A. Some of the floodplains of Howell Township are subject to periodic inundation which may result in loss of property and health, safety hazards, disruption of commerce and governmental services, extraordinary public expenditure for flood protection and relief, and impairment of the tax base, all of which may adversely affect the public health, safety and general welfare.
B. These flood losses are caused by the cumulative effect of unregulated obstructions in floodplains causing increases in flood heights and velocities, and by the occupancy of floodplain areas by uses vulnerable to floods or hazardous to other lands which are inadequately elevated, floodproofed, or otherwise protected from flood damages.
C. To protect wildlife and fisheries by preserving the environment of the floodway, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40-48.1 et seq., and to provide avenues for wildlife to freely move from one area to another through and along stream corridors and to maintain those corridors as connected greenway areas.
D. All streams within the Township of Howell flow into existing or planned reservoirs which are used for potable water supply. Therefore, one of the primary purposes of this chapter shall be to protect the water quality of these streams.
E. It is the purpose of this chapter to promote the public health, safety and general welfare and to minimize public and private losses due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed and this chapter shall also have the following purposes:
(1) To protect human life and health.
(2) To give primary consideration to protecting floodways and regulating development in floodplains in order to insure the continuance of all natural functions, including but not limited to the passage of maximum flood flows and all steps necessary within the natural floodplain to maintain and preserve the quality of water within these systems.
(3) To minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public.
(4) To minimize prolonged business interruptions.
(5) To minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water and gas mains, electric, telephone and sewer lines, and streets and bridges located in floodplains.
(6) To insure that potential home buyers are notified that their property is within the area of the one-hundred-year floodplain.
(7) To safeguard the public from the dangers and damages caused by materials being swept onto nearby or downstream lands.
(8) To protect and enhance the public's health by minimizing the degradation of stream water quality from point and nonpoint pollution sources.
(9) To provide natural areas for passive recreation such as fishing and nature trails that otherwise would not be available to our residents.
(10) To minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects.
(11) To prevent, to the degree practicable, any negative impact to the ecosystem of the floodplain.
Methods of reducing flood losses are as follows:
A. Prohibit uses which are dangerous to health, safety and property due to water damage, erosion, heights or velocities.
B. Regulate the alteration of stream channels (e.g., piping), and natural protective barriers which are involved in the accommodation of floodwaters.
C. Regulate filling, grading, dredging and other development which may increase flood damage.
D. Regulate the construction of flood barriers which may divert floodwaters or which may increase flood hazards to other lands.
E. Protect existing vegetative buffers within the floodplain to the maximum extent practicable.
These regulations are applicable to any floodplain area or floodway which has been or is delineated by the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, and watercourses appearing (but not limited to) on the Howell Stream Naming Map, and to undelineated floodways or floodplain areas identified and determined in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
ACT - N.J.S.A. 40:48-1 et seq. and 58:16A-50 et seq.
APPEAL - A request for a review of the interpretation of any provision of this chapter or a request for a variation.
APPLICANT - The owner or lawful developer of the property for which a permit is sought.
AREA OF SHALLOW FLOODING - A designated AO or VO Zone on Howell Township's Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) with base flood depths from one to three feet, where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate, and where velocity flow may be evident.
AREA OF SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD - The land in the floodplain within Howell Township subject to a one-percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.
BASE FLOOD - The flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
CHANNEL - A watercourse with a definite bed and banks which confine and conduct, continuously or intermittently, flowing water.
DELINEATED FLOODWAY - Any floodway adopted by the Department of Environmental Protection of the State of New Jersey.
DEVELOPMENT - Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, as part of a site plan, subdivision, soil removal and filling permit application, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, or excavation located within the area of special flood hazard.
ENCROACHMENT - Any obstruction within a delineated floodway.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION - A unit of municipal government authorized under N.J.S.A. 40:56A-1 et seq.
EROSION - Detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by water, wind, ice or gravity.
EXCAVATION - Removal or recovery by any means whatsoever of minerals, mineral substances or organic substances, other than vegetation, from the water, land surface or beneath the land surface, whether exposed or submerged. Normal agricultural activities shall not be considered to be excavation.
FILL - Sand, gravel, earth or other select materials of equal quality placed or deposited within the floodway so as to form an embankment or raise the elevation of the land surface.
FLOOD DAMAGE POTENTIAL - The susceptibility of a floodplain use at a particular site to damage by potential floods at that site, as well as increased off-site flooding or flood-related damages caused by such floodplain use.
FLOOD OR FLOODING - A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow of inland watercourses.
FLOOD FRINGE - That portion of the floodplain not designated as the floodway.
