(A) Applications for variance will be reviewed in accordance with the procedures in §§
152.030 through
152.039.
(B) Any projects granted a variance to high water mark must submit an Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan prepared by a Registered Engineer licensed by the State of Minnesota in accordance with the guidelines of the West Mississippi Watershed District. This plan must be approved by the city prior to issuance of a permit.
(C) Proposals for variance must be the minimum necessary to allow for the reasonable use of the property.
(D) Proposals must meet the requirements defined in §
152.516 for development in the Flood Hazard Overlay.
(E) All habitable structures applying for a variance and proposed in the Flood Hazard Overlay must be constructed in accordance with the flood plain management standards for the State of Minnesota as found in Minnesota Rules parts 6120.5000 - 6120.6200 and the Code of Federal Regulations, 44 CFR 60.3(a)-(d).
(F) No variance shall have the effect of allowing in any district uses prohibited in that district, permit a lower degree of flood protection than the regulatory flood protection elevation for the particular area or permit standards lower than those required by state law.
(G) The City Manager must submit hearing notices for proposed variances to the DNR sufficiently in advance to provide at least ten days notice of the hearing. The notice may be sent by electronic mail or U.S. Mail to the respective DNR area hydrologist.
(H) Required notification. The City Manager must notify the applicant for a variance of the impacts of the action and must maintain a record of such notification. The city must maintain a record of all variance actions, including justification for their issuance, and report such variances issued in its annual or biennial report submitted to the Administrator of the National Flood Insurance Program. The impacts necessitating notification include:
(1) The issuance of a variance to construct a structure below the base flood level will result in increased premium rates for flood insurance.
(2) Such construction below the 100-year or regional flood level increases risks to life and property.
(I) Submittal of final decisions to the DNR. A copy of all decisions granting variances must be forwarded to the DNR within ten days of such action. The notice may be sent by electronic mail or U.S. Mail to the respective DNR area hydrologist.
(J) The following additional variance criteria of the Federal Emergency Management Agency must be satisfied:
(1) Variances shall not be issued by a community within any designated regulatory floodway if any increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge would result.
(2) Variances shall only be issued by a community upon:
(a) A showing of good and sufficient cause,
(b) A determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship to the applicant, and
(c) A determination that the granting of a variance will not result in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisances, cause fraud on or victimization of the public, or conflict with existing local laws or ordinances.
(3) Variances shall only be issued upon a determination that the variance is the minimum necessary, considering the flood hazard, to afford relief.
(K) All new principal structures must have vehicular access at or above an elevation not more than two feet below the regulatory flood protection elevation. If a variance to this requirement is granted, the Board of Adjustment must specify limitations on the period of use or occupancy of the structure for times of flooding and only after determining that adequate flood warning time and local flood emergency response procedures exist.
(L) Record-keeping. The Zoning Administrator must maintain a record of all variance actions, including justification for their issuance, and must report such variances in an annual or biennial report to the Administrator of the National Flood Insurance Program, when requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
(Ord. 2000-936; Am. Ord. 2005-1033, passed 2-7-05; Am. Ord. 2016-1209, passed 10-10-16)
