Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this Chapter shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage and to give this Chapter its most reasonable application. 

   "Appeal" means a request for a review of the County’s interpretation of any provisions of this Chapter or a request for a variance.

   "Area of special flood hazard" means the land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

   "Base flood" means the flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

   "Base flood elevation" means the water surface elevation, in relation to mean sea level, of a base flood.

   "Critical feature" means an integral and readily identifiable part of a flood protection system, without which the flood protection provided by the entire system would be compromised.

   "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 located within the area of special flood hazard.

   "Flood" or "flooding" means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

   1. The overflow of inland or tidal waters; and/or

   2. The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.

   "Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)" means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

   "Flood Insurance Study" means the official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that includes flood profiles, the Flood Boundary-Floodway Map and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

   "Floodway" means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot.

   "Levee" means a man-made structure, usually an earthen embankment, designed and constructed in accordance with sound engineering practices to contain, control or divert the flow of water so as to provide protection from temporary flooding.

   "Levee system" means a flood protection system which consists of a levee, or levees, and associated structures, such as closure and drainage devices, which are constructed and operated in accordance with sound engineering practices.

   "Lowest floor" means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access or storage, in an area other than basement area, is not considered a building’s lowest floor, provided that such 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, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. This term includes mobile homes; it also includes park trailers, travel trailers and other similar vehicles placed on a site for greater than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days. This definition is for use in the Flood Hazard Area Regulations and is not to be used in other Pueblo County land use regulations (e.g., zoning) without the expressed determination of the Zoning Administrator.

   "Mean sea level" means, for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 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 this Chapter.

   "Start of construction" includes substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, placement or other improvement was within one hundred eighty (180) days of the permit date. The actual start means the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site, such as the pouring of slab or footings, 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 and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers or foundations or the erection 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.

   "Structure" means a walled and roofed building or manufactured home that is principally above ground.

   "Substantial improvement" means any repair, reconstruction, addition, alteration or improvement of a structure which either increases the gross floor area of the structure or the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty (50) percent of the market value of the structure either:

   1. Before the improvement or repair is started; or

   2. If the structure has been damaged and is 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 not, 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 National Register of Historic Places or a State Inventory of Historic Places.

   "Water surface elevation" means the height, in relation to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929, (or other datum, where specified) of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of coastal or riverine areas.