FLOOD HAZARD AREA - The floodway and any additional portions of the floodplain as determined in accordance with the provisions of § 154-9 of this chapter or by virtue of designation by the State of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection.
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM) - The official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Federal Insurance Administration) has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY - The official report in which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Federal Insurance Administration) has provided flood profiles, as well as the Flood Boundary Floodway Map and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
FLOODPLAIN - The elevation of the one-hundred-year storm or, in the absence of this, the standards set down in § 154-9.
FLOODPLAIN PERMIT - A permit issued by the Township of Howell under the provisions of this chapter.
FLOODWAY - The channel of a natural stream and portions of the flood hazard area adjoining the channel which are reasonably required to carry and discharge the floodwater or floodflow of any natural stream.
GROUNDWATER - Subsurface water.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS - Any waste or combination of waste which poses a present or potential threat to human health, living organisms or the environment. It shall include waste material that is toxic, corrosive, irritating or sensitizing, radioactive, biologically infectious, explosive, or flammable. It includes, but need not be limited to, those materials and concentrations of materials that are determined to be toxic by the Federal Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare pursuant to section 20(6) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-596, OSHA) and those materials listed in the current Part 172, Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations issued by the Federal Department of Transportation.
NEW CONSTRUCTION - Structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of this chapter.
OBSTRUCTION - Includes but is not limited to any structure, fill or other materials placed in, along, across, or projecting into any floodway which may impede, retard or change the direction of the flow of water either in itself or by catching or collecting debris carried by such water or that is placed where the flow of water might carry the same downstream to the damage of life or property.
PERSON - Any corporation, company, association, society, firm, partnership and joint-stock company, as well as any individual, the state, and all political subdivisions of the state or any agency or instrumentality thereof.
PESTICIDE - Any substance or mixture of substances labeled, designed, or intended for use in preventing, destroying, repelling, sterilizing or mitigating any insects, rodents, nemotodes, predatory animals, fungi, weeds and other forms of plant or animal life or viruses, except viruses on or in living man or other animals. The term "pesticide" shall also include any substance or mixture of substances labeled, designed or intended for use as defoliant, desiccant, or plant regulator.
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS - Oil, petroleum of any kind and in any form, including crude oils and derivatives of crude oils, whether alone, as sludge, oil or refuse or mixed with other wastes.
PROHIBITED USE - Any floodway use which shall not be allowed under any circumstances.
RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL - Any natural or artificially produced substance or combination of substances which emit radiation spontaneously.
RATE OF LOCAL RUNOFF - The quantity of water which will move across the land surface at the site of the proposed use under the influence of gravity.
REGULATED USE - Any use which requires a permit under this chapter.
SEDIMENTATION - The depositing of soils by water.
SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICT - A political subdivision of the State of New Jersey authorized under N.J.S.A. 4:24-2 et seq.
SOLID WASTE - Garbage, sludge, refuse, trash, rubbish, debris or other discarded solid materials, and those streams delineated on the Howell Township Stream Naming Map.
STREAM - A blue line on the USGS Maps and/or those streams delineated on the Howell Township Natural Resources Inventory or the Howell Stream Naming Map.
STRUCTURE - Any assembly of materials above or below the surface of land or water, including but not limited to buildings, fences, except as provided in §154-6 of this chapter, dams, bulkheads, dikes, jetties, embankments, culverts, roads, railroads, bridges and the facilities of any utility or governmental agency.
SURFACE WATER - Water on the land surface.
A. No person shall engage in or cause other persons to engage in any of the following prohibited uses within delineated floodways of the state:
(1) Placing, depositing or dumping any solid or hazardous waste;
(2) The erection of structures for occupancy at any time by humans or livestock, and the erection of kennels for the boarding of domestic pets;
(3) The discharge (except as authorized under other provisions of law), processing, storage or disposal of pesticides, domestic or industrial wastes, radioactive materials, petroleum products or other hazardous materials;
(4) The storage of materials or equipment;
(5) The construction of septic systems; and
(6) The addition of net fill.
B. Exceptions to Subsection A of this section are as follows:
(1) Lawful preexisting prohibited uses may be maintained, provided they are not expanded or enlarged.
(2) Lawful preexisting prohibited structures damaged by any means other than flooding may be restored, provided:
(a) The cost to restore the structure to its predamaged condition does not exceed 50% of the fair market value of the structure immediately preceding the damage.
(3) Removal of 10% of existing timber by selective cutting as defined in Chapter 329, Woodlands Management.
Any activity not specifically prohibited by § 154-5 of this chapter shall be a regulated use and be subject to the applicable provisions of this chapter.
