BURGAW — Commissioners reluctantly approved new floodplain maps in the Black River basin in western Pender County, adding 173 properties to the county’s flood zones.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the state conducted a Flood Insurance Study of the county before issuing the preliminary floodplain maps in the summer of 2014. County officials faced a December 6 deadline to adopt the new maps, called Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) panels, to remain in compliance with the National Flood Insurance Program.
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On a three-to-one vote, commissioners adopted 47 new panels in the western portion of the county. Five panels surrounding Atkinson — two of which are mainly in Bladen County — were not updated due to budget constraints and limited development activity in the area, according to Floodplain Administrator Daniel Adams.
Pender planners attributed the four-year process to public outreach and a high number of appeals, which at 26 was “the largest number of appeals in a coastal county,” according to a planning staff report.
Various property owners and municipalities submitted the appeals, which were presented and “seemingly satisfied through the state,” according to Pender Planning Director Kyle Breuer.
Meanwhile, appeals are ongoing for flood maps in the bulk of the county east of the Black River basin. Once those are resolved and a letter of final determination is issued, FIRM panels will be presented to commissioners for adoption.
‘People think we’re trying to restrict their land’
County spokesperson Tammy Proctor called Monday night’s hearing a hot topic among Pender residents, particularly among certain developers, but said the new maps were essential.
“There is a lot of misunderstanding [with the updated floodplain maps],” Proctor said prior to the vote. “People think we’re trying to restrict their land. But the flood maps have to be approved. If not, folks will not be eligible for flood insurance, or they will have to pay extremely high flood insurance.”
Wilmington developer D. Logan spoke up at a September presentation of ongoing updates to the county’s land regulations, arguing that the updates, including the proposed Resource Conservation Areas (RCA), would destroy property values. The RCAs would restrict development on properties in 100- and 500-year floodplains.
An early October hearing to address updates to the county’s Unified Development Ordinance was cancelled to address the concerns of Logan and others who issued complaints during the September meeting.
When reached on Tuesday following commissioners’ adoption of the new floodplain maps, Logan said he had no comment on the matter.
The Southeastern NC Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan reported that Pender County has 4,733 flood-prone structures across more than 75,000 acres of land, while 4,967 flood-prone properties on nearly 309,000 acres “remained undeveloped at the time data was collected,” according to the planning staff report.
The county received $4.9 million from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program in August to purchase 25 properties in flood hazard zones and convert them into natural floodplain areas.
A reluctant approval
Affected parcels of land were either reclassified from flood zones rated as high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas to areas of moderate flood risk; or from areas that were not in flood zones to areas now in flood zones. Breuer told commissioners 173 properties will enter flood zones.
“Mandatory flood insurance and purchase requirements will be in effect on federally insured mortgages,” Breuer told commissioners. “And then new construction or substantial improvements in the Special Flood Hazard Areas must comply with the current ordinance.”
He said the ordinance only reflected the 47 panels in western Pender County. Adoption of the FEMA floodplain maps will allow the county to continue participation in the National Flood Insurance Program through continued enforcement of current floodplain development regulations.
Jackie Newton was the sole commissioner to vote against the adoption of the new maps, but acknowledged it was a symbolic vote because she knew it would pass. Ultimately, she said the new maps were necessary.
“I just don’t like it,” Newton said.
“I understand,” Chairman George Brown responded. “But we got to keep the FEMA flood insurance in the county … If we had really voted what we wanted to do there, we wouldn’t have passed it.”
The 2014 FEMA study was conducted using a remote sensing method called Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) that collected data by sending pulsed lasers from an aircraft to the Earth’s surface. The data provided a three-dimensional perspective of the surface’s characteristics. Once collected, hydrologic analyses were performed to delineate the flood zones.
Mark Darrough can be reached at Mark@Localvoicemedia.com or (970) 413-3815
