Development standards

All lands determined to be within special flood hazard areas and flood fringe lands shall be subject to the procedures and requirements established in this section. Additionally, development within two hundred (200) feet of any water course shown on a FIRM or FHBM shall also be governed. However, nothing contained herein shall prohibit the application of these requirements to lands which can be demonstrated by competent engineering survey to lie within any flood fringe lands; conversely, any lands which can be demonstrated by competent engineering survey to lie beyond the flood fringe lands shall not be subject to these requirements:

• • A. Nonconforming structures located with all special flood hazard areas shall not be enlarged or expanded.

  • B. No proposed construction or other development shall proceed prior to the issuance of a development permit from the building inspector. Such proposals shall be reviewed to assure that:

    • 1. All such proposals are consistent with the need to minimize flood damage within the flood-prone area;

    • 2. All public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical and water systems are located and constructed to minimize or eliminate flood damage; and

    • 3. Adequate drainage is provided to reduce exposure to flood hazards.

  • C. All proposed new developments shall include base flood elevation data within such proposals.

  • D. No water course may be altered or relocated without prior notification to the building inspector; the R. I. Statewide Planning Program; affected adjacent communities; and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

  • E. To insure that the flood carrying capacity within an altered or relocated water course is maintained, the following provisions shall be taken:

    • 1. Until a regulatory floodway is designated, no new construction, substantial improvement or other development (including fill) shall be permitted unless it is demonstrated that the cumulative effect of the proposed development, when combined with all other existing and anticipated development, will not increase the water surface elevation of the base flood more than one (1) foot at any point within this community.

    • 2. When a regulatory floodway is designated, based on flood data from any sources, including the developer:

      • a. The regulatory floodway shall be selected and adopted on the principal that the area chosen for the regulatory floodway must be designed to carry the waters of the base flood without increasing the water surface elevation of that flood more than one (1) foot at any point;

      • b. Encroachments shall be prohibited including fill, new construction, substantial improvements and other development within the adopted regulatory floodway that would result in any increase in flood levels within the community during the occurrences of the base flood discharge; and

      • c. The placement of any mobile homes shall be prohibited within the adopted regulatory floodway except in an existing mobile home park or mobile home subdivision.

      • d. Recreational vehicles placed on sites within zones A1-30, AH and AE shall either be on the site for fewer than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days, be fully licensed and ready for highway use, or meet all standards of Section 60.3 (b)(1) of the NFIP Regulations and the elevations and anchoring requirements for "manufactured homes" in paragraph (c)(6) of Section 60.3.

    • 3. All buildings shall be set back from a floodway at least the average of the setbacks existing on similar improvements on plots within two hundred (200) feet, or at least thirty (30) feet if there are no such improvements on plots within two hundred (200) feet. Accessory structures may, by special use permit, extend to the floodways; authorized public and semi-public bodies may be permitted to erect structures within a floodway only when the most extenuating circumstances warrant the issuance of a special use permit.

    • 4. No principal building shall be located within the floodway set back lines established in accordance with subsection E.3 above. Principal buildings shall be located landward of mean high tide.