§ - 154.04 DEFINITIONS.

For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

BEACH. 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 .

BREAKAWAY WALL or FRANGIBLE WALL. A partition independent of supporting structural members that will withstand design wind forces, but will fail under hydrostatic, wave, and run-up forces associated with the design storm surge. Under such conditions, the wall will fail in a manner such that it dissolves or breaks up into components that will not act as potentially damaging missiles.

BUILDING SUPPORT STRUCTURE. Any structure which supports floor, wall, or column loads and transmits such loads to the foundation, and includes beams, grade beams, or joists and the lowest horizontal structural member exclusive of piles, columns, or footings.

COASTAL BARRIER ISLANDS. Geological features which are completely surrounded by marine waters that front upon the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and are composed of quartz sands, clays, limestone, oolites, rock, coral, coquina, sediment, or other material, including soil disposal, which features lie above the line of mean high water.

COASTAL BUILDING ZONE. The land area from the seasonal high-water line landward to a line five thousand (5,000) feet landward of the coastal construction control line as established pursuant to F.S. § 161.053, and, for those coastal areas fronting on the Atlantic Ocean and not included under F.S. § 161.053, the land area seaward of the most land-ward velocity zone (V-zone) line as established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and shown on flood insurance rate maps.

COASTAL or SHORE PROTECTION STRUCTURE. Shore-hardening structures, such as seawalls, bulkheads, revetments, rubble mound structures, groins, breakwaters, and aggregates of materials other than beach sand used for shoreline protection; beach and dune restoration; other structures which are intended to prevent erosion or protect other structures from wave and hydrodynamic forces; and any other structure which by its usage, design, dimensions, or structural configuration would require engineering consideration similar to the listed structures.

CONSTRUCTION. The carrying out of any building, clearing, filling, or excavation or substantial improvement in the size or use of any structure or the appearance of any land. When appropriate to the context, CONSTRUCTION refers to the act of construction or the result of construction.

DUNE. A mound or ridge of loose sediments, usually sand-sized sediments, lying landward of the beach and deposited by any natural or artificial mechanism.

MAJOR STRUCTURE. Houses, mobile homes, apartment buildings, condominiums, motels, hotels, restaurants, towers, other types of residential, commercial or public buildings, and other construction having the potential for substantial impact on coastal zones; and any other structure which by its usage, design, dimensions, or structural configuration would require engineering considerations similar to the listed structures.

MINOR STRUCTURE. Pile-supported, elevated dune and beach walkover structures; beach access ramps and walkways; stairways; pile-supported elevated viewing platforms, gazebos, and boardwalks; lifeguard support stands; public and private bath-houses; sidewalks, driveways, parking areas, shuffle-board courts, tennis courts, handball courts, racquet-ball courts, and other uncovered paved areas; earth retaining walls; sand fences, privacy fences, ornamental walls, ornamental garden structures, aviaries, and other ornamental construction; and any other structure which by its usage, design, dimensions, or structural configuration would require engineering consideration similar to the listed structures. It shall be a characteristic of minor structures that they are considered to be expendable under design wind, wave, and storm forces.

NONHABITABLE MAJOR STRUCTURE. Swimming pools; parking garages; pipelines; piers; canals, lakes, ditches, drainage structures, and other water retention structures; water and sewage treatment plants; electrical power plants, and all related structures or facilities, transmission lines, distribution lines, transformer pads, vaults, and substations; roads, bridges, streets, and highways; underground storage tanks; and any other structure which by its usage, design, dimensions, or structural configuration would require engineering consideration similar to the listed structures.

STATE MINIMUM BUILDING CODES. The recognized model building construction Codes as identified in F.S. § 553.73.

SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT. 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 repair is started; 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 that 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 the structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the State Inventory of Historic Places.

(Ord. 141, passed 5-29-86; Am. Ord. 143, passed 9-29-86)