IDAHO COUNTY ORDINANCE #15
(Repealed by special election October 9, 1979. Click to view Commissioner Meeting Minutes 10/11/1979)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNTY OF IDAHO, STATE OF IDAHO, PROVIDING FOR THE ADOPTION OF A MANDATORY BUILDING PERMIT SYSTEM IN ALL UNINCORPORATED AREAS OF IDAHO COUNTY, IDAHO, PROVIDING, WITHIN SUCH BUILDING PERMIT STRUCTURE, A FRAMEWORK FOR DETERMINING WHETHER ANY PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OR EXCAVATION TO REAL ESTATE IN THE FLOOD PRONE AREAS WILL BE DETRIMENTAL TO THE FLOOD PLAIN, PROVIDING FOR THE ADOPTION OF A BUILDING PERMIT, NAMING THE IDAHO C0UNTY AUDITOR, OR HIS DESIGNATE, AS RESPONSIBLE PERSON FOR ADMINISTRATION OF THE BUILDING PERMIT SYSTEM; PROVIDING FOR THE REFERENCE OF PROBLEM CONSTRUCTION WITHIN THE FLOOD PLAIN AREA TO THE COUNTY ENGINEER, PROVIDING FOR A CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE BUILDING PERMIT SYSTEM, PROVIDING FOR THE CHARGING OF A FEE FOR SUCH BUILDING PERMIT, PROVIDING FOR THE DECLARATION OF AN IMPENDING EMERGENCY,AND PROVIDING FOR THE 0RDINANCE BECOMING EFFECTIVE UPON ITS PASSAGE AND POSTING IN FIVE (5) PUBLIC PLACES IN THE COUNTY, AND PROVIDING FURTHER FOR A SUBSEQUENT PUBLICATION.
WHEREAS, the County of Idaho, in all of its unincorporated areas* wishes to establish eligibility under the national Flood Insurance Program, and in order to do so, must meet the requirements of 1910.3(a) of the Federal Insurance Administration regulations, and,
WHEREAS, in view of the harsh winter of 1978-79, an emergency is declared to exist for those persons who are presently desirous of purchasing Federal Flood Insurance, and the Board of County Commissioners has determined by separate written findings of fact, that danger to certain development in the various flood plain areas is eminent and existent is view of present ice buildups on Idaho County rivers and streams.
NOW, THEREFORE, be it ordained by the Board of County Commissions of Idaho County, State of Idaho, as follows:
Section 1: Permit Requirements No person shall erect, construct, enlarge, substantially alter, repair, or improve any building or structure without first obtaining a separate permit for each building or structure from the designated responsible person. Furthermore, no person shall move or demolish any building or structure which has proven, in the past, to be within the flood prone area, without securing a separate permit for each move or demolition of any building or structure. Within any area which has, in the past, been prone to flooding, no man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures nor any mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations, shall he commenced until a separate permit has been obtained from the designated responsible person for each such change. Within any area historically shown to be flood prone, no mobile home shall be placed on improved or unimproved real estate without first obtaining a separate permit, for each mobile home placed within those areas from the designated responsible person. For purposes of this section, “flood prone area” shall be defined as any area which: (1) lies within three hundred (300) feet of either side of a stream, river or other watercourse, and/or, (2) lies below twenty (20) feet above the ordinary high water mark of such watercourse, or (3) lies within any area which is historically prone to flooding.
Section 2: Application: To obtain a permit, the applicant shall first file a permit application on a form provided for that purpose. The form must be completed and submitted to the designated responsible person, that is the Idaho County Auditor, or his designate, with a fee of $5.00 before the issuance of a permit will be considered. The Idaho County Auditor may make, in addition to his regular deputies, the City Clerk of each incorporated city within Idaho County. Idaho, as a designated agent, if appointed by the Auditor, and shall be provided with all appropriate forms for building permits and shall have the discretion to grant any building permit if the proposed construction or work lay either beyond three hundred (300) feet on either side of any a stream or river within Idaho County, and lay at least twenty (26) feet in elevation from the ordinary high water mark from any such stream or river. However, in the event that any proposed construction or excavation or mobile hone placement is within a historically flood prone area not falling with the dimensional area above described, the designated agent shall not issue the permit itself, but shall follow the following procedure.
In the event that the application indicates that the designated agent shall not have the authority to issue the permit, then the permit shall be delivered to the Idaho County Auditor, or his designated deputy, who shall review the applications as are set forth in the following section.
Section 3: Review of Application: The Idaho County Auditor, or his ‘deputy,” hereinafter referred to as the responsible person, is appointed as the “person” responsible for receiving applications and examining the plan and specification for the proposed construction or development, except as is herein before set forth for areas clearly outside the flood plain area.
After reviewing the application, if the same is within an area which may be within the flood plain, the responsible person shall require any additional measures which are necessary to meet the minimum requirements of this document.
Section 4: All designated agents of the responsible person, or the responsible person or his designated deputy shall review all proposed development to assure that all necessary permits have been received from those governmental agencies from which approval is required by federal or state law, including Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 33 U.S.C. 1334.
