Independence staff begin work to adopt FEMA model ordinance to prevent 'no net loss' of floodplain habitat

Sean Leonard, the city’s floodplain manager, briefed the City Council and Planning Commission Wednesday on new interim requirements tied to a federal lawsuit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Leonard said the litigation prompted FEMA to require communities to choose one of three interim paths — prohibit development in flood plains, use a permit-by-permit habitat assessment process, or adopt FEMA’s revised model ordinance that includes endangered-species habitat protections — and that the city must adopt an approach by July 31.

Leonard told the joint work session the model ordinance staff plan to pursue is designed to achieve a “requirement of no net loss of habitat because of developments in the flood plain.” He said the rule focuses on three floodplain functions — flood storage, water quality and vegetation — and explained how the model ordinance would translate those functions into mitigation requirements for individual projects.

Under the model ordinance summary Leonard provided, flood-storage impacts…