Douglas floodplain ordinance still a work in progress

Adrift in a sea of government acronyms, Douglas County commissioners have scheduled an in-house workshop to put finishing touches on the draft floodplain ordinance.

After nearly four hours of debate and public comment Aug. 7, the board called for a technical committee of county staff and engineers to fine-tune the ordinance that has been in the works for a year.

"I wanted to finish this up today, but it's not going to happen," said commission Chairman Kelly Kite. "I'm not ashamed to say I'm in over my head."

The ordinance is to change county code to add definitions, change the way floodplain permits are issued, set requirements for hydrology and hydraulic studies for certain projects, and set requirements for when documents are required that set map revisions.

The board asked that the ordinance be brought back to the commission at the Oct. 2 meeting.

Speakers spent the afternoon discussing CLOMRs (conditional letter of map revision), LOMRs (letter of map revision), H&H studies (hydrology and hydraulic), BFE (basic flood elevation), SFHA (special flood hazard area) and X-shaded flood zones.

Rather than retool the 22-page document, commissioners directed staff to clarify several terms including conditional letter of map revision, letter of map revision, variances, adverse impact and hydrology and hydraulic studies.

Commissioner Doug Johnson pointed out that the document has been through several months of in-house revision and three public hearings before it was introduced May 1.

October's session will be the "third second-reading" of the document.

"The same people have already had this discussion more than three times over. Staff has put in a lot of time. We need a firm ordinance," Johnson said.

"I want a firm ordinance, but I want one people can live with, too," Kite said.

County staff has been working on revising floodplain management for a year due to a May 16, 2007, letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that administers the National Flood Insurance Program.

The letter advised then-County Manager Dan Holler that the county might lose its 20 percent discount on flood zone insurance policies.

The ordinance was declared unconstitutional by U.S. District Court Judge Brian Sandoval who ruled the ordinance gave the county's community development director "unfettered discretion" in deciding whether to certify that a project met community floodplain management requirements.

Public workshops were held Feb. 26, May 14 and July 15. Staff also met with agricultural interests on April 15.

Community Development Director Mimi Moss told the board Thursday there had been several internal staff meetings working on the amendments as well as "healthy public discussion" on what standards should be used.

"The suggestion we're rushing the ordinance is untrue," Moss said. "We were working on it for four or five months before we began the public hearing process."

Rob Anderson told the board as a professional engineer and certified flood plan manager, he still had many questions despite being involved in the process for several months.

"This is more complicated than the state's floodplain ordinance, Washoe County, Carson City, Lyon County and Churchill County," he said.

"If other engineers are having a hard time understanding it, if your board is having a hard time understanding it, these poor people out here are at a loss," Anderson said, indicating the commission audience.

County Engineer Mahmood Azad proposed the "workshop among practitioners."

"Better minds make a better ordinance," he said.

"This is not a bad process," said Commissioner Nancy McDermid. "It's a way to build consensus on language. I don't want to rush and I don't think we're wasting time."

DEFINITIONS

Base flood elevation: The elevation (in relation to mean sea level) shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map for zones A-E and A-H that indicates the water surface elevation resulting from a flood that has a 1 percent or greater chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

Conditional letter of map revision based on fill (CLOMR-F): A letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency stating that a parcel of land or proposed structure that is to be elevated by fill would not be inundated by the base flood if fill is placed on the parcel as proposed or the structure is build as proposed.

Flood insurance rate map (FIRM): An official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delineated the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to the county.

Floodplain management: The operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damage and preserving and enhancing, where possible, natural resources in the floodplain, including but not limited to emergency preparedness plans, flood control works and floodplain management regulations and ordinances.

Letter of map revision based (LOMR): An official revision to a currently effective flood insurance rate map; a LOMR officially changes flood zone, floodplain and floodway designations, flood elevations and planimetric features.

X-shaded flood zone: A moderate flood hazard area between the limits of the 100-year and 500-year flood zones with average depths of flood of less than 1 foot with contributing drainage area less than 1 square mile; also known as zone B and includes areas protected by levees from the base flood.

X-unshaded flood zone: Area of minimal flood hazard determined to be outside the 500-year floodplain, also known as Zone c. This area may have localized ponding of flooding.

Source: Douglas County Code floodplain management ordinance

ON THE WEB

Douglas County Code draft floodplain management ordinance:

http://www.douglascountynv.gov/sites/main/index.cfm