Commission reviews Maryland Coastal Flood Explorer and schedules Critical Area Commission briefing
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Summary
Planning staff demonstrated the Maryland Coastal Flood Explorer mapping tool and asked commissioners to review sea-level-rise, high-tide flooding and historic-event layers before the Critical Area Commission visits on Nov. 19. The commission discussed using an overlay map amendment to implement coastal-resiliency measures and to coordinate future
On Nov. 5 Planning Director Sarah Franklin demonstrated the Maryland Coastal Flood Explorer mapping tool and urged commissioners to study sea-level-rise, high-tide flooding and historical-event layers before the town hosts the Critical Area Commission on Nov. 19.
Franklin said the Coastal Flood Explorer lets users layer projected sea-level rise scenarios, high-tide flooding and historic storm inundation maps to identify areas that would benefit from stricter lot-coverage and planting requirements. She noted that the Critical Area regulations and the town's comprehensive coastal-resiliency plan already contain recommendations and that the commission should use the tool to form questions and priorities for the Nov. 19 briefing.
Commissioners discussed how a coastal-resiliency overlay might be mapped: as a contiguous buffer, as multiple discrete polygons (for example, separate overlays for Fishing Creek and Seagate), or as map amendments targeted to specific neighborhoods. Franklin said the likely next step is a map amendment to the town's critical-area map to delineate the overlay and to draft zoning standards that would increase vegetative planting and limit impervious coverage in the identified areas.
The commission asked staff to schedule presentations from the Critical Area Commission and invited other town departments (public works, building/code enforcement) to future meetings to discuss implementation and infrastructure implications.
