Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Floodplain Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board does not approve floodplain‑storage variance for 600 Begonia Street and sends revised floodplain language to commission
Summary
Staff said the applicant's engineer found a net loss of floodplain storage for 600 Begonia Street; nearby residents urged denial citing frequent flooding; the board did not approve the variance and voted 5–1 to forward revised code language exempting properties discharging into marshes adjacent to the Intracoastal to the city commission for ordinance drafting.
The Community Development Board declined to approve a floodplain‑storage variance for 600 Begonia Street and recommended a code change to reduce variance requirements for properties that discharge into salt marshes adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway.
Peyton Jameson (principal planner/environmental coordinator, speaker 12) told the board the lot sits in the FEMA AE flood zone and is subject to section 24‑89(d), which requires no net loss of floodplain storage for developments in the special flood hazard area. Jameson said the applicant's submitted engineering concluded the proposal would result in a net loss of storage and that the city engineer concurred. That finding means the applicant must either provide compensatory floodplain storage or obtain a variance.
Nearby residents told the board they regularly experience yard flooding and argued a variance could worsen local flooding. ‘‘That ditch floods every single time it rains,’’ Lorraine Anderson (speaker 13) said, explaining that yards and a back swale inundate during ordinary storms. Max Nolke (speaker 8) similarly urged the board to align with the city engineer’s net‑loss finding and deny the variance.
Board members discussed that five of six lots in the original development received variances previously, and that this particular lot’s earlier variance had expired because construction did not commence within the required timeframe. After deliberation the board did not approve the variance for 600 Begonia Street.
Separately, staff presented revised ordinance language to clarify that the city’s ‘‘no net loss’’ requirement would not apply to development that discharges into salt marsh directly adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway; the board voted 5–1 to forward that language to the city commission for formal ordinance drafting and public readings.
Staff and the board noted that any developer seeking to build will still need to address permitting details (including Saint John's Water Management District permits where applicable) and that engineering plans must be corrected as required during building permit review.
