Flood ordinance proposal detailed

A proposal for a floodplain ordinance was presented to the Alleghany County Board of Commissioners at its Oct. 21 meeting.

The proposal was prepared by County Planner Jack Conaway, who did the task at the behest of the board. The board has received the proposal, but has taken no action on it thus far. The proposed ordinance will likely be only the first step in moving the county toward the availability of flood insurance for all local citizens.

The ordinance may or may not be changed significantly before being approved. Nonetheless, Alleghany County must approve a floodplain ordinance before it can join the National Flood Insurance Program, Conaway said earlier. The ordinance presented was derived from a sample ordinance provided to the county by the state emergency management office, Conaway said. There are a number of requirements in the ordinance that are inherent to participation in the flood insurance program, therefore, they cannot be changed.

However, the county does have some leeway in making decisions on the plan. Conaway said that items such as structure height above the surrounding grade, moving propane tanks and oil tanks to safer levels and minimum setbacks from bodies of water are all within the discretion of the local board.

The area most strictly governed by the ordinance is known as the floodway, "an area reserved to discharge a base flood without cumulatively increasing water surface elevations....." A stream building setback for waterways will be put in effect for floodways if the ordinance is passed. The suggested setback for any structure in the proposal is 150 feet or three times the stream width, whichever is less. Any work done in the floodway, also described as "an extremely hazardous area due to the velocity of flood waters which carry debris and potential projectiles and has erosion potential." Those wishing to do fill work, new construction, substantial improvements or other encroachments would have to provide an engineering analysis showing that their work would not raise the flood elevations for other property owners in the area or downstream.

Manufactured homes cannot be placed in floodway areas, but can be placed further back in the safer flood hazard areas, provided they meet the ordinance requirements.

Recreational vehicles would be exempt from the ordinance, but would have to be moved from the floodway area within a minimum of 72 hours of landfall of a hurricane or immediately upon flood warning notification.

The ordinance applies to all areas of special flood hazard as well as all creeks, streams and rivers within the jurisdiction of Alleghany County, excluding the Floodplain.

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