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Residents urge tighter floodplain limits during Jefferson County hearing; council introduces replacement ordinance
Summary
At a public hearing on proposed amendments to Chapter 405 (Flood Damage Prevention), residents warned that a 1-foot allowance could accumulate across developments and expand flood risk; council closed the hearing and later introduced Bill 25-11308 to repeal and replace Chapter 405, moving it to perfection by unanimous vote.
Residents and volunteers told the Jefferson County Council on Nov. 10, 2025, they oppose language in the proposed Chapter 405 flood ordinance that allows up to a 1-foot computation change in some flood-height calculations, arguing multiple developments would cumulatively raise the floodplain and create new flood hazards.
Allen Leaderbrand, sworn for the hearing, said builders raising the floodplain by modest amounts could combine to produce much larger net increases: "If you have one builder who raises the floodplain only 10 inches, second builder raises 10 inches ... and you get six that's 60 inches that's 5 foot," he said, urging the council to require a substantially smaller allowance or to track cumulative offsets.
Council members acknowledged the public concerns but said some calculation methods are set by the way studies were performed and that certain code references would be the places to seek change. Councilman Grodeky noted the county was working against an external timeframe and that the council would study amendments in the future.
After the hearing closed by unanimous vote, the council later introduced Bill 25-11308 — an ordinance to repeal the existing flood damage prevention chapter and adopt a new Chapter 405 — and moved the bill to perfection on first reading by a unanimous vote (5–0). Council discussion at the hearing indicated staff had no additional comments at the public hearing and that detailed technical changes would be considered later as staff and the council review how the county’s calculations and code citations interact.
