By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.com
New digital flood maps and a new flood-damage prevention ordinance will make it easier for some county residents to get flood insurance.
And county planners say the high quality digital flood maps will make it much easier for property owners or builders to determine the exact location of floodplains.
Monday night, the Rowan County Planning Board unanimously approved the maps ó which determine eligibility for flood insurance ó and the revised flood damage prevention ordinance. The maps and ordinance will go to the board of commissioners for final action.
Around 4,000 parcels in the county’s jurisdiction are within the floodplain ó basically the area that would be underwater in a 100-year flood.
Only two houses have been built in floodplain areas in the past three to four years.
“Most people are under the impression you can’t build in a flood plain,” Ed Muire, the county’s director of planning, told the board. Muire said you can build, but you have to jump through a lot of hoops in order to obtain flood insurance.Muire and Senior Planner Shane Stewart displayed the 1979 version of flood maps with the new digital maps, showing the dramatic differences.
Some areas that were within the floodplain in 1979 are no longer within the plain.
The maps also include the elevation of the floodplain, making it easier for builders to determine what’s within the plain and what’s outside of it.
Currently the county’s ordinance allows building in floodplains with the floor or base of the structure four feet above the floodplain elevation. If approved by the county, that level could be reduced to two feet.
Steve Poteat, a member of the Planning Board, questioned whether the ordinance will cause hardship for property owners or builders.
Muire said it should be a help, making it easier to determine exactly where the floodplain is without hiring surveyors. And it will allow access to flood insurance, which will minimize losses, he said.
For more information on the maps and ordinance, contact the Planning and Development Department at 704-216-8588.
In other matters, the board:
– Approved a staff-initiated zoning map amendment for a tract of land at 2475 London Road owned by Harry and Josephine Powers.
A grandson wants to build a single-family home on a parcel that was on the map as part of a mobile home park. The change moved the two-acre mobile home park a short distance on the 38-acre parcel to allow for the single-family home.
– Approved a motion by Rod Whedbee to have public comment at the beginning of the meeting instead of at the end.
Chairman Terry Hill argued against the change, fearing that people who come to speak at public hearings will speak during public comment and again at the hearings.
“Are members of the board going to use it as a soap box?” Ann Furr asked. She cast the lone vote against the change in the public comment period.
– Board member John Linker shot down a proposal to divide speakers at public hearings into “for” and “against” groups. Linker called it a bad idea, saying it could be intimidating.
Hill agreed, adding the chairman has the discretion to call on speakers.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254.