§ 295-1117 — Procedures

295-1117. Procedures.

1. CREATION OR REVISION. Creation of, or revision to, floodplain overlay zone boundaries or regulations shall be by amendment to the floodplain overlay zone map or text, pursuant to s. 62.23, Wis. Stats. 2. INITIATION OF FLOODPLAIN OVERLAY ZONE AMENDMENTS. An amendment to the floodplain overlay zone map or text may be initiated upon petition of any party according to the provisions of s. 62.23, Wis. Stats. A petition for an amendment shall include all data required by s. 295-1127-4 and 295-1129. 3. PROCEDURE FOR MAP AMENDMENT. Consideration of a proposed floodplain overlay zone map amendment shall be in accordance with the following procedure: a. Introduction of Map Amendment. Upon receipt of a valid application and the required fee, or upon a motion of the common council, the department of city development shall prepare an ordinance and map representing the requested amendment. b. Referral to City Plan Commission. Upon introduction, the ordinance to make the map amendment shall be referred to the city plan commission pursuant to s. 62.23, Wis. Stats. c. Staff Actions. The department of city development shall establish a time and date for a public hearing, notify affected property owners at least 10 days in advance of the hearing and prepare a staff report on the floodplain overlay zone map amendment. The department shall also submit the amendment and the notice of public hearing to the regional office of the Wisconsin department of natural resources prior to the hearing. d. City Plan Commission. The commission shall hold at least one public hearing on any proposed map amendment. Notice of the public hearing shall be provided according to the commission’s by-laws. Upon completion of its public hearing, the commission shall prepare a report of its findings and recommendations on the proposed map amendment and file a copy of the report with the common council. e. Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee. Following notice, review and report by the city plan commission to the common council’s zoning, neighborhoods and development committee, the committee shall hold a class 2 public hearing after notifying the applicant, petitioners, owners of property under consideration and owners of property immediately surrounding and within at least 200 feet thereof, including streets and alleys. Upon conclusion of the public hearing, the committee shall prepare a recommendation for submittal to the common council. f. Common Council. Upon receipt of the recommendation of the zoning, neighborhoods and development committee, the council shall either approve or disapprove the map amendment or refer the amendment back to the zoning, neighborhoods and development committee for additional consideration. 4. PROCEDURE FOR TEXT AMENDMENT. Consideration of a proposed floodplain overlay zone text amendment shall be in accordance with the following procedure: a. Introduction of Text Amendment. Upon introduction of an ordinance to amend floodplain overlay zone code text to the common council, the city clerk shall simultaneously refer the ordinance to the city plan commission and the zoning code technical committee. b. Zoning Code Technical Committee. The zoning code technical committee shall review each proposed zoning text amendment referred to it for legality and enforceability, administrative efficiency, and consistency with the format of the zoning code. Within 30 days of the date on which the city clerk refers the proposed text amendment to the committee, the committee shall provide a report with respect to these 3 criteria, as well as any recommended changes to the proposed amendment, to the zoning, neighborhoods and development committee. c. City Plan Commission. The city plan commission shall hold a class 2 public hearing on the proposed zoning text amendment and, after receiving a report from the department of city development, submit its report and recommendation to the zoning, neighborhoods and development committee. d. Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee. Following receipt of reports from the city plan commission and zoning code technical committee, the zoning, neighborhoods and development committee shall prepare a recommendation for the common council. The zoning, neighborhoods and development committee may provide a recommendation to the common council prior to receipt of a report from the zoning code technical committee if the 30-day period described in par. b has lapsed. e. Common Council. Upon receipt of the report of the zoning, neighborhoods and development committee, the common council shall either approve or disapprove the text amendment or refer the amendment back to the zoning, neighborhoods and development committee for additional consideration. 5. AMENDMENT. Actions which require an amendment of a floodplain overlay zone boundary or submittal of a letter of map change include, but are not limited to, the following: a. Any fill or floodway encroachment that obstructs flow, causing any increase in the regional flood height. b. Any change to the floodplain boundaries or watercourse alterations on the flood insurance rate map. c. Any change to any other officially-adopted floodplain maps provided in sub. 5. d. Any floodplain fill which raises the elevation of the filled area to a height at or above the flood protection elevation and is contiguous to land lying outside the floodplain. e. Correction of discrepancies between the water surface profiles and floodplain maps. f. Any upgrade to the text of this section required by s. NR 116.05, Wis. Adm. Code, as amended, otherwise required by law or for changes by the city. g. All channel relocations and changes to the maps to alter floodway lines or to remove an area from the floodway or the flood fringe based on a base flood elevation from a flood insurance rate map. Prior approval of the federal emergency management agency shall be required for such relocations or changes. 6. OTHER APPROVALS. a. No amendment shall become effective until it is reviewed and approved by the Wisconsin department of natural resources. b. Any person petitioning for a map amendment that obstructs flow, causing any increase in the regional flood height, shall obtain flooding easements or other appropriate legal arrangements from all adversely affected property owners and notify local units of government before the amendment can be approved by the common council. c. In the case of a floodplain overlay zone boundary change, the federal emergency management agency will determine if an official letter of map amendment or a letter of map amendment based on fill will be required. These letters are waivers of federal insurance requirements and do not fulfill minimum requirements for removing land from the flood plain. d. To remove land from a floodplain, the requirements of s. 295-1141 shall be met. 7. OFFICIAL MAPS AND REVISIONS. a. Introduction. Special flood hazard areas are designated as zones A, A1-30, AE, AH, AO, VE, V1-30, and V on the flood insurance rate maps based on flood hazard analyses summarized in the flood insurance study. Additional flood hazard areas subject to regulation under this subchapter are identified on maps based on studies approved by the Wisconsin department of natural resources. These maps and revisions are on file in the department of neighborhood services. b. Official Maps Adopted. The boundaries of all floodplain overlay zones are designated as A, AE, AH, AO, A1-30, VE, V1-30 or V on the following maps based on the flood insurance study: b-1. 