Dimensional standards
Servicing
- Geographic extent
- All Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) within the City of Alexandria, including Zones A, AE, AH, and areas with 0.2-percent annual chance of flooding.
Uses
Extracted standards
10 individual requirements pulled out of this section’s prose, each with the sentence it came from.
Floodplain
- Breakaway wall design safe loading resistance20 psf
a breakaway wall shall have a design safe loading resistance of not less than 10 and no more than 20 pounds per square foot.
- Enclosed area below lowest floor restrictions
Not be designed or used for human habitation, but shall be used solely for parking of vehicles, building access, or limited storage of maintenance equipment.
- FillGrading (cut & fill)Reshaping land by removing earth (cut) or adding it (fill), often capped by volume. prohibition
No filling of any kind shall be allowed within the boundaries of any A or AE zone except where such filling, when considered in conjunction with all other uses, existing and proposed, will not increase the base flood elevation more than 0.5 foot.
- Floodproofing certification required
A registered professional engineer or architect shall certify the design and construction using the required FEMA floodproofing certification forms.
- Floodway encroachment0 ft
Within any floodway area, no encroachments, including fill, new construction, substantial improvements, or other development shall be permitted unless it has been demonstrated... that the proposed encroachment will not result in any increase in flood levels.
- Hydrologic and hydraulic analysis required
Hydrologic and hydraulic analyses shall be undertaken only by professional engineers or others of demonstrated qualifications.
- Lowest floor elevation above base flood1 ft
New construction or substantial improvement or any residential building or structure and their extensions and accessory buildings or structures in Zones A, AE, and with detailed base flood elevations shall have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated to or above the base flood elevation plus 1-foot.
- Maximum increase in base flood elevation0.5 ft
Any proposed use of land, development and any new construction or substantial improvement of a building or structure within an A or AE zone, in conjunction with all other uses, existing or possessing a valid permit for construction, shall not increase the water-surface elevation of the 1-percent annual chance flood by more than 0.5 foot.
- Recreational vehicle maximum consecutive days180 days
All recreational vehicles in the floodplain must be on the site for fewer than 180 consecutive days, be fully licensed and ready for highway use.
- VarianceVariancePermission to depart from a specific dimensional rule, granted on a showing of hardship. lot size maximum0.5 acresacre43,560 square feet — about the size of an American football field without the end zones.
Variances may be issued by city council for new construction and substantial improvements to be erected on a lot of one-half acre or less in size.
From the ordinance
Within any floodway area, no encroachments, including fill, new construction, substantial improvements, or other development shall be permitted unless it has been demonstrated...