Title
Consider and take action on an ordinance amending Chapter 50 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of League City entitled, “Floods” regarding engineering standards for the minimization of flood losses. (Director of Engineering)
Staff requests approval on first and final reading.
Background:
The “Flood Ordinance” contains requirements for sub-dividers, developers, applicants, engineers, surveyors, realtors and other persons interested and involved in the subdivision and development of land within areas of special flood hazards (100-yr floodplain) or within the Zone X (shaded) areas (500-yr floodplain).
In 2018, this ordinance was updated to (1) include development requirements within Zone X (shaded) areas, (2) require Elevation Certificates to be submitted to and accepted by the City’s Floodplain Coordinator prior to a Certificate of Occupancy being issued, and (3) to require all new development (residential and commercial) to have the lowest floor elevation (including basements) a minimum of 24 inches above the larger of the Base Flood Elevation (BFE), the crown of the nearest street, or the highest grade adjacent to the building AND be a minimum of 3 inches above the nearest 500-year Flood Elevation.
In 2018, several of the City’s larger subdivisions, such as Hidden Lakes, Mar Bella, Westwood, Coastal Point, and Magnolia Creek, with multiple phases of development had construction plans for public infrastructure (1) either approved and moving into construction, or (2) very close to being approved. To shift requirements on these development sections that late into the design stage would have been very costly. Because of that, the 2018 ordinance update phased in the new finish floor requirements with October 1, 2018, being the date that new development would need to fully comply with the updated finish floor requirements. Staff also worked with the developers and engineers of these “transitional development phases” to ensure that as much of the new ordinance could be met as possible. Most of these sites were able to be 24” above BFE and be 3” above the 500-yr Flood Elevation but struggled to be 24” above the crown of the road or the highest adjacent grade. Staff decided that if the finish floor elevations were above the 500-yr Flood Elevation, then the flood risk was minimal, and these phases of development were completed with that understanding.
In June 2020, the City received notice from FEMA that a Community Assistance Visit (CAV) would be scheduled. The CAV is basically an audit of the City’s Floodplain Development practices. In September 2020, the City received notice that the CAV would be conducted by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) for FEMA. The CAV was held over several months and a letter noting the CAV findings was sent to the City in late March 2021. One of the findings in this letter was that a number of elevation certificates did not reflect compliance with the higher standards set forth by the community’s Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance”.
Practically all of these sites were located in our transition neighborhoods noted above. While TWDB representatives understood our reasoning behind the City's decision, they believe the proper corrective action is to track the sites as a “Potential Substantial Damage” location because the finish floor elevations do not meet our current Flood Ordinance. Currently the NFIP is going through an update on how flood insurance premiums are to be calculated. This process will use more types of flood risks and specifically reflect an individual property’s flood risk in determining updated premiums. At this time, FEMA and the NFIP have not released all the data on how this will be done, and Staff has some concerns about noting a home that is above the 500-yr Flood Elevation as a “Potential Substantial Damage” property. In speaking with TWDB, they agreed that if the City modified our Flood Ordinance to remove the “highest adjacent grade” clause in the current ordinance, the majority of these properties would not need to be added to a “Potential Substantial Damage” property list.
Based on this assessment, Staff has removed all references to a finish floor elevation needing to be 24” above the highest adjacent grade and has made other minor changes to this ordinance as recommended by the TWDB.
Staff recommends approval of the proposed amendment to the Flood Ordinance. Staff is also requesting a first and final for this item.
Attachments:
1. Data Sheet
2. Proposed Ordinance
3. Redline Changes
4. FEMA, TWDB Letters
CONTRACT ORIGINATION: N/A
FUNDING
{x} NOT APPLICABLE
STRATEGIC PLANNING
{x} NOT APPLICABLE