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Council committee advances amended floodplain ordinance to full council after staff review
Summary
Committee voted to forward an updated floodplain ordinance—expanded to include additional definitions and to register the city with federal flood‑mapping updates—to the full council with a favorable recommendation.
A Lawrence council committee recommended approval of an amended floodplain ordinance and voted to send the measure to the full council for final action.
Planning staff member Mister McPartland presented the draft ordinance and said the city’s existing four‑page floodplain ordinance was expanded to seven pages to incorporate definitions and state‑required language. “Every 10 to 15 years the federal government revises the flood plain maps for each district,” McPartland said, adding the city worked with MEMA and federal partners on the draft and that the amendment adds Essex County to the map and district identification in one section.
McPartland described the practical effects: the ordinance designates the building commissioner as the city’s floodplain manager for ordinance purposes, requires Conservation Commission review for construction in floodplains, and—in certain cases—requires a floodplain permit from the water commissioner. He said the changes are part of the requirements for the city to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program.
Committee members asked whether the ordinance affects flood insurance; McPartland responded, “It does not.” Councilors also discussed local flood history in committee. McPartland and other speakers recalled major floods in 2006 and a subsequent large event about a year later and said federal engineers and the Army Corps of Engineers review canals and dam operations as part of federal studies.
The committee voted to forward the ordinance with a favorable recommendation to the full council. Councilor Del Rosario moved the motion and Vice Chair Reyes seconded. The motion carried by voice vote.
During discussion Councilor Rosario noted the ordinance “barely meets the NFIP standards” in a memo from a state reviewer, Nadia Madden, and the staff said the city had met the required standards after two changes. Committee members emphasized the ordinance’s purpose “to establish that the city has the basic means to protect the citizens from flooding events and to review projects based on flooding events,” McPartland said.
The draft ordinance will now go to the full council for a straight vote; committee members said no public hearing is required at this stage.
