14.18.270 Floodplain variances.
A. The variance criteria set forth in this section are based on the general principle of zoning law that variances pertain to a piece of property and are not personal in nature. A variance may be granted for a parcel of property with physical characteristics so unusual that complying with the requirements of this chapter would create an exceptional hardship to the applicant or the surrounding property owners. Mere economic or financial hardship alone, inconvenience, aesthetic considerations, or physical handicaps cannot, as a rule, qualify as exceptional hardships. The characteristics must be unique to the property and not be shared by adjacent parcels. The unique characteristic must pertain to the land itself, not to the structure, its inhabitants, or the property owners.
B. The issuance of a variance is for floodplain management purposes only. Federal flood insurance premium rates are determined by the National Flood Insurance Program according to actuarial risk and will not be modified by the granting of a variance.
C. It is the duty of the City of Chula Vista to help protect its citizens from flooding. This need is so compelling and the implications of the cost of insuring a structure built below flood level are so serious that variances from the flood elevation or from other requirements in this chapter are quite rare. The long-term goal of preventing and reducing flood loss and damage can only be met if variances are strictly limited. Therefore, the variance guidelines provided in this chapter are more detailed and contain multiple provisions that must be met before a variance can be granted. The criteria are designed to screen out those situations in which alternatives other than a variance are more appropriate.
1. A property owner and/or developer may apply for a floodplain variance upon payment of a fee as designated in the Master Fee Schedule. The Floodplain Administrator shall review all applications for variances. In evaluating applications for variances, he shall consider all technical evaluations, all relevant factors, standards specified in other sections of this chapter, and the:
a. Danger that materials may be swept onto other lands to the injury of others;
b. Danger of life and property due to flooding or erosion damage;
c. Susceptibility of the proposed facility and its contents to flood damage and the effect of such damage on the existing individual owner and future owners of the property;
d. Importance of the services provided by the proposed facility to the community;
e. Necessity to the facility of a waterfront location, where applicable;
f. Availability of alternative locations for the proposed use which are not subject to flooding or erosion damage;
g. Compatibility of the proposed use with existing and anticipated development;
h. Relationship of the proposed use to the comprehensive plan and floodplain management program for that area;
i. Safety of access to the property in time of flood for ordinary and emergency vehicles;
j. Expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise, and sediment transport of the floodwaters expected at the proposed site; and
k. Costs of providing governmental services during and after flood conditions, including maintenance and repair of public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical, and water system, and streets and bridges.
2. Variances may be issued for new construction, substantial improvement, and other proposed new development to be erected on a lot of one-half acre or less in size contiguous to and surrounded by lots with existing structures constructed below the base flood level. As the lot size increases beyond one-half acre, the technical justification required for issuing the variance increases.
3. Variances may be issued for the repair or rehabilitation of historic resources as defined in this chapter, upon a determination that the proposed repair or rehabilitation will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as an historic resource and the variance is the minimum necessary to preserve the historic character and design of the structure.
4. The Floodplain Administrator may attach such conditions to the granting of variances as it deems necessary to further the purposes of this chapter. (Ord. 3477 § 1, 2019; Ord. 3210, 2011; Ord. 3097, 2007).