Intent of chapter

The areas of the City of Miami, Florida, are subject to flooding resulting in danger to life, loss of property, health and safety hazards, disruption of commerce and governmental services, extraordinary public expenditures for flood protection and relief, and impairment of the tax base, all of which adversely affect the public health, safety and general welfare. Congress established the National Flood Insurance Program with the passage of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The National Flood Insurance Program is a federal program enabling property owners to purchase insurance protection against losses from flooding. This chapter is adopted to ensure that the residents of the city qualify for the sale of federally assisted flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program and to comply with federally imposed requirements for participation in said program. The purposes of this chapter and the flood load and flood resistant construction requirements of the Florida Building Code are to establish minimum requirements to safeguard the public health, safety, and general welfare and to minimize public and private losses due to flooding through regulation of development in flood hazard areas to:

(1)

Minimize unnecessary disruption of commerce, access, and public service during times of flooding;

(2)

Require the use of appropriate construction practices in order to prevent or minimize future flood damage;

(3)

Manage filling, grading, dredging, mining, paving, excavation, drilling operations, storage of equipment or materials, and other development which may increase flood damage or erosion potential;

(4)

Manage the alteration of flood hazard areas, watercourses, and shorelines to minimize the impact of development on the natural and beneficial functions of the floodplain;

(5)

Minimize damage to public and private facilities and utilities;

(6)

Help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the sound use and development of flood hazard areas;

(7)

Minimize the need for future expenditure of public funds for flood control projects and response to and recovery from flood events; and

(8)

Meet the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program for community participation as set forth in Title 44 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 59.22.

(Ord. No. 14039, § 2, 12-9-21)