Our office just received the agenda with Chapter 19 amendments posted for consideration Tuesday, July 1st, at Council. Next week City Council will be a consolidated meeting, which means public session and council meeting will be combined on Tuesday only. Public session will be first, starting at 9:30am and council meeting will start immediately following. If you would like to have your voice heard on the topic of Chapter 19 please make plans to attend by notifying the City Secretary. Council will be reviewing the following changes in Chapter 19:

As many of you are aware, new construction on vacant land is not permitted and restrictions are on rebuilding in place for existing homes located in the floodway. The revisions considered address three main issues: rebuilding on existing foundations, permitted development on vacant land, and inspection fees associated with development on vacant land.

Changes recommended for rebuilding on existing foundations in the floodway are divided based on the cause of the damage. For non-flood damaged properties reconstruction on existing slabs through standard plan submittal and code enforcement review is allowed. Reconstruction of flood damaged properties on existing slabs below 12 inches above base flood elevation (BFE) require a variance from the general appeals board as well as a notice to the applicant of potential flood insurance premiums increase.

Construction on vacant land may occur if the City Engineer determines that certain conditions have been met. The bottom of the lowest horizontal structure must be elevated at least 18 inches above BFE and the foundation structure must be pier and beam. An engineering analysis must be submitted as well as inspection fees to cover pre- and post- construction inspections. There are other technical aspects dealing with conveyance off sets located on or off site that will be determined in the coming weeks.