Resident urges Cochise County to investigate alleged floodplain violations, requests agenda review

A Cochise County resident told the Board of Supervisors on July 22 that county floodplain enforcement is lax and asked the board to order an independent investigation into how one parcel was handled. John Doe, during the meeting's call to the public, said recent catastrophic flooding elsewhere showed the dangers of poor floodplain enforcement and then described a county parcel he said lies within a FEMA special flood hazard area where an RV and a shipping container had been placed. He told the board the RV had sat for months or years without a floodplain-use permit and that the shipping container "is not anchored, elevated, and violates both FEMA regulations and the county's own floodplain ordinance." Doe said he filed a formal complaint and quoted a written response from the county's floodplain administrator, Jackie Watkins: "we intend to take no further action nor to answer any more of your questions at this time. As I'm sure you know and can appreciate, the law does not obligate our office to explain to every citizen why we believe another citizen is in compliance with the law or on what basis another citizen received a permit." Doe told supervisors: "Ignoring floodplain enforcement puts lives at risk" and asked that the board "initiate a full and independent investigation into how this case was handled, including a review of permitting staff communications" and asked that the matter be added to a future board agenda so the public could be assured floodplain safety is not compromised. The transcript records Doe's request; supervisors did not take formal action on the speaker's request during the meeting. The county's published floodplain ordinance and FEMA regulations were cited by the speaker as the standards he believes were violated; no county enforcement decision or permit record was read into the public record at the meeting. The board did not immediately direct staff to open an independent investigation on the record; any follow-up would need to be initiated by the board as a formal action or referred to county staff.