Portland City Code ch. 14

Citation: Portland City Code ch. 14
Parent Document: Portland City Code ch. 14
Jurisdiction: Portland (municipal)
Original Source: https://www.portlandmaine.gov/asset/ae8cabd1-66eb-4a1c-9224-92bbca5e792f ↗
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structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage         base flood elevations shown on the city’s FIRM are
to real estate or improved real estate, to water and      referenced.
sanitary facilities, structures, and their contents.
                                                          Structure. A walled and roofed building, including a
Floodway. The channel of a river or other                 gas or liquid storage tank, that is principally above
watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must         ground, or manufactured housing. “Principally
be reserved in order to discharge the base flood          above ground,” as used above, means either that at
without cumulatively increasing the water surface         least 2/3 of its floor to ceiling height is above the
elevation more than one foot as designated on the         average adjoining ground level, or at least 51% of the
flood boundary and floodway map. When not                 actual cash value of the structure, less land value, is
designated on the flood boundary and floodway             above ground.
map, it is considered to be the channel of a river or
other watercourse and the adjacent land areas to a        Substantial improvement. Any repair,
distance of 1/2 the width of the flood plain, as          reconstruction, addition to or other improvement
measured from the normal high-water mark to the           of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds
upland limit of the flood plain.                          50% of the market value of the structure either
                                                          before the improvement or repair is started or, if
Lowest floor. The lowest floor of the lowest              the structure has been damaged and is being
enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished         restored, before the damage occurred. For
or flood resistant enclosure, usable solely for           purposes of this definition “substantial
parking of vehicles, building access, or storage, in an   improvement” is considered to occur when the first
area other than a basement area, is not considered        alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or structural
a building’s lowest floor, provided that such             part of the building commences, whether or not
enclosure is not built so as to render the structure      that alteration affects the external dimensions of
in violation of the applicable non-elevation design       the structure. The term does not, however, include
requirements of this division.                            any project for improvement of a structure to
                                                          comply with existing state or local health, sanitary,
Mean high tide. The mean height of tidal high             or safety code specifications which are solely
waters at a particular point or station over a period     necessary to assure safe living conditions or for any
of time to such length that increasing its length         alteration of a structure listed on the National
does not appreciably change this mean. For tidal          Register of Historic Places or a state inventory of
waters, the cycle of change covers a period of 19         historic places.
years, and mean high tide is defined as the average
of the high waters over a 19 period.                      12.4 FLOOD HAZARD DEVELOPMENT PERMIT
                                                          12.4.1 Permit required
Mean sea level. For purposes of the National Flood        Before any development begins within any areas of
Insurance Program, the National Geodetic Vertical         special flood hazard, a Flood Hazard Development
Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or other datum, to which             Permit shall be obtained from the Building 12-2 | CITY OF PORTLAND LAND USE CODE FLOOD PLAIN MANAGEMENT
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