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Board gets first read of recodified floodplain ordinance drawing on FEMA guidance
Summary
County staff presented a first reading of a recodified floodwater zoning ordinance that would raise finished-floor elevation standards and expand regulation from 100-year to 500-year flood risk; no vote was taken at this meeting.
Washington County staff presented a first reading Nov. 12 of a recodified floodwater zoning ordinance based on model language from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and FEMA, asking supervisors to review proposed changes before any formal action.
Mr. Richardson, the county planning official, said the primary policy choices under consideration are raising required finished-floor elevations for dwellings from the currently adopted flood elevation to a recommended two feet above flood elevation, and extending regulation from the 100-year (1% annual chance) flood to the 500-year (0.2% annual chance) flood standard so that more properties would be subject to protective requirements. He noted that the county’s flooding maps are estimated for many areas and that raising elevations increases protection and can reduce insurance costs over time.
Richardson told the board that building-code requirements also call for at least one foot above the base flood elevation and that aligning zoning language with best practices and with FEMA recommendations was the objective of this first read. FEMA representatives and state agency staff were present to answer technical questions; the board took no action and treated the item as informational at this stage.
Supervisors encouraged staff to continue review and to work with FEMA and DCR to refine any tweaks the county had made to the model ordinance before bringing a recommended ordinance back for formal consideration.
