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City staff outlines draft floodplain ordinance adding rolling 10-year window; residents press for local drainage studies and buyout clarity
Summary
City staff presented a draft floodplain ordinance that would use a rolling 10-year period to measure cumulative substantial damage and improvements; staff also said it will review state buyout options and complete a Deer Creek engineering study. Several residents urged clearer historical analysis, documentation and targeted projects upstream.
City staff briefed the Community Development Committee on a draft floodplain-ordinance update that would change the way the city counts cumulative substantial damage and improvements by applying a rolling 10-year period rather than counting lifetime accumulations.
Staff said the proposal follows guidance from the Illinois State National Flood Insurance Program coordinator and FEMA definitions (substantial damage or substantial improvement equals work or damage that equals or exceeds 50% of a structure’s pre-damage market value). The draft ordinance is under legal review and will be sent to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for formal approval before it returns to the committee for reading and public discussion.
Staff identified three action items: (1) prepare the ordinance update to include a rolling 10-year time limit for counting cumulative damages and improvements, (2) review the state's buyout program to identify properties that may be eligible and interested, and (3) complete the Deer Creek engineering and drainage study and schedule a future public meeting when those results are ready, likely in late summer or early fall.
During public comment, multiple Deer Creek-area residents voiced opposition to the proposed approach and asked for clearer historical review and local mitigation measures. Karen Pfeiffer (Ward 2, 801 Deer Creek Road) said her neighboring properties have not flooded and argued the city's maps and historical record had been ignored; she also said recent damage to her house was hail, not flood, and questioned whether a buyout or raising houses would be appropriate for the neighborhood. Dave Pfeiffer (same address) criticized the meeting's invitation list and asked whether the city had changed FEMA's floodplain maps; he said upstream development and channelization have altered flood behavior and that debris and large logs have blocked creeks.
Other public commenters questioned the practical benefit of a rolling 10-year approach and asked how appraisals are timed; staff clarified that fair-market value is the value at the time an assessment is done and said the rolling window was recommended by IDNR and is intended to allow homeowners to “keep their property longer” because damage records would roll off after 10 years if no further qualifying damage occurs.
Staff said the draft ordinance would treat improvements or damages that, within a rolling 10-year span, total 50% or more of market value as substantial and subject structures to flood-protection standards under IDNR and FEMA; damage events would “roll off” the calculation 10 years after the event. The draft ordinance is currently undergoing legal review and requires IDNR approval before formal committee or council readings.
Committee members and staff said they will return with the finalized draft and the results of the Deer Creek study for additional public discussion; no committee vote on the ordinance occurred at this meeting.
