Residents press city on flood risk for downtown housing; officials point to floodproof design and grant applications

Several residents expressed concern about placing new housing in areas affected by flooding and asked how the city will protect future occupants and neighboring properties.

"It's a concern that I have because so many people are already at risk in the flood plain when there is a flood," Darcy said, citing risk to residents with disabilities and general runoff problems. Officials replied that the Stevens Branch design will be a podium building with elevated living areas and that mechanical systems (elevators, heating) are being designed to be floodproof so living spaces are above hazard levels: "The design of the building that's going in the Stevens Ranch Apartments will be a podium building," Nicholas said.

Officials also described the city's efforts to obtain outside funding for mitigation projects. Nicholas said the city applied for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) money on Sept. 30 for projects including mitigation in the Potashbrook/Courier Park area and noted that one identified mitigation proposal was lost when the BRIC program was canceled: "One of them was unfortunately, lost when the current federal administration canceled the BRIC program." City staff urged residents to reach out with parcel-specific questions so staff can assess individual mitigation options and to consult posted materials on the website.

Residents raised trade-offs between immediate housing needs and long-term flood safety; officials said they are pursuing multiple approaches—flood-resilient design for downtown infill projects and separate mitigation projects in other neighborhoods if funded.