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preparedness plans, flood control works, floodplain management regulations, and open space plans. "Floodplain management regulations" means this chapter and other zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as grading and erosion control) and other application of police power which control development in flood-prone areas. This term describes federal, state or local regulations in any combination thereof which provide standards for preventing and reducing flood loss and damage. "Floodproofing" means any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures, and their contents. For guidelines on dry and wet floodproofing, see FEMA Technical Bulletins TB 1-93, TB 3-93, and TB 7-93, or successor bulletins. "Floodway" means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot. Also referred to in this chapter as "Regulatory Floodway." "Floodway fringe" is that area of the floodplain on either side of the "Regulatory Floodway" where encroachment may be permitted. "Fraud and victimization" as related to Article IV of this chapter, means that the floodplain variance granted must not cause fraud on or victimization of the public. In examining this requirement, the City of Santa Ana will consider the fact that every newly constructed building adds to government responsibilities and remains a part of the community for fifty to one-hundred years. Buildings that are permitted to be constructed below the base flood elevation are subject during all those years to increased risk of damage from floods, while future owners of the property and the community as a whole are subject to all the costs, inconvenience, danger, and suffering that those increased flood damages bring. In addition, future owners may purchase the property, unaware that it is subject to potential flood damage, and can be insured only at very high flood insurance rates. "Hardship" means the floodplain exceptional hardship that would result from a failure to grant the requested floodplain variance. The request for floodplain variance be unusual, and peculiar to the property involved. Mere economic or financial hardship alone is not exceptional. Inconvenience, aesthetic considerations, physical handicaps, personal preferences, or the disapproval of one's neighbors likewise cannot, as a rule, qualify as an exceptional hardship. "Highest adjacent grade" means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure. Ordinance No. NS-XXX Page 6 of 27 11 A-6