ORD-2009-027 Resolution Amending the County Flood Damage Prevention Subdivision Zoning Atlas Ordinance

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2 BACKGROUND: On the advice of the County Attorney's office, and based on correspondence between the State Attorney Generals office and the North Carolina Emergency Management Division, in the fall of 2008 staff began to take steps to incorporate the various existing flood protection standards within the Zoning and Subdivision regulations. As . presented at the February 23, 2009 Quarterly Public Hearing, these amendments consist of five (5) different components: 1. Incorporating the amended FDPO text into the Zoning Ordinance; 2. Creating a new Zoning Overlay District entitled Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA); 3. Affirming the various amendments to the FIRM (future SFHA Overlay District) that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved on February 2, 2007; and 4. Correcting definitions and references in the Subdivision Regulations to reflect FDPO terminology. The changes proposed do not'amend the adopted February. 2, 2007 flood insurance rate maps (FIRMS), except for the FEMA-approved revisions since then. Keeping the flood maps updated and current is an important maintenance and public information task. Orange County is interested in the latest Summary of Map Action (SOMA) only because the FEMA FIRM panel letter suffix has changed and this affects that portion of the FIRM panel within the County's zoning jurisdiction. The changes prop . osed in the attached resolution correct the deficiencies in the FDPO noted by Kenneth W. Ashe, P.E., CFM, in his November 7, 2008 letter to Commissioner Barry Jacobs. Summary of the February 23, 2009 Quarterly Public Hearing: As . previously indicated, this item was heard at the February 23, 2009 Quarterly Public Hearing. After staff presented a summary of the proposed amendments, BOCC members asked three questions. How can the County not exempt bona fide agricultural operations from the flood damage prevention regulations when they are part of the Zoning Ordinance? How will the non-conformity issue affect existing structures in the floodplain? 9 Would a more clearly worded notice wording have been possible? Several citizens from the Lake Orange neighborhood spoke and made the following comments: • Moving the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance into the Zoning Ordinance would not be in the property owners' best interest. • A task force of interested parties should be appointed for the purpose of resolving several long-standing issues that could include docks on the lake, stream buffers and floodplains. • The County should honor the contractual rights of owners on Lake Orange.