Committee continues floodplain management ordinance; staff to refine historic definitions and work with city attorney

The Land Use and Transportation Committee on Monday considered an ordinance to update San Francisco’s floodplain management requirements to conform with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood insurance maps and the National Flood Insurance Program.

Brian Strong, the city’s Chief Resilience Officer, said the city must adopt FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps to retain access to federal flood-insurance rate reductions and related benefits; he told the committee the updated maps could take effect as early as February 2021. “We must adopt it,” Strong said, noting FEMA’s maps and the community’s floodplain management regulations are linked to insurance and federal program participation.

Chris Barclay, a consultant with AECOM who has advised the city through the mapping process, reviewed FEMA’s timeline: an early, partial analysis in 2007, the city’s formal entry to the NFIP in 2008, a completed FIRM delivered to the city in 2015, and an appeals process that the port pursued in 2016. Barclay explained FEMA designated many pile-supported piers as Zone D — an “undetermined” flood hazard — rather than the more restrictive Zone AE. That designation, he said, gives the Port more flexibility to regulate piers but can increase insurance costs because hazard extent is unknown. “Zone D ... leaves it to the Port to decide the best way to regulate the flood hazard on those piers,” Barclay said.

Sarah Minnick of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission said the PUC has produced a 100-year storm flood-risk map and a disclosure ordinance for property owners; she described parallel work with planning on a building-code amendment that would raise finished floors for new development and substantial renovations. Minnick said the department hopes to bring a building-code amendment within roughly a year, though COVID-19 has delayed the timeline.

Public comment included concerns about contaminated sites at Hunters Point and requests for more technical analysis. Francisco DeCosta told the committee that parcels at Hunters Point (Parcel E2 and Parcel F) are radiologically contaminated and urged that hydrologists and cost engineers be consulted to fully assess flood impacts on contaminated sites.

Chair Aaron Peskin raised questions about definitions carried forward from the prior ordinance and asked staff to propose language clarifying how contributory buildings in locally designated historic districts are treated. Given the outstanding definitional edits and no imminent regulatory deadline, the committee voted to continue the item to the call of the chair so staff can coordinate with the city attorney (Kristin Jensen) and stakeholders. Supervisor Dean Preston moved to continue; the motion passed by roll call, Preston, Safaei and Peskin voting aye.

Committee members and staff indicated the ordinance does not change the city’s existing floodplain management obligations under the building code; rather, it updates local code references to match FEMA’s finalized maps and addresses cleanup of prior ordinance text.