§ 402.09. Definitions.

The following terms are defined for general use in the coastal code:

(a)

Beach means the zone of unconsolidated material that extends landward from the mean low water line to the place where there is marked change in material or physiographic form, or to the line of permanent vegetation, usually the effective limit of storm waves. "Beach" is alternatively termed "shore."

(b)

Breakaway building wall or frangible building wall means a partition independent of supporting structural members that will withstand design wind forces, but will fail under hydrostatic, wave, and runup forces associated with the design storm surge. Under such conditions, the wall shall fail in a manner such that it breaks up into components that will minimize the potential for damage to life or adjacent property.

(c)

Building support structure means structure which supports floor, wall or column loads, and transmits them to the foundation. The terms shall include beams, grade beams, or joists, and includes the lowest horizonal structural member exclusive of piles, columns, or footings.

(d)

Coastal barrier island means a geological feature is completely surrounded by marine waters and fronts the Atlantic Ocean.

(e)

Column action means the potential elastic instability in piles or columns resulting in axial or lateral bending of the member due to compressive stress.

(f)

Construction means the carrying out of any building, clearing, filling, or excavation or the substantial improvement in the size or use of any structure or the appearance of any land, other than coastal protective structures and beach fill/nourishment. When appropriate to the context, "construction" refers to the act of construction or the result of construction.

(g)

Design storm means the one hundred-year storm event including a storm surge equivalent to the base flood elevation as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

(h)

Dune means a mound or ridge of loose sediment, usually sand-sized, lying landward of the beach, and deposited by natural or artificial means.

(i)

Major structure includes, but is not limited to, residential buildings including mobile homes, commercial, institutional, industrial, and other construction having the potential for substantial impact on coastal zones, other than coastal protective structures.

(j)

Mean high water line means the intersection of the tidal plane of mean high water with the shore. Mean high water is the average height of high water over a nineteen-year period.

(k)

Minor structure includes, but is not limited to, pile-supported, elevated dune beach walkover structures; beach access ramps and walkways; stairways; pile-supported elevated viewing platforms, gazebos; and boardwalks; lifeguard support stands; public and private bathhouses; sidewalks, driveways, parking areas, shuffleboard courts, tennis courts, handball courts, racquetball courts, and other uncovered paved areas; earth retaining walls; sand fences, privacy fences, ornamental walls, ornamental garden structures, aviaries, and other ornamental construction. It shall be a characteristic of minor structures that they are considered to be expandable under design wind, wave and storm forces.

(l)

Nonhabitable major structure includes, but is not limited to, swimming pools; parking garages; canals, lakes, ditches; water and sewage treatment plants; electrical power plants; transmission and distribution lines, transformer pads, vaults, and substations; roads, bridges, streets, and highways; underground storage tanks; communications buildings and towers; flagpoles and signs over fifteen (15) feet in height.

(m)

NGVD means National Geodetic Vertical Datum a geodetic datum established by the National Ocean Service and frequently referred to as the 1929 Mean Sea Level Datum.

(n)

Substantial improvements means any repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds a cumulative total of fifty (50) percent of the market value of the structure either:

(1)

Before the improvement or repairs is stated; or

(2)

If the structure has been damaged, and is being restored, before the damage occurred.

For the purposes 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 the alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure. The term does not, however, include either 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 any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places of the State Inventory of Historic Places.

(Ord. No. 91-13, § 1, 3-26-91)