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County staff outlines urgent flood-ordinance update tied to NFIP mapping changes
Summary
Staff told commissioners mapping changes designate the Chowan River and Albemarle Sound as coastal high‑hazard 'V' zones, triggering stricter construction standards; staff proposed making the ordinance effective Jan. 16 to avoid citizens losing flood‑insurance coverage.
County planning staff presented required changes to the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, explaining that updated maps now identify sections of the Chowan River and Albemarle Sound as coastal high‑hazard 'V' zones. That reclassification brings stricter construction and elevation requirements for new and substantially improved structures.
Staff said the ordinance includes measures such as required engineered plans for certain construction types, breakaway walls below regulatory flood elevation, and a five‑foot freeboard above base flood elevation where applicable. The presenter said adoption by Jan. 16 (staff proposed effective Jan. 16) was necessary to keep Bertie County in the National Flood Insurance Program and to prevent flood policies from lapsing: "I was informed that if the ordinance is not effective at least by the 17th, that, all flood policies in Bertie County will be dropped from the program."
Commissioners asked for timing and process clarifications; staff said the mapping work and ordinance drafts had been under way for about two years and had been available for public review. Staff recommended a vote to adopt the amended ordinance at the meeting to meet the state's deadline. The transcript records a motion to adopt the ordinance as amended and to make it effective Jan. 16; the public‑hearing record documents questions and clarifications but does not show a separate roll call vote in the public record excerpt provided here.
