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96 <br />January 7, 2009 <br />Mr. Craig Benedict, Director <br />Orange County Planning Department <br />P.O. Box 818.1 <br />Hillsborough, NC 27278 <br />Re: Amendments to County Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance <br />Dear Craig: <br />This letter is to reiterate our recommendation to the Planning Department that the County's Flood <br />Damage Prevention Ordinance ("FDPO'~ should be amended in the same manner as the County's Zoning <br />Ordinance and Zoning Atlas are amended as sex forth in Article 20 of the Zoning Ordinance. This letter is <br />prompted by my receipt on January 5, 2008, of a draft copy of a public hearing notice for a hearing to be <br />held at the Central Orange Senior Center, 515 Meadowland Drive, Hillsborough, North Carolina on <br />January 22, 2009 at 7:30 Plvt for the purpose of giving alI interested citizens an opportunity to speak for <br />or against various amendments to the FDPO. I understand from various correspondences with Glen <br />Bowles, the County's Flood Plain Manager, that-the proposed amendments are required by the Federal <br />Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA"} in order for County residents to remain eligible for the <br />Federal Flood Insurance Program. The proposed ordinance amendments address a "number of problems" <br />with the ciurent FDPO as identified by Kenneth W. Ashe, Assistant Director of the North Carolina <br />Department of Crime Control and Public Safety Division of Emergency Management in a letter to then <br />Board of Commissioners Chair, Barry Jacobs, -on November 7, 2008. A copy of Mr. Ashe's letter is <br />attached. <br />I understand from conversations with you and with Glen Bowles, that the County has been <br />notified by the State FEMA office that it is in danger of being removed from the Federal Flood Insurance <br />Program if it does not amend the FDPO by the end of January 2009 to address the issues with the FDPO <br />xaised by Mr. Ashe. I also understand that the County has not received formal written notification of the <br />pending suspension. The Planning Department is apparently moving forward with noticing a public <br />hearing that is to be held on January 22 which is the same night the Board of County Commissioners will <br />be asked to vote on the amendments. It is our view that moving forward with amendments to the FDPO <br />without following the requirements of the County Zoning Ordinance is not a good idea. <br />I wrote to Glen Bowles, copying you and Laura Blackmon, on December 12, 200b and on <br />January 5, 20A7 outlining the reasons why the FDPO should be incorporated into the County's Zoning <br />Ordinance and why amendments to the FDPO should be handled in the same manner as amendments to <br />the County's Zoning Ordinance and Zoning Atlas are adopted. The most recent amendments to the <br />FDPO were adopted on January 23, 2007. The agenda item. abstract for the January 23, 2007. meeting, a <br />copy of which is attached, requested authorization for staff to, "initiate the Zoning .Ordinance amendment <br />