Section 5: All permit applications shall be reviewed by the responsible person, or his designated agent or deputy, to determine whether the proposed building sites will be reasonably safe from flooding. If a proposed building site is in a flood prone area, all new construction and substantial improvements, (including the placement of prefabricated buildings and mobile homes), shall: (i) be designed (or modified) and adequately anchored to prevent flotation, collapse, or lateral movement of the structure, (ii) be constructed with materials and utility equipment resistant to flood damage, and (iii) be constructed by methods and practices that minimize flood damage.
Section 6: The responsible person shall, in conjunction with the Planning and Zoning Commission of Idaho County and the Idaho County Commissioners, review all subdivision proposals and other proposed new development of that type to determine whether such proposals will be reasonably safe from flooding. If a subdivision proposal or other proposed new development is in a flood prone area, any such proposals shall be reviewed to assure that: (i) all such proposals are consistent with the need to minimize flood damage within the flood prone area, (ii) all public utilities and facilities, such as sewer, gas, electrical, and water systems are located and constructed to minimize or eliminate flood damage, and (iii) adequate drainage is provided to reduce exposure to flood hazards.
Section 7: The responsible person shall require, within flood prone areas, new and replacement water supply systems to be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of flood waters into the systems.
Section 8: The responsible person shall require within flood prone areas: (i) new and replacement sanitary sewage systems to be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of flood waters into the systems and discharges from the systems into flood waters, and (ii) onsite waste disposal systems to be located to avoid impairment to them or contamination from them during flooding.
Section 9: If the responsible person determines that any proposed land use, which would require a permit hereunder, is clearly within the flood plain, the said responsible person, in his discretion, shall be entitled to counsel with the County Engineer in any particular case, and who shall further be entitled to require such additional measures as will make any construction or land use within the flood prone area reasonably safe from future flooding. Failure of a person to agree to comply with the additional requirements of the County Engineer shall be a ground for denial of the permit.
Section 10: Definitions: Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this document shall be interpreted so as to given them the same meaning as they have in common usage and so as to give this document its most reasonable application.
“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, excavation or drilling operations.
“Flood” – means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas
(1)The overflow of inland or tidal waters.
(2)The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.
“Flood Plain” or “flood prone area” – means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source (see definition of “flood”).
“Flood proofing” – means any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures and their content.
“Mobile home” – means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. It does not include recreational vehicles or travel trailers. The term includes but is not limited to, the definition of “mobile home” as set forth in regulations governing the Mobile Home Safety and Construction Standard Program (24. CFR 3282.7)
“Person” – includes any individual or group of individuals, corporation, partnership, association, or any other entity, including State and local governments and agencies.
“Structure” – means for flood plain management purposes, a welled and roofed building, including a gas or oil storage tank, that is principally above ground, as well as a mobile home.
“Substantial improvement” – means any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty (50) percent of the market value of the structure either, (a) before the improvement or repair was started, or (b) if the structure has been damaged, and was being restored, before the damage occurred. For the purpose of this definition “substantial improvement” is considered to occur when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of the building commences, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure. The term does now, however, include either (1) any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to assure safe living conditions or (2) any alteration of a structure listed on the Rational Register of Historic Places or a State Inventory of Historic Places.
“Variance” – means a grant of relief by a community from the terms of a flood plain management regulation.
Section 11: In the event that any person is aggrieved by the action of the responsible person, or any of his designated agents or of his deputies, or of the County Engineer, such aggrieved person shall have the right to appeal directly to the Board of County Commissioners at the next regularly scheduled County Commissioner meeting. All that shall be necessary to perfect an appeal in the filing, with the Idaho County Clerk, of a written notice of grievance listing therein, as concisely as possible, all relevant background information. In the event the appeal is denied by the Board of County Commissioners, such aggrieved person shall have the right, as is established by law, to perfect a further appeal to the District Court of the Second Judicial District of the State of Idaho, in and for Idaho County.
Section 12: In the event any person shall willfully fail to secure a permit for those areas requiring permits, as set forth in Section 1 hereof, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon a conviction thereof, may be fined the maximum of three hundred dollars ($300.00), or imprisoned in the Idaho County Jail for a maximum of six (6) Months, or both such fine and imprisonment.
Section 13: The Board of County Commissioners shall, at each highway entrance to Idaho County, Idaho, post a sign indicating that building permits are required within the County.
Section 14: The Board of County Commissioners shall, by appropriate Motion or Resolution, passed concurrently herewith, adopt a form of application for building permit which shall embrace all requirements herein set forth.
Section 15: Any person signing an application for building permit is deemed to be signing the same under oath and in the event of a willful misstatement on such application, the applicant shall be guilty of perjury.
AN EMERGENCY HAVING BEEN DECLARED, this Ordinance shall be in force and effect upon its passage by the Board of County Commissioners and upon its posting in five (5) public places within the County. Additionally, such Ordinance shall be published in the Idaho County Free Press, a newspaper of general circulation in Idaho County, Idaho, as part of the County Commissioners minutes.
DATED this 15th day of February, 1979.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS:
By: Lewis Crea- Chairman
By: Douglas Higgins- member
By: John Kopczynski -member
Attest: Bob J. Waite-County Clerk
