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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: May 23, 2005 <br />SUBJECT: Revisions to the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance <br />6),4.0 - o2Z O _57- <52,1 -�/ <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. C.1 <br />DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) Yes <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />1. Proposed ordinance revisions. <br />2. Summary of Structures within <br />floodplain areas. <br />3. Draft Administrative guidelines. <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Craig N. Benedict, ext 2592 <br />Glenn Bowles, ext 2577 <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough <br />732 -8181 <br />Chapel Hill <br />968 -4501 <br />Durham <br />688 -7331 <br />Mebane <br />336- 227 -2031 <br />PURPOSE: To receive public comment on proposed amendments to the Flood Damage <br />Prevention Ordinance and seek guidance for such revisions. <br />BACKGROUND: Orange County has developed a series of regulations to prevent building <br />activity in its flood -prone areas, as well as to preserve the environmental attributes. Even <br />though Orange County has been a leader in floodplain management through its work in <br />planning, erosion and sedimentation control, Lands Legacy, and building inspection divisions, <br />the county has not availed itself of federal programs that would financially recognize our efforts <br />through insurance rate rebates and other grant opportunities. <br />Orange County first became a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program <br />(NFIP) in 1975 and entered the regular FEMA -NFIP on March 16,1981 with the adoption of a <br />flood damage prevention ordinance. This is the same effective date for the Flood Insurance <br />Rate Maps (FIRMs). The BOCC last revised the present ordinance in 1995. The County <br />adopted its original soil erosion and sedimentation control standards in 1975 and its Neuse <br />River Basin stormwater regulations in 2001 and stream buffer use restrictions in 1994. In short, <br />Orange County has a long, documented history of comprehensive land development <br />regulations focused on our water resources and stream corridors. <br />On June 18, 2004, North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program staff scheduled a preliminary <br />map meeting at which time they presented new preliminary FIRM panels and Flood Insurance <br />Study (FIS) Report to the County for the Neuse Basin streams. The new FIRMs panels altered <br />the existing floodplains, expanding them in some areas and decreasing them in others. The <br />new elevation reference (NAVD 1983) is about 0.7 feet different from the original reference <br />(NGVD 1929), plus hydrologists used better topographic data. <br />''a�rar<:fe...,..: ; � i::2 ;i•� �.......�. "` ^vc -:.: t�:E � i {:_ ^; ':1a� .'..': i� +ec c;�;� :ag.�;tida ;Z�r..r.+ct.c. , <br />