For the purposes of this chapter the following definitions shall apply:

"Base flood" means the flood having a one percent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year. Also referred to as the "one hundred-year flood."

"Best available information" means in the absence of official flood insurance rate map data, communities can use data from other federal, state, or other sources provided this data has either been generated using technically defensible methods or is based on reasonable historical analysis and experience.

"Designated floodway" means the regulatory floodway which has been delineated on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM) or the flood boundary/floodway map (FBFM) of a community's flood insurance study and is included in the community's flood damage prevention ordinance.

"Development" means any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, extraction or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials.

"Dwelling" means one or more rooms designed for occupancy by a person or family for living and sleeping purposes, containing kitchen facilities and rooms with internal accessibility, for use solely by the dwelling's occupants.

"Encroachment" means any alteration or development within the regulatory floodway that would result in any increase in flood levels during the occurrence of the base flood discharge.

"Existing farmhouse" means a farmhouse which was built prior to the adoption of the local flood insurance rate map and local ordinances implementing the NFIP.

"Farmhouse" means a single family dwelling located on a farm site where resulting agricultural products are not produced for the primary consumption or use by the occupants and the farm owner.

"Flood or flooding" means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

• The overflow of inland or tidal waters; and/or

• The unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of surface waters from any source.

"Flood insurance rate map (FIRM)" means the official map on which the federal insurance administration has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

"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.

"New construction" means structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of the local ordinance.

"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.

"Replacement residential structure" means a residential structure built as a substitute for a previously existing residential structure of equivalent use and size.

"Residential structure" means a place in which one lives: Dwelling.

"Special flood hazard area" means an area subject to a base or one hundred-year flood; areas of special flood hazard are shown on a flood hazard boundary map or flood insurance rate map as Zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, A99, AH, VO, V1-30, VE, or V.

"Structure" means a walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground. Manufactured homes are considered structures.

"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 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. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading, or 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.

"Substantial damage" means damage of any origin sustained by a structure where the cost of restoring the structure to its before damage condition would equal or exceed fifty percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

"Substantial improvement" means any repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other 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 that have incurred "substantial damage," regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either:

• Any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local code enforcement or building official and are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions; or

• Any alteration of a historic structure, provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a historic structure.

"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.

"Wetlands" means lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow water. Wetlands have one or more of the following three attributes: At least periodically, the land supports predominantly hydrophytes; the substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil; and the substrate is nonsoils and is saturated with water or covered by shallow water at some time during the growing season of each year.