§ 14.38.020. Definitions.

1.

"Appeal" means a request for a review of the building official's interpretation of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variance.

2.

"Residential accessory structure" means a structure that is used only for parking of vehicles, building access or for storage in an area that is not a basement. This structure shall be:

a.

Limited to a single story that is no more than five hundred seventy-six square feet with elevated electrical elements, flood damage resistant materials and flood vent openings.

b.

Designed and built in such a manner that results in minimal damage to the structure and its contents, including being anchored to resist flotation, collapse, and lateral movement.

c.

Constructed using flood damage/resistant materials below the base flood elevation(BFE) with mechanical and utility equipment elevated to two feet above the BFE. See FEMA Technical Bulletin 7 for additional information.

3.

"Area of shallow flooding" means an AO or AH Zone on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM). The base flood depths for AO and AH shall range from one to three feet and have the following characteristics:

a.

Be above natural ground;

b.

Be where a clearly defined channel does not exist;

c.

Located where the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate; and

d.

Velocity flow may be evident.

AO is characterized by sheet flow. AH indicates ponding and is shown with standard base flood elevations.

4.

"Base flood" means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. Also referred to as the "one hundred-year flood." Designation on maps always includes the letters A or V.

5.

"Basement" means any area of the building having its floor subgrade below ground level on all sides.

6.

"BFE" means the highest base flood elevation from the following:

a.

Thurston County, Washington and Incorporated Areas Flood Insurance Rate Maps prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), supplemented by the current Flood Insurance Study for Thurston County, Washington and Incorporated Areas including any Letters Of Map Revision (LOMR); or

b.

The Thurston County High Ground Water Flood Hazard Area Resource Map on file with the department or recognized by a detailed Thurston County groundwater study; or

c.

The highest known recorded flood elevation, if it exceeds the BFE on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM) or the engineered BFE value for any unnumbered A zones.

If there is more than one base elevation listed, the county shall utilize whichever elevation is greater.

7.

"Breakaway wall" means a wall that is not a part of the structural support of the building and is intended through its design and construction to collapse under specific lateral loading forces, without causing damage to the elevated portion of the building or supporting foundation system.

8.

"Coastal high hazard area" means the area subject to high velocity waters, extending from offshore to the inland limit along an open coast and any other area subject to high velocity wave action including but not limited to, storm surge or tsunamis. The area is designated on the FIRM as Zone A, AE, VE or V.

9.

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

10.

"Development" means any manmade 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, or storage of equipment or materials located within the area of special flood hazard.

11.

"Finished construction elevation certificate" means a certificate that is used to provide elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with Thurston County's development in flood hazard areas chapter.

12.

"Finished floor" means the bottom of the floor joist or horizontal member of the lowest floor. For the purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program Elevation Certificate (FEMA Form 81-31), the finished floor shall equal the top of the next higher floor as depicted on the elevation certificate.

13.

"Freeboard" is an increment of elevation added to the base flood elevation. Thurston County defines "freeboard" as two feet of elevation added to the base flood elevation. Freeboard is required for all residential, non-residential, commercial floodproofed buildings, and utilities (all equipment, electrical, or mechanical items) constructed, substantially improved and/or reconstructed due to substantial damage within the special flood hazard area.

14.

"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 accumulating of runoff of surface waters from any source.

15.

"Flood insurance rate map (FIRM) or (DFIRM)" means the official map or digital map on which FEMA has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

16.

"Flood insurance study" means the official report provided by FEMA that includes flood profiles, and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

17.

"Flood protection elevation" means two feet above the base flood elevation.

18.

"Flood susceptible materials" include, but are not limited to, electrical, heating, ventilation, plumbing, insulation, drywall, air-conditioning or other system that may be subjected to flood water.

19.

"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. The regulated floodway has been delineated on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM).

20.

"High ground water hazard (HGW)" means those areas that are subject to flood inundation from subsurface waters that result from a fluctuation of the groundwater table. HGW areas are defined by Thurston County on the Thurston County High Ground Water Flood Hazard Area Resource Map or are delineated on a detailed Thurston County groundwater study.

21.

"Historic structure" means any structure that is:

a.

Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places, or

b.

Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as a historic structure, or

c.

Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places, or

d.

Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs.

22.

"LOMA" means FEMA letter of map amendment.

23.

"LOMR" means FEMA letter of map revision.

24.

"LOMR-F" see TCC Section 24.20.100.

25.

"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 non-elevation design requirements of this chapter found at Section 14.38.050(B)(1)(b) of the Thurston County Code.

26.

"Manufactured home" means a single-family dwelling built according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) standards for manufactured homes (a mobile home is a factory-built dwelling built prior to June 15, 1976 to standards other than the HUD Code). For insurance purposes, the term "manufactured home" does not include park trailers, travel trailers, and other similar vehicles.

27.

"New construction" means structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.

28.

"Non-residential" means buildings or structures not covered under the International Residential Code as a dwelling unit.

29.

"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.

30.

"Recreational vehicle" means a vehicle which is: built on a single chassis, four hundred square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection, designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and designed primarily as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use. Recreational vehicles are not for use as permanent dwellings.

31.

"Repetitive loss structure" means a structure having suffered two NFIP insured flood damaged paid losses of more than one thousand dollars each in any ten-year period.

32.

"Special flood hazard area" means the land in the flood plain within a community subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. Areas of special flood hazard are shown on a flood hazard boundary map or flood insurance rate map as Zone A, AE, AO, AH, VE, V or high ground water flood hazard areas resource map, on file with the department or the highest known recorded flood elevation.

33.

"SFHA" means special flood hazard area.

34.

"Start of construction" includes substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, placement or other improvement was within one hundred eighty 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 a 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. For a substantial improvements, 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.

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.

35.

"Structure" means that which is built or constructed including but not limited to above and underground gas or liquid tanks, bridges, buildings, manufactured homes, or similar appurtenances placed upon the land.

36.

"Substantial damage" means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed fifty percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. The cumulative value of all past known alterations, repairs, and expansions conducted on or after the effective date of this ordinance (August 8, 2018) codified in this title shall be included when determining the cost of a proposed project. (See FEMA P-758 for additional detailed guidance.)

37.

"Substantial improvement" means any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent 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. The cumulative value of known improvements, alterations, repairs, reconstructions, and expansions of the structure conducted in the last ten years on or after the effective date of this ordinance (August 8, 2018) codified in this title shall be included when determining whether the proposed project is a substantial improvement.

The term "substantial improvement" does not, however, include either:

a.

Any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local code enforcement official and which are the minimum 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 National Historic Places.

38.

"Variance" means a grant of relief from the requirements of this chapter which permits construction in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited by this chapter.

39.

"Water dependent" means a water dependent structure for commerce or industry which cannot exist in any other location and is dependent on the water by reason of the intrinsic nature of its operations.

40.

"Wetproofing" means water resistant materials.

(Ord. No. 14388, § 1(Attach. 1), 8-3-2010; Ord. No. 14792, § 1(Att. A), 10-9-2012; Ord. No. 15648 , § 1(Att. A, § I), 8-7-2018)