§ 23-603. DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE FLOODPLAIN ADMINISTRATOR

a. Designation. The Building Official is designated as the Floodplain Administrator. The Floodplain Administrator may delegate performance of certain duties to other employees.

b. General. The Floodplain Administrator is authorized and directed to administer and enforce the provisions of this Division. The Floodplain Administrator shall have the authority to render interpretations of this Division consistent with the intent and purpose of this Division and may establish policies and procedures in order to clarify the application of its provisions. Such interpretations, policies, and procedures shall not have the effect of waiving requirements specifically provided in this Division without the granting of a variance pursuant to section 23-607. 

c. Applications and permits. The Floodplain Administrator, in coordination with other pertinent offices of the community, shall:

(1)   Review applications and plans to determine whether proposed new development will be located in flood hazard areas;

(2)   Review applications for modification of any existing development in flood hazard areas for compliance with the requirements of this Division;

(3)  Interpret flood hazard area boundaries where such interpretation is necessary to determine the exact location of boundaries; a person contesting the determination shall have the opportunity to appeal the interpretation;

(4)   Provide available flood elevation and flood hazard information;

(5)   Determine whether additional flood hazard data shall be obtained from other sources or shall be developed by an applicant;

(6)   Review applications to determine whether proposed development will be reasonably safe from flooding;

(7)   Issue floodplain development permits or approvals for development other than buildings and structures that are subject to the Florida Building Code, including buildings, structures and facilities exempt from the Florida Building Code, when compliance with this Division is demonstrated, or disapprove the same in the event of noncompliance; and

(8)   Coordinate with and provide comments to the Building Official to assure that applications, plan reviews, and inspections for buildings and structures in flood hazard areas comply with the applicable provisions of this Division. 

d. Substantial improvement and substantial damage determinations. For applications for building permits to improve buildings and structures, including alterations, movement, enlargement, replacement, repair, change of occupancy, additions, rehabilitations, renovations, substantial improvements, repairs of substantial damage, and any other improvement of or work on such buildings and structures, the Floodplain Administrator, in coordination with the Building Official, shall:

(1)   Estimate the market value, or require the applicant to obtain an appraisal of the market value prepared by a qualified independent appraiser, of the building or structure before the start of construction of the proposed work; in the case of repair, the market value of the building or structure shall be the market value before the damage occurred and before any repairs are made;

(2)   Compare the cost to perform the improvement, the cost to repair a damaged building to its pre-damaged condition, or the combined costs of improvements and repairs, if applicable, to the market value of the building or structure;

(3)   Determine and document whether the proposed work constitutes substantial improvement or repair of substantial damage; and

(4)  Notify the applicant if it is determined that the work constitutes substantial improvement or repair of substantial damage and that compliance with the flood resistant construction requirements of the Florida Building Code and this Division is required. 

e. Modifications of the strict application of the requirements of the Florida Building Code. The Floodplain Administrator shall review requests submitted to the Building Official that seek approval to modify the strict application of the flood load and flood resistant construction requirements of the Florida Building Code to determine whether such requests require the granting of a variance pursuant to section 23-607.  

f. Notices and orders.  The Floodplain Administrator shall coordinate with appropriate local agencies for the issuance of all necessary notices or orders to ensure compliance with this Division. 

g. Inspections. The Floodplain Administrator shall make the required inspections as specified in section 23-606 for development that is not subject to the Florida Building Code, including buildings, structures and facilities exempt from the Florida Building Code. The Floodplain Administrator shall inspect flood hazard areas to determine if development is undertaken without issuance of a permit. 

h. Other duties of the Floodplain Administrator. The Floodplain Administrator shall have other duties, including but not limited to:

(1)  Establish, in coordination with the Building Official, procedures for administering and documenting determinations of substantial improvement and substantial damage made pursuant to section 23-603(d);

(2)  Require that applicants proposing alteration of a watercourse notify adjacent communities and the Florida Division of Emergency Management, State Floodplain Management Office, and submit copies of such notifications to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA);

(3)  Require applicants who submit hydrologic and hydraulic engineering analyses to support permit applications to submit to FEMA the data and information necessary to maintain the Flood Insurance Rate Maps if the analyses propose to change base flood elevations, flood hazard area boundaries, or floodway designations; such submissions shall be made within 6 months of such data becoming available;

(4)  Review required design certifications and documentation of elevations specified by this Division and the Florida Building Code to determine that such certifications and documentations are complete; and

(5)  Notify the Federal Emergency Management Agency when the corporate boundaries of the City of Lake Wales are modified. 

i. Floodplain management records.  Regardless of any limitation on the period required for retention of public records, the Floodplain Administrator shall maintain and permanently keep and make available for public inspection all records that are necessary for the administration of this Division and the flood resistant construction requirements of the Florida Building Code, including Flood Insurance Rate Maps; Letters of Map Change; records of issuance of permits and denial of permits; determinations of whether proposed work constitutes substantial improvement or repair of substantial damage; required design certifications and documentation of elevations specified by the Florida Building Code and this Division; notifications to adjacent communities, FEMA, and the state related to alterations of watercourses; assurances that the flood carrying capacity of altered watercourses will be maintained; documentation related to appeals and variances, including justification for issuance or denial; and records of enforcement actions taken pursuant to this Division and the flood resistant construction requirements of the Florida Building Code.  These records shall be available for public inspection at the Building Department, Municipal Administration Building.

(Ord. No. 2016-19, § 2, 10-18-16)