Flood Control Definitions and Their Meanings

Definitions contained in regulations governing the National Flood Insurance Program, 44 CFR 59 through 77, as amended, are incorporated by reference and made a part of this chapter. Where terms are not defined in this chapter, they will have their ordinary accepted meanings within the context in which they are used or as they are defined in section 19.04.040 . The following words and terms used are only applicable to this chapter and are defined as follows: "Architect" means a person who has a license to practice architecture in the State of Hawaiʻi. "Base flood" means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year, also called the "100-year flood." "Base flood elevation" means the water surface elevation of the base flood. "Basement" means any area of a building having its floor below ground level on all sides. "Breakaway wall" means a wall that is not part of the structural support of a building and is intended through its design and construction to collapse under specific lateral loading forces, without causing damage to the elevated portion of the building or supporting foundation system. "Coastal high hazard area" means a special flood hazard area subject to high velocity wave action from storms or seismic sources and designated on a flood insurance rate map as zone VE or V. "Development" means any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including walls, buildings, or other structures, filling, grading, excavation, mining, drilling operations, dredging, paving, or storage of equipment or materials. "Director" means the director of public works or the director's authorized representative. "Encroachment" means the advance or infringement of uses, plant growth, fill, excavation, walls, buildings, permanent structures, or development into a floodplain which may impede or alter the flow capacity of a floodplain. "Engineer" means a person who is licensed to practice civil or structural engineering in the State of Hawaiʻi. "FEMA" means Federal Emergency Management Agency. "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, resulting from any source, such as tsunamis, or the unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of surface waters or mud from any source. "FIRM" means the flood insurance rate map, or map on which the FEMA or Federal Insurance Administration has delineated both the special flood hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the community. "Flood insurance study" means the report provided by the Federal Insurance Administration that includes flood profiles, the flood insurance rate map, and the water surface elevation of the base flood. "Floodproofing" means any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures and properties that reduce flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures, and their contents. "Floodway" means the channel or watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot. "Floodway fringe" is a special flood hazard area in which a floodway is designated, and means the area between the special flood hazard area boundary and the floodway boundary. "General floodplain" means an area of special flood hazards for which detailed engineering studies were not performed by FEMA to determine the base flood elevations or to identify the floodways, and is identified as zones A, D, or V on the FIRM. "Highest adjacent grade" means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface before construction next to the proposed walls of a structure. "Historic structure" means a structure that is: (a) listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register; (b) certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the secretary to qualify as a registered historic district; (c) individually listed on a State inventory of historic places in accordance to a historic preservation program approved by the Secretary of Interior; or (d) individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in accordance with a historic preservation program certified either (1) by an approved State program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior, or (2) directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs. "Lowest floor" means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area, including a basement. An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure used solely for parking of vehicles, building access, or storage, in an area other than a basement area, is not considered a building's lowest floor if the enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable non-elevation design requirements of this chapter. "Manufactured home" means a structure other than a recreational vehicle, transportable in one or more sections, that is built on a permanent chassis and designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when attached to the required utilities. "Market value" means the value determined by estimating the cost to replace the structure in new condition and adjusting that cost figure by the amount of depreciation accrued since the structure was constructed. In determining market value: 1. The cost of replacement of the structure must be based on a square foot cost factor determined by reference to a building cost estimating guide recognized by the building construction industry. 2. The amount of depreciation must be determined by considering the age and physical deterioration of the structure and functional obsolescence as approved by the director, but must not include economic or other forms of external obsolescence. 3. Replacement costs or accrued depreciation factors different from those in recognized building cost estimating guides may be considered only if these costs or factors are included in a report prepared by an independent professional appraiser and supported by a written explanation of the differences. "Mean sea level" means the local tidal datum also called local mean sea level or other datum, to which base flood elevations shown on a community's flood insurance rate map are referenced. "New construction" means structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, as amended, and includes any subsequent improvements to these structures. "Recreational vehicle" means a vehicle which is: (a) built on a single chassis; (b) 400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection; (c) designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and (d) designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use. "Repetitive loss structure" means a structure that was damaged by flood two or more times within any ten-year period, where the cost of fully repairing the flood damage to the structure, on average, equaled or exceeded twenty-five percent of its market value at the time of each flood. "Special flood hazard area" means an area having special flood or flood-related erosion hazards, and shown on a FIRM as zone A, AO, AE, AEF, A99, AH, D, VE, or V. "Start of construction" includes substantial improvement and other proposed new development and means the date the building permit was issued, if the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, placement, or other improvement was within one hundred eighty days from the date of the permit. The actual start means either the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site, such as the pouring of slab or footing, 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, and filling; nor does it include the installation of streets or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers, or foundations or the erections 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. For a substantial improvement, start of construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of a building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building. "Structure" means, for floodplain management purposes, a walled and roofed building, including a gas or liquid storage tank that is principally above ground, and a manufactured home. "Substantial damage" means damage of any origin sustained by a structure where the cost of restoring the structure to its pre-damaged condition would equal or exceed fifty percent of the market value of the structure, excluding land, before the damage occurred. "Substantial improvement" means any repair, replacement, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition; or any series of repairs, replacement, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or additions; or other proposed new development of a structure or repetitive loss of a structure in the ten-year period preceding the currently proposed improvement, but no earlier than September 25, 2009, the cumulative cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent of the market value of the structure, excluding land, determined as follows: For each improvement or proposed improvement, the director must establish the ratio expressed as a percentage of the cost of improvement divided by the market value of the structure, excluding land, on an application for a flood development permit for the improvement. The director must add the cumulative total of each of the individual percentages. If the cumulative total of percentages exceeds fifty percent, then the improvements in the preceding ten-year period are substantial. This term includes structures that have incurred "substantial damage," regardless of the actual repair work performed. An improvement must constitute a substantial improvement only if: 1. The structure was constructed on or before June 1, 1981; 2. The structure was constructed after June 1, 1981, and was not within a special flood hazard area at the time the building permit was issued; 3. The structure was constructed after June 1, 1981, and was the subject of a map change that resulted in higher base flood elevations; or 4. The structure was constructed after June 1, 1981, and was the subject of a map change that resulted in a FIRM zone change. The following are exceptions to the above and do not constitute a substantial improvement: 1. Any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of State or County health, sanitary, or safety specifications. 2. Any alteration of a historic structure that does not preclude the structure's continued designation as a historic structure. "Surveyor" means a person who is licensed to practice surveying in the State of Hawaiʻi. "Violation" means the failure of a structure or other development to be fully compliant with this chapter. A structure or other development without a required elevation certificate, other certification, or other evidence of compliance with this chapter is presumed to be in violation until the required certificate or other evidence of compliance is provided. "Watercourse" means a stream, wash, channel, or other topographic feature on or over which waters flow at least periodically. "Water surface elevation" means the height, in relation to the national geodetic vertical datum of 1929, or other specified datum, of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of coastal or riverine areas. "Zoning district" means a zoning district as established by the County of Maui zoning ordinances and a land use district as established by the State Land Use Commission, as applicable. ( Ord. No. 5798 , § 2, 2025; Ord. No. 5603 , § 3, 2024)