OCPB minutes 100417 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Approved 11/01/2017 5 regulation information to property owners with property in the County’s planning jurisdiction, and cannot provide 213 comments to property owners living within another local municipality’s jurisdiction. 214 215 Lydia Wegman asked if residents with property in a local municipality’s jurisdiction should go to their municipality’s 216 Planning Department for more information on floodplain. 217 218 Michael Harvey answered that yes. For example, if someone has property in Chapel Hill, that person should go to the 219 Chapel Hill Planning Department, or even the Town of Chapel Hill’s Stormwater Group to speak to the Floodplain 220 Manager. 221 222 Tony Blake asked for more information on the minor corrections FEMA requested be made to the County’s submitted 223 documents. 224 225 Michael Harvey said that the feedback was more about the way a definitions reads, and Staff is making all changes 226 FEMA requested. 227 228 Tony Blake asked if Michael Harvey knows approximately how much land in Orange County is in a floodplain. 229 230 Michael Harvey said that he does not know specifically, but he did say with certainty that there are areas of the 231 County where the floodplain is decreasing, though there are some significant areas with increases. He will be 232 meeting with some property owners who live off of Starlight, a small residential subdivision off of NC-86, on Friday to 233 go over how the new flood maps will affect their property (once the maps are adopted) and how the changes will 234 affect their land use options. It is possible that the floodplain data for this community should have been denoted on 235 maps several years ago. 236 237 Tony Blake said that based on research he has been doing on his own, the FEMA flood maps are notoriously 238 inaccurate in some areas. He said that FEMA may be looking for this feedback. 239 240 Michael Harvey said that the current model takes into account a myriad of factors previously excluded; it takes into 241 account more topography data, uses better survey data, applies data from LiDAR for elevations of houses, and 242 consults hydrologic studies to identify where the model may have been excessive or not descriptive enough. While 243 Mr. Harvey empathizes with property owners who are going to see more floodplain encumbering their property, it is 244 his job to help them understand their options, provide answers on what can be done to flood-proof their home, and 245 assist them as flooding incidents occur so that they can take advantage of FEMA funding when and if a flood does 246 occur. 247 248 Lydia Wegman asked if there are options for a property owner dealing with an increase in floodplain. 249 250 Michael Harvey answered that there are options but they might not all be great options; still, there are options for 251 flood-proofing a house that does not compel elevation and steps to mitigate exposure to flood. There are properties 252 that now have floodplain fully engorging the area where the house is located and there are properties with a more 253 engorged floodplain than before. This is a fact but the County is willing to work with them. 254 255 Lydia Wegman asked for confirmation that those property owners are not required to do anything immediately. 256 257 Michael Harvey confirmed this. He said that action will typically be needed if a property owner with floodplain is 258 looking to modify, expand or retrofit their residence; or, when there are damages from a flood event, the property 259 owner will have to work with the County as to how the house can be retrofitted to bring it into compliance. 260 261 Lydia Wegman asked if the County can advise on what retrofits are acceptable. 262 263 Michael Harvey replied that the County defers to FEMA on that topic. 264 265