Flood-plain rules get Planning Board OK
The first major overhaul of Flathead County flood-plain regulations since 1984 got a green light from the Planning Board following a public hearing on Thursday.
The board recommended approval of the revisions, and another hearing will be held before the commissioners make a final decision.
County flood-plain regulations have not kept pace with changes at both the state and federal level, Planning Director Jeff Harris said. The proposed revisions attempt to resolve cumbersome and ambiguous provisions in addition to making the county rules compatible with state flood-plain laws.
“This is a significant revision,” Harris said. “It’s a total overhaul. The county has Band-Aided [the flood-plain regulations] over time but had never looked at a comprehensive overhaul.”
Floodplain regulations are required for counties that want to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides federally subsidized flood insurance to people living within the flood plain. Flood-plain regulations apply only to regulated areas of the 100-year flood plain.
Much of the overhaul is aimed at making the regulations easier to understand and simpler to administer, Harris said. They’ve been reformatted to become a chapter of the Flathead County development code.
“We tried not to reinvent the wheel,” he said.
One of the key changes is documenting how after-the-fact permits are handled. If a structure or use is built within the 100-year flood plain without a valid permit, the county historically has charged property owners four times the normal flood-plain development permit fee, but that practice wasn’t reflected in the regulations, Harris said.
Old regulations allowed up to one year to build a structure in the flood plain; the new rules will allow two years to construct improvements.
A post-inspection provision also was added to enable the county to keep better records of what changes are made in the flood plain.
Another change made to reflect state laws involves the county’s permission to enter any lands or waters for the purpose of making an investigation, survey, removal or repair if there is an active flood-plain permit application. Unless written consent is obtained, however, the county must give written notice of its entry to the owner or owner’s agent at least three days in advance.
Two years ago the Planning Board approved new flood-plain maps that gave the county a better ability to determine flood-plain boundaries.
Floodway and flood-plain maps are used most often by Realtors and developers dealing with land near waterways.