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Loma Linda adopts FEMA-aligned flood-control ordinance amid concern over homeowner impacts
Summary
The City Council adopted ordinance O-2025-03 to add Chapter 19.12 to the Loma Linda Municipal Code, adopting FEMA flood maps and designating a floodplain administrator; councilors pressed staff on homeowner notification and potential insurance consequences before voting to adopt the measure.
The Loma Linda City Council on Tuesday adopted ordinance O-2025-03, creating Chapter 19.12 of the municipal code to adopt FEMA flood-hazard maps, designate a floodplain and a floodplain administrator, and repeal older ordinances. The ordinance becomes effective 30 days after adoption, with staff noting an effective date of Oct. 9, 2025.
Council members debated the ordinance’s local effects, focusing on whether homeowners would be forewarned that new FEMA mapping could place their properties in a regulated floodplain and potentially trigger mortgage-related flood-insurance requirements. “There are hundreds of people, maybe more, that have no clue that they are now in a flood zone,” a council member said, urging more proactive outreach from the city.
City staff responded that failing to adopt the ordinance would leave property owners without federally recognized protections and that lenders commonly require flood insurance for financed properties inside a designated floodplain. “If we do approve it, then ... the bank will require [flood insurance] if they finance the property,” a staff member said, explaining the practical consequence for mortgaged homes.
Council members pressed staff on notification options and costs. Staff said the city could mail notices to affected owners and estimated a targeted mailing at approximately $5,000; adding a notice to all billing statements was estimated at about $55,000, based on prior city mailings. Staff also described longer-term drainage and channel-improvement work handled by county flood control and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as potential but distant remedies.
After discussion and a second reading, the council voted to adopt O-2025-03 to ensure compliance with FEMA requirements and to avoid interruption of homeowner access to federally backed flood-insurance programs. Staff said it will return with outreach plans and options for notifying affected property owners.
The ordinance’s adoption means properties identified on the adopted FEMA maps may, when financed, carry lender-required flood-insurance obligations; homeowners without mortgages are not automatically required to buy insurance but may face higher costs or lender conditions if they seek financing.
Next steps: the ordinance will take effect 30 days after adoption (staff indicated Oct. 9, 2025), and city staff indicated they will prepare and present notification and outreach options to the council.
