Variances.
(1) Procedures and process.
(a) The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) shall hear and decide appeals and requests for variances from the requirements of this regulation.
(b) The ZBA shall hear and decide appeals when it is alleged there is an error in any requirement, decision or determination made by the Floodplain Administrator in the enforcement or administration of this regulation.
(c) Any person aggrieved by the decision of the ZBA or any person owning land which abuts or is within a radius of 100 feet of the land in question may appeal within 15 days after such decision to the State Superior Court of Hartford District, as provided in § 8-8 of the General Statutes of Connecticut.
(d) The Floodplain Administrator shall maintain the records of all appeal actions and report any variances to the FEMA upon request.
(2) Specific situation variances.
(a) Buildings on a historic register. Variances may be issued for the reconstruction, rehabilitation or restoration of structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the State Inventory of Historic Places, or any locally adopted historic district without regard to the procedures set forth in the remainder of this section and provided the proposed reconstruction, rehabilitation or restoration will not result in the structure losing its historical designation.
(b) Functionally dependent use or facility. Variances may be issued for new construction and substantial improvements and other development necessary for the conduct of a functionally dependent use or facility provided the structure or other development is protected by methods that minimize flood damage, creates no additional threat to public safety and meet all the requirements of § Subsection (3), below.
(c) Floodway prohibition. Variances shall not be issued within any designated floodway if any increase in flood levels during the base flood discharge would result.
(3) Considerations for granting of variances. In passing upon applications for variances in accordance with this section, the ZBA shall consider all technical evaluations, all relevant factors, all standards specified in other sections of this regulation and the items listed below as Subsection (3)(a) through (k), below. Upon consideration of these factors and the purposes of this regulation, ZBA may attach such conditions to the granting of variances as it deems necessary to further the purposes of this regulation.
(a) The danger that materials may be swept onto other lands to the injury of others;
(b) The danger to life and property due to flooding or erosion damage;
(c) The susceptibility of the proposed facility and its contents to flood damage and the effect of such damage on the individual owner;
(d) The importance of the services provided by the proposed facility to the community;
(e) The necessity of the facility to waterfront location, in the case of a functionally dependent facility;
(f) The availability of alternative locations not subject to flooding or erosion damage for the proposed use;
(g) The compatibility of the proposed use with existing and anticipated development;
(h) The relationship of the proposed use to the comprehensive plan and floodplain management program for that area;
(i) The safety access to the property in times of flood for ordinary and emergency vehicles;
(j) The expected heights, velocity, duration, rate of rise and sediment transport of the floodwaters and the effects of wave action, if applicable, expected at the lot; and
(k) The costs of providing governmental services during and after flood conditions including maintenance and repair of public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical and water systems, and streets and bridges.
(4) Conditions for variances.
(a) Variances shall only be used upon a determination that the variance is the minimum necessary to afford relief considering the flood hazard; and in the instance of a historical building, a determination that the variance is the minimum necessary as not to destroy the historic character and design of the building and result in the loss of historic designation of the building. Variances shall be reviewed in accordance with the standards of § 470-906 in addition to the requirements of this section.
(b) Variances shall only be used upon:
[1] A showing of good and sufficient cause;
[2] A determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional hardship; and
[3] A determination that the granting of a variance will not result in increased flood heights, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, create nuisance, damage the rights or property values of other persons in the area, cause fraud on or victimization of the public, or conflict with existing local laws, ordinances or regulations.
[4] Only hardships that are based on unusual or unique physical characteristics of the property in question, characteristics that are not shared by adjacent parcels, shall quality to meet Subsection K(4)(b)[2] above. Claims of hardship based on the structure, on economic gain or loss, or on personal or self- created circumstances are not sufficient cause for the granting of a variance.
(c) No variance may be issued within a regulatory floodway that will result in any increase in the 100-year flood levels. A variance may be issued for new construction, substantial improvements and other development necessary for the conduct of a "functionally dependent use" provided that there is good and sufficient cause for providing relief; and the variance does not cause a rise in the 100-year flood level within a regulatory floodway. The structure and other development must be protected by methods that minimize flood damages.
(d) Any applicant to whom a variance is granted shall be given written notice that the structure will be permitted to be built with the lowest floor elevation below the BFE and the elevation, and that the cost of flood insurance will be commensurate with the increased risk resulting from the lowest floor elevation.
