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52 AGENDA ITEM 4: CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA - NONE 53 54 AGENDA ITEM 5: PUBLIC CHARGE 55 56 INTRODUCTION TO THE PUBLIC CHARGE 57 The Board of County Commissioners, under the authority of North Carolina General Statute, appoints the 58 Orange County Planning Board (OCPB) to uphold the written land development laws of the County. The 59 general purpose of OCPB is to guide and accomplish coordinated and harmonious development. OCPB 60 shall do so in a manner, which considers the present and future needs of its citizens and businesses 61 through efficient and responsive process that contributes to and promotes the health, safety, and welfare of 62 the overall County. The OCPB will make every effort to uphold a vision of responsive governance and 63 quality public services during our deliberations, decisions, and recommendations. 64 65 PUBLIC CHARGE 66 The Planning Board pledges to the citizens of Orange County its respect. The Board asks its citizens to 67 conduct themselves in a respectful, courteous manner, both with the Board and with fellow citizens. At any 68 time, should any member of the Board or any citizen fail to observe this public charge, the Chair will ask the 69 offending member to leave the meeting until that individual Approved regains personal control. Should 70 decorum fail to be restored, the Chair will recess the meeting until such time that a genuine commitment to 71 this public charge is observed 72 73 74 AGENDA ITEM 6: CHAIR COMMENTS 75 THERE WERE NO COMMENTS 76 77 AGENDA ITEM 7: UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (UDO) TEXT AMENDMENTS – FEMA FLOOD MAPS - To make a 78 recommendation to the BOCC on government-initiated text amendments to the UDO regarding FEMA flood maps. 79 This item is scheduled for public hearing on October 16, 2018. 80 81 PRESENTER: Michael Harvey, Current Planning Supervisor 82 83 Michael Harvey: To remind you that we are a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program, which requires 84 the County to enforce flood damage prevention regulations including adopting and enforcing what are known as 85 Flood Insurance Rate Maps or FIRMS. There is a database maintained by FEMA and in this case also by the State 86 of North Carolina. The State of North Carolina is also unique in that they have a technical agreement in partnership 87 with Federal FEMA to update and maintain Flood Maps. In the Fall of last year we revamped our entire flood plain 88 management ordinance to address changes to make FEMA including adopting a whole new set of FIRMS. Included 89 within your packet is a sample of the online data available showing location of special flood hazard areas and other 90 map details. This is technically known as the FIRM map. This map is what staff references for local resident’s and 91 property owners when their parcels of property are encumbered by flood plain and this is the document we utilize to 92 give them information about what their development opportunities and constraints are. Last November the County 93 Commissioners’ approved amendments to adopt the new FIRM maps with an effective date of November 17, 2017. 94 We were informed in May of 2018 by FEMA that they need to update and” tweak” several maps primarily impacting 95 Durham County. FIRM maps don’t respect political boundaries and there are several Orange County FIRMs that 96 include property in Durham County. If FEMA changes flood data in this area, they are effectively changing the 97 effective date of this map. The short and sweet of why we have initiated this amendment is that in order for the 98 County to remain a member of the National Flood Insurance Program we have to update our Unified Development 99 Ordinance to properly reflect the new effective date of the new FIRMs, which is going to be October 19, 2018. If we 100 fail to do this, we will be suspended from the National Flood Insurance Program and local residents will not be able 101 to get flood insurance. It should not come to that but that’s the practical results of us not moving forward and doing 102 7