the floodplain, except those areas which are tidally influenced as designated on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for the community, encroachments resulting from filling, new construction or substantial improvements involving an increase in footprint of the structure, are prohibited unless the applicant provides certification by a registered professional engineer demonstrating, with supporting hydrologic and hydraulic analyses performed in accordance with standard engineering practice, that such encroachments shall not result in any 0.00 feet increase in flood levels (base flood elevation). Work within the floodplain and the land adjacent to the floodplain, including work to provide compensatory storage shall not be constructed in such a way so as to cause an increase in flood stage or flood velocity.

(2) Specific standards.

(a) Construction standards in special flood hazard areas (SFHA) Zones A and AE for residential and nonresidential construction. All new construction and substantial improvements of structures shall have the bottom of the lowest floor, including basement, elevated 2.0 feet above the base flood elevation (BFE) [CFR 60.3(c)(2) and (3)]. The bottom of all electrical, heating, plumbing, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment, appliances, fixtures and components, HVAC duct work and duct systems, and any other utility service equipment, facilities, machinery, or connections servicing a structure shall be elevated 2.0 feet above the base flood elevation (BFE). This includes, but is not limited to, furnaces, oil or propane tanks, air conditioners, heat pumps, hot water heaters, ventilation duct work, washer and dryer hookups, electrical junction boxes, and circuit breaker boxes.

(b) Manufactured homes. In all special flood hazard areas (SFHA), any manufactured homes placed or substantially improved shall be elevated on a permanent foundation such that the bottom of the frame of the lowest floor is 2.0 feet above the base flood elevation (BFE) and shall be securely anchored to an adequately anchored foundation system to resist flotation, collapse and lateral movement. This includes manufactured homes meeting one of the following location criteria:

[1] Outside of a manufactured home subdivision;
[2] In a new manufactured home subdivision;
[3] In an expansion to an existing manufactured home subdivision; or
[4] In an existing subdivision on which a manufactured home has incurred substantial damage as a result of a flood [CFR 60.3(b)(8) and 60.3(c)(6)].

(c) Recreational vehicles. Recreational vehicles placed on sites within a SFHA shall be on the site for fewer than 180 consecutive days and be fully licensed and ready for highway use. A recreational vehicle is ready for highway use if it is on its wheels or jacking system, is attached to the site only by quick disconnect type utilities and security devices, and has no permanently attached additions [CFR 60.3(c)(14)].

(d) In a regulatory floodway, no encroachments, including fill, new construction, substantial improvements and other developments shall be permitted unless it has been demonstrated through hydrologic and hydraulic analyses performed in accordance with standard engineering practice that the proposed encroachment would not result in any (0.00 feet) increase in flood levels during a base flood discharge. [CFR 60.3(d)(3)].

(3) Standards for watercourses without established base flood elevations (unnumbered A Zone), adopted floodways and/or flood mapping. See § 177-8E(3) for details.

(4) Design standards for subdivision proposals. If a proposed subdivision is located in a special flood hazard area (SFHA), the following requirements shall apply: See § 177-8E(4) for details.

Approval procedure.

(1) The application for approval of a development in a floodplain shall be submitted as part of a development application process to the approving authority and shall include, as a minimum, the following:

(a) Three black-and-white prints of a plot plan of the premises drawn to scale and certified by a licensed land surveyor and civil engineer, showing the actual shape and dimensions of the lot, the size and location of all existing and proposed structures and land uses, the layout of parking and loading facilities and access thereto, existing and proposed grades and existing and proposed floodplain limits of all watercourses.

(b) A detailed drainage study prepared by a registered professional engineer in the State of Connecticut, detailing existing and proposed hydrology and hydraulics of the site and any watercourses thereon. The study should include a predevelopment and postdevelopment analysis and statement of the development's effects on peak runoff and water surface elevations for all standard storm events from the five-to-one-hundred-year storm events.

(c) Such other information as required by the Director of Community Development to determine compliance with these regulations.

(d) The approvals from all appropriate state and federal agencies for the development project.

(2) The Director of Community Development shall review and advise the approving authority of the proposed plan's compliance with these regulations within 30 days after receipt.

(3) No building permit shall be issued which is not in conformance with the approved plan and with any other regulations governing the use of the applicant's property.

 

Penalty. Any private person or any firm or corporation who violates this section shall be fined $100 for each day that such violation is continued. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the Town of West Hartford from taking such lawful action as is necessary to prevent or remedy any violation.

Structures already in compliance: A structure or development already in compliance with this section shall not be made noncompliant by any alteration, modification, repair, reconstruction or improvement and must also comply with other applicable local, state, and federal regulations. No structure or land shall hereafter be located, extended, converted, modified or structurally altered without full compliance with the terms of this section and other applicable regulations.

See § 177-8: Special flood hazard area for detailed information.