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Engineers say Newport Ave plan boosts underground storage; residents ask for future-looking flood modeling
Summary
Project engineers told the board the redevelopment would add underground infiltration capacity and relocate FEMA flood storage, but residents and some members asked the applicant to use future sea-level-rise projections and city models before the board takes action.
Allen & Major’s Nick Delacava told the board the project’s stormwater approach includes roughly 19,000 cubic feet (~146,000 gallons) of underground infiltration storage and efforts to relocate floodplain storage such that the post-development flood storage volumes equal or exceed existing volumes across elevation bands. "To accommodate the proposed buildings, parking areas, and internal roadways, portions of this existing floodplain need to be filled. FEMA requires that any flood storage displaced by this fill be fully compensated," he said.
Residents and some board members asked the applicant to supplement FEMA base mapping with forward-looking sea-level-rise and local engineering models. A resident and a city councilor raised concerns that using only FEMA’s current maps does not capture flooding expected in mid-century; the engineer said the design was based on FEMA models but that the team was working with city engineering staff to review local models. The board requested peer review of stormwater calculations and the flood storage relocation plan prior to further action.
