Zoning and building permits shall be required before any construction or development is undertaken within any area of the Township. In addition, all such uses, activities and development shall be undertaken only in compliance with federal or state law, including Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 33 U.S.C. § 1334. Under no circumstances shall any use, activity and/or development adversely affect the capacity of the channels or floodways of any watercourse, drainage ditch, or any other drainage facility or system.
Boundary definition.
(a) Responsibility for boundary definition. Any applicant for a building permit, preliminary subdivision plan approval or land development plan approval on land in Middletown Township which lies within or partially within the floodplain shall be required to have the area of the floodplain on the subject land defined by a registered professional engineer or land surveyor and shall show such floodplain areas on plans submitted with his application.
(b) Approximate one-hundred-year floodplain areas and floodplain soil areas. The applicant for a proposed use, development or activity in approximate one-hundred-year floodplain areas and floodplain soils areas shall have the opportunity to determine flood profiles and elevations, thereby identifying the floodway and flood-fringe areas, in accordance with hydrologic engineering techniques, as follows:
[1] For all areas within 100 feet of a watercourse, including its bed and banks, the applicant shall provide sufficient documentation to demonstrate that the proposed activity, together with all other existing and anticipated development, uses and activities, will not increase the water surface elevation of the one-hundred-year flood at any point. The method of determination of increase in flood heights shall be at the discretion of the Township Engineer.
[2] Hydrologic and hydraulic analyses shall be undertaken only by professional engineers or others of demonstrated qualifications who shall certify that the technical methods used correctly reflect currently accepted technical concepts. Studies, analyses, computations, etc., shall be submitted in sufficient detail to allow a thorough technical review by the Township. The study must be approved by the Board of Supervisors upon the advice of the Township Engineer.
(c) District boundary changes. The delineation of the floodplain may be revised by the Board of Supervisors where natural or man-made changes have occurred and/or more detailed studies conducted or undertaken by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Delaware River Basin Commission, or other qualified agency or individual document the need for such change. However, prior to such change, approval must be obtained from the Federal Insurance Administration.
Applications for any of the listed uses in
§ 500-2603D or any other development shall be submitted to the Township for its approval.
Installation of fill materials.
Fill may be placed within the limits of the floodplain, subject to the following condition:
Permission has been obtained for the proposed fill from the Division of Dams and Encroachments of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to the state regulations of water obstructions and from the Township Engineer.
State regulations.
No encroachment into or alteration or relocation of any watercourse shall take place unless a permit has been secured from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Dam Safety, Obstructions and Stormwater Management, and notification of the proposed alteration, encroachment or relocation has been given to all adjacent communities, and copies of the notification(s) have been sent to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and the Federal Insurance Administration.
For any new structure or substantially improved structure located on a parcel, if that parcel is located in part or in whole within the floodplain, then, upon completion of construction, there shall be filed with the Township Zoning Officer a flood elevation certificate, prepared by a licensed engineer and/or licensed surveyor, and an as-built plan showing the structure on the parcel, with vertical datum and elevations.
Variances.
If compliance with any of the requirements of this section would result in an exceptional hardship for a prospective builder, developer or landowner, the Zoning Hearing Board may, upon request, grant relief from the strict application of the requirements. Requests for variances shall be considered by the Zoning Hearing Board in accordance with the following:
(1) No variance shall be granted for any construction, development, use or activity within any floodway area that would cause any increase in the one-hundred-year flood elevation.
(2) No variance shall be granted for any of the requirements pertaining to
§ 500-2603G, Development which may endanger human life, or
§ 500-2603H, Prohibited activities.
(3) If granted, a variance shall involve only the least modification necessary to provide relief.
(4) In granting any variance, the Zoning Hearing Board shall attach whatever reasonable conditions and safeguards it considers necessary in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare and to achieve the objectives of this chapter.
(5) Whenever a variance is granted, the Zoning Hearing Board shall notify the applicant in writing that:
(a) The granting of the variance may result in increased premium rates for flood insurance.
(b) Such variances may increase the risks of life and property.
(6) In reviewing any request for a variance, the Zoning Hearing Board shall consider, but shall not be limited to, the following:
(a) That there is good and sufficient cause.
(b) That failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant.
(c) That the granting of the variance will not result in an unacceptable or prohibited increase in flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisances, cause fraud on or victimize the public, or conflict with any other applicable state statute or regulation, or local ordinance or regulation.
(7) A complete record of all variance requests and related actions shall be maintained by the Zoning Hearing Board. In addition, a report of all variances granted during the year shall be included in the annual report to the Federal Insurance Administration.
(8) Notwithstanding any of the above, however, all structures shall be designed and constructed so as to have the capability of resisting the one-hundred-year flood.
