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5 Kim Piracci said that she is dumbfounded that there can be motor vehicles allowed in public drinking water supply. 216 217 Tony Blake said that large amounts of antidepressants have been found in the brains of fish in the Great Lakes. 218 219 Allison Reinert said that the Water Research Foundation has some very interesting information on what pharmaceuticals and 220 personal care products might be in your drinking water. 221 222 Randy Marshall said that there are a lot of happy fish in the Great Lakes. 223 224 Tony Blake initiated discussion of the next agenda item. 225 226 AGENDA ITEM 3: UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (UDO) TEXT AMENDMENTS – FLOOD REGULATIONS 227 To review government-initiated amendments to the text of the UDO pertaining to flood regulations 228 Presenter: Michael Harvey, Current Planning Supervisor 229 230 Michael Harvey reviewed the abstract (page 19). This UDO text amendment is 70 pages in length addressing modifications in 231 the floodplain management program. He discussed the baseline for the County’s involvement in this program which started in 232 1976. Entry into this program requires that the County adopt a minimum model ordinance to address the basic tools in dealing 233 with development to ensure when and if there is a flood event, you will not lose unnecessarily property or endanger the 234 general health, safety and welfare of the residents. The County has approx. 80 parcels where existing structures are located in 235 the floodplain. There are 4,000 – 5,000 parcels within Orange County that are encumbered by floodplain. Mr. Harvey pointed 236 out that Orange County is not the coast nor is it Wake County; both areas have significant areas in floodplain. Flood damage 237 prevention and flood management are not necessarily a huge problem for the County, but the County has always made a 238 conscious effort to be proactive in going beyond the minimum model. For example, the County requires buffers around 239 floodplain to prohibit development within the floodplain; if there is nothing built within the floodplain, it will not get destroyed 240 when it floods. The buffer rule also provides a recharge area to help with stormwater inundation and other factors, some of 241 which Ms. Reinert noted in her presentation. The County also adopted other standards included a freeboard requirement. Mr. 242 Harvey reviewed briefly how floodplain regulation works. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) creates maps 243 based on engineering studies of floodplain to examine the questions like – how high is water going to go? Even though no one 244 really knows the answer to this question, FEMA provides reliable data. If someone is going to build in the floodplain, the first 245 floor of habitable living space has to be out of harm’s way. If the Base Flood Elevation is 500 feet, the minimum model 246 ordinance says that the first floor of habitable space, including utilities, has to be at 500 feet to prevent destruction in a flood 247 event. Orange County adds 2 feet of freeboard (502 feet in this example) to ensure more safety in a major flood event. 248 Additionally, the County prohibits development or “activities” in the floodplain, specifically no houses, no industrial areas, and 249 related activities, roads and utilities excluded. In 2007, the County adopted a Flood Hazard Overlay District based on flood 250 map data by overlaying this data onto the County’s zoning atlas map, and updated what activities were allowable and 251 prohibited based on FEMA guidelines. Mr. Harvey asked if anyone on the Board had heard of a Community Ratings System 252 (one person raised a hand). The Community Ratings System (CRS) is an independent assessment of a community’s 253 compliance with flood regulation and provides a ranking from 1-10 (1 is the best). Flood insurance premiums are based off of 254 this ranking. Residents living in a community with a ranking of 10 could face $1,000 a year in flood insurance premium. 255 Orange County has a current ranking of 6, a good rating which provides a 25% reduction in annual floodplain insurance 256 premiums for residents. The Planning Department does a lot of outreach, upholds regulatory components, and has a close 257 working relationship with the Erosion Control and Stormwater department, all helpful in promoting floodplain regulation 258 education to the public. At this juncture, the County is about to adopt a new set of floodplain maps. During the review process, 259 the current administration and County Attorney’s Office were shocked that there is a Flood Hazard Overlay District. As a 260 participating community, Orange County has to adopt the maps because they are utilized to show current floodplain and will 261 help guide development throughout the County. 262 263 Kim Piracci asked if the maps show that the floodplain has gotten worse. 264 265 Michael Harvey answered that in some cases, there are dramatic changes, and in other instances, areas are no worse off. Mr. 266 Harvey said that the maps are kind of a wash. Some residents who were unhappy with the results of the map went through the 267 appeals process with FEMA. However, the maps were supposed to have been adopted 3 years ago. The delay has been due 268 to several reasons, namely that some of the data changed with successful appeals from residents and that FEMA found 269 9