40B-4.3030. Conditions for Issuance of Works of the District Permits

(1) The district will not approve the issuance of permits for:

(a) Existing works or development in a work of the district which are in violation of law or which have discharge to waters of the state that is in violation of a permit condition of any unit of local, state, or federal government or which presents an immediate danger to public health or safety.

(b) Any proposed project that requires an environmental resource permit pursuant to Chapter 62-330, F.A.C. For such projects, works or development in a work of the district shall be authorized as part of the environmental resource permit issued. In such cases, the works or development in a works of the district shall meet the conditions of issuance found in Chapter 62-330. F.A.C., and this chapter.

(c) Any work, structures, road, or other facilities which have the potential of individually or cumulatively reducing floodway conveyance or increasing water-surface elevations above the 100-year flood/one percent annual chance of flood elevation, or increasing soil erosion.

(d) Any work or development in a work of the district which will result in permanent damage to a work of the district.

(e) New roads within a work of the district which at any point along the road, have a driving surface greater than 1 foot above adjacent natural ground elevations, or result in a net fill within the floodway.

(f) Mining, associated mining activities, and borrow pits within a regulatory floodway.

(2) Roads shall be constructed and laid out in conformance with the minimum standards of local government. Where roads are not required to be paved, the applicant must provide design specifications for erosion and sediment control. Where roads are required to be paved, swales will generally be considered adequate for erosion and sediment control.

In the absence of local government standards for roads, the following minimum standards shall apply:

(a) Driving surface shall be stabilized soil, according to the latest edition of the Florida Standard Specification for Road and Bridge Construction.

(b) Two driving lanes with a minimum driving surface of 16 feet.

(c) Driving surface shall be sloped to drain at a minimum of 2 percent (2%).

(d) Culverts shall be used to maintain pre-development drainage patterns up to the 10-year, 24-hour storm event.

(e) Swales shall be used for water quality treatment with a maximum slope of three-to-one (3:1) and erosion shall be controlled with grass or other equivalent method.

(3) The roofs on pole barns, pavillions, gazebos, and any other such structures shall be such that the lowest structural horizontal member of the roof is at an elevation at least one foot above the 100 year flood/one percent annual chance of flood elevation.

(4) Buildings in the floodway shall be elevated on piles without the use of fill such that the lowest structural member of the building is at an elevation at least one foot above the 100-year flood/one percent annual chance of flood elevation.

(5) The area below the first floor of elevated buildings shall meet the criteria in the code of federal regulations 44CFR60.3(d).

(6) A permanent elevation monument shall be established on the property by a surveyor licensed under Section 472, F.S. The monument shall be adequate to establish land surface and minimum buildup elevations to the nearest 1/100 of a foot.

(7) No fill material shall be placed above the natural grade of the ground except for minor amounts of fill which are less than or equal to 100 square feet of the cross-sectional area of the floodway. This paragraph is not intended to limit the use of pilings for structural purposes. All fill placed on any single parcel of land after the implementation date of this chapter shall be considered cumulatively.

(8) No activities shall be proposed which would result in the filling or conversion of wetlands.

(9) For any work or development in a work of the district which requires a general, conceptual, or individual permit, the district shall require that a registered professional certify that such a work or development will not obstruct flows or increase 100-year flood/one percent annual chance of flood elevations by more than 0.01 feet. Such certification shall include step-backwater calculations using the 100-year flood/one percent annual chance of flood discharge rate. The certification shall include, at a minimum, a location map showing existing and added channel cross sections, a scaled graphical representation of channel geometry for each cross section used in the calculation, a scaled graphical representation of floodway encroachments for pre-development and post-development conditions, pre-development calculations matching existing conditions, and post-development calculations showing the rise in flood elevation.

(10) Proposed boat ramps, seawalls, retaining walls, and rip-rap within a work of the district shall be designed by a registered professional. Plans for these structures shall provide for erosion, sedimentation and turbidity control.

(11) No clearing shall occur in areas outside of the 75 foot setback other than what is necessary to construct structures, associated water supply, wastewater disposal, and private driveway access facilities.

(12) Clearing within the front 75 feet immediately adjacent to and including the normally recognized bank of a water body shall be limited to that necessary to gain access to the water body.

(13) No construction, additions or reconstruction shall occur in the front 75 feet of an area immediately adjacent to and including the normally recognized bank of a water, except for one deck per parcel located at the top of the bank no larger than 200 square feet and a boardwalk no wider than five feet to provide reasonable pedestrian access to water dependent structures such as docks. The following conditions shall apply to decks and boardwalks:

1. Decks and boardwalks shall not be enclosed, except for a structural roof; and

2. Decks, boardwalks and structural roofs shall be built in a manner to minimize destruction of existing vegetation.

(14) Upon the request of the permittee, the governing board has the authority to, in cases of extreme hardship, authorize a variance and issue a works of the district permit for exceptions to the conditions listed in subsections 40B-4.3030(2) through (13), F.A.C., in accordance with Section 120.542 or 373.414(17), F.A.C. These documents are incorporated herein by reference and may be obtained from the District website at http://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/Permitting, or by writing to the Suwannee River Water Management District, 9225 County Road 49, Live Oak, Florida 32060;

(15) The 75-foot setback shall be considered a minimum depth for an undisturbed buffer. The limitations on disturbance and clearing within the buffer as set out in subsections (11) through (13) above shall apply, and any runoff through the buffer shall be maintained as unchannelized sheet flow. The actual depth of the setback and buffer for any land use other than single-family residential development, agriculture, or forestry shall be calculated in accordance with the methodology in: “Urban Hydrology for Small Watersheds”, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Engineering Division, Technical Release 55, June 1986; http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-03691 and http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-03692 and, “Buffer Zone Study for Suwannee River Water Management District”, Dames and Moore, http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-03168 and http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-03169, September 8, 1988, These documents are incorporated herein by reference and may be obtained from the District website at http://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/Permitting, or by writing to the Suwannee River Water Management District, 9225 County Road 49, Live Oak, Florida 32060. When calculating the setback, the post-development composite curve number for any one-acre area within the encroachment line does not exceed:

1. A value of 46 for areas within the encroachment line with predominantly Class A soils;

2. A value of 65 for areas within the encroachment line with predominantly Class B soils;

3. A value of 77 for areas within the encroachment line with predominantly Class C soils; or

4. A value of 82 for areas within the encroachment line with predominantly Class D soils.

Rulemaking Authority 373.044, 373.113, 373.171 FS. Law Implemented 373.084, 373.085, 373.086 FS. History–New 9-25-85, Amended 2-12-87, 2-1-89, 12-22-92, 10-18-04, 5-13-07, 8-8-07, 8-11-10, 2-28-12, 10-14-13.