Board of Adjustment Agenda and Packet 2011 08 17

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The property in question is Lot 1 of the Empire Road Subdivision and is located on the northeast corner of the Empire Road and Highway 42 intersection (1301 Empire Road). The property is zoned Industrial (I) and currently contains a 3,750 square foot building (According to the Boulder County Assessor) which houses the Louisville Glass, Inc. business. Staff and the applicant were unable to locate any evidence that the existing structure at 1301 Empire Road received a floodplain development permit when it was constructed in 1982. Lot 2 of the empire storage subdivision is located to the east of the property and is currently vacant. This lot has been approved for a 50,646 square foot storage facility and received a floodplain development permit from the Board of Adjustment in August of 2008. The 2008 floodplain development permit required all structures on Lot 2 be elevated a minimum of two feet above existing site grades. The City of Louisville shops building and the waste water treatment plant are located further to the east of Lot 2. The northern boundary of 1301 Empire is an old C&S railroad right-of-way which is currently owned by the City of Louisville. Louisville City limits and the Harney Lastoka Open Space are also located to the north of the subject property. The property to the south across Empire Road is located in Boulder County and is owned by the John D. Mayhoffer Trust according to the Boulder County assessor's office. PROPOSAL: The applicant proposes to make improvements to the interior of the structure located at 1303 Empire Road (see attachment 1) which is located in the FEMA designated 100 year floodplain "A" zone. The existing structure is not in conformity with the provisions of Section 17.56 (Floodplain Zoning) of The Louisville Municipal Code (LMC) as there is not any evidence the existing structure received a floodplain development permit in the past. Nonconforming structures may continue to be used until a "Substantial Improvement" is made to the structure. Section 17.56.010 of (LMC) defines "Substantial Improvements" as; "any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition to or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred substantial damage, regardless of the actual repair work performed... " If substantial improvements to a nonconforming structure are made, the LMC requires that the structure be brought into conformance with the Floodplain Zoning requirements of Section 17.56. The improvements the applicant proposes to make are considered substantial by the LMC definition; therefore, the applicant has applied for a floodplain development permit to bring the structure into conformance with Section 17.56 of the LMC. FLOODPLAIN STATUS: According to the October 4, 2002 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), the property in question is located within Zone "A" of the 100 year floodplain (See Attachment 3). Those areas designated on the FIRM map as Zone A do not have what is known as a "base flood elevation". A base flood elevation is the elevation to which floodwater is anticipated to rise during the base flood event. The Louisville Municipal Code (LMC) requires that all non-residential structures be elevated or floodproofed to the base flood elevation. Since a base flood elevation is not given on the FIRM map for the subject property, 2