55079C0008F 55079C0012F 55079C0014F 55079C0016F 55079C0017F 55079C0018F 55079C0019F 55079C0036F 55079C0037F 55079C0038F 55079C0052F 55079C0056F 55079C0058F 55079C0066F 55079C0067F 55079C0068F 55079C0069F 55079C0076F 55079C0077F 55079C0081F 55079C0082F 55079C0084F 55079C0086F 55079C0087F 55079C0089F 55079C0091F 55079C0092F 55079C0093F 55079C0094F 55079C0103F 55079C0111F 55079C0131F 55079C0132F 55079C0151F 55079C0152F 55079C0153F 55079C0154F 55079C0156F 55079C0157F 55079C0158F 55079C0159F 55079C0162F 55079C0166F 55079C0167F 55079C0176F Dated October 24, 2024. b-2. Flood insurance study (FIS) for Milwaukee county, dated October 24, 2024. b-3. Flood insurance rate map (FIRM) panel numbers 55133C0114H and 55133C0227H, dated October 19, 2023. b-4. Flood insurance study (FIS) for Waukesha county, dated October 19, 2023. b-5. Flood insurance rate map (FIRM) panel number 55131C0379E, dated February 20, 2026. b-6. Flood insurance study (FIS) for Washington county, dated February 20, 2026. b-7. Conditional letter of map revision 21-05-3305R, Menomonee River CLOMR, Milwaukee and Wauwatosa, dated April 11, 2022, approved by the Wisconsin department of natural resources and the federal emergency management agency. c. Revision of Maps. Any change to the base flood elevations or any change to the boundaries of the floodplain or floodway in the flood insurance study or on the flood insurance rate map shall be reviewed and approved by the Wisconsin department of natural resources and the federal emergency management agency through the letter-of- map- revision process in s. 295-1143 before it is effective. No changes to regional flood elevations on non-federal emergency management agency maps shall be effective until approved by the department of natural resources. d. Official Maps Based on Other Studies. Any map referenced in this paragraph shall be approved by the Wisconsin department of natural resources and be more restrictive than the map based on the flood insurance study at the site of the proposed development. The city adopts city of Milwaukee flood storage districts, panel 3, effective October 24, 2024, and city of Milwaukee flood storage districts panels 6 and 8 effective October 25, 2024, approved by the Wisconsin department of natural resources. 8. ESTABLISHMENT OF FLOODPLAIN OVERLAY ZONES. The flood hazard areas regulated by this subchapter are divided into overlay zones as follows: a. The floodway overlay zone (FW) is the channel of a river or stream and those portions of the floodplain adjoining the channel required to carry the regional floodwaters, within AE zones as shown on the flood insurance rate map or within A zones as shown on the flood insurance rate map when determined according to s. 295-1127-5. b. The flood fringe overlay zone (FF) is that portion of a riverine special flood hazard area outside the floodway within AE zones on the flood insurance rate map or, when floodway limits have been determined according to s. 295-1127-5, within A zones, as shown on the flood insurance rate map. c. The general floodplain overlay zone (GFP) consists of those riverine areas that may be covered by floodwater during the regional flood in which a floodway boundary has not been delineated on the flood insurance rate map and also includes shallow flooding areas identified as AH and AO zones on the flood insurance rate map. d. The flood storage overlay zone (FS) is that area of the floodplain where storage of floodwaters is calculated to reduce the regional flood discharge. e. The coastal floodplain overlay zone (CFP) is an area of special flood hazard extending from offshore to the inland limit of a primary frontal dune along an open coast, and any other area subject to high velocity wave action from storms, including areas identified as zone V, V1-30 or VE on the flood insurance rate map. Where a riverine AE floodway extends into the CFP overlay zone, development within the floodway shall comply with the regulations of both the FW and CFP overlay zones. Where a riverine A zone or AE zone with no floodway determination abuts the CFP overlay zone, the riverine study’s floodway limit shall be determined based on standard floodway expansion principles within the CFP overlay zone and development within the floodway shall comply with the standards for both the FW and CFP overlay zones. 9. LOCATING FLOODPLAIN BOUNDARIES. Discrepancies between boundaries on the official floodplain zoning map and actual field conditions shall be resolved using the criteria in pars. a and b. If a significant difference exists, the map shall be amended according to sub. 3. The commissioner may rely on a boundary derived from a profile elevation to grant or deny a land use permit, whether or not a map amendment is required. The commissioner shall document actual pre-development field conditions and the basis upon which the district boundary was determined, and initiate any map amendments required under this subsection. Disputes between the commissioner and an applicant over a district boundary line shall be settled according to s. 295-1149-4 and the following criteria: a. If flood profiles exist, the map scale and the profile elevations shall determine the district boundary. The regional or base flood elevations shall govern if there are any discrepancies. Where the flood profiles are based on established base flood elevations from a flood insurance rate map, the approval of the federal emergency management agency pursuant to sub. 2-g shall be required for any map amendment. b. Where flood profiles do not exist, the location of the boundary shall be determined by the map scale, visual on-site inspection and any information provided by the Wisconsin department of natural resources. 10. FLOODPLAIN VARIANCES. Pursuant to s. 295-1149-2-c-1, the board of zoning appeals shall take no action on any application for a floodplain variance in a floodplain overlay zone for 30 days following the date of receipt of the application or until the Wisconsin department of natural resources has made its recommendation, whichever is sooner.