Houston City Council Member Dave Martin said he appreciates the comments received by many District E residents, and is happy to announce that Mayor Sylvester Turner has changed the deadline for public input on changes to City of Houston Chapter 19 to Monday, March 5 at 5 p.m.
After the proposed changes were presented to Council during a Joint Transportation, Technology, and Infrastructure/Regulation and Neighborhood Affairs Committee Meeting Feb. 12, Council Member Martin provided strong feedback to Mayor Turner, demanding residents be given more time to participate in the process.
APPROACH
The City of Houston hopes to reduce the risk of flood loss for future development and redevelopment by ordinance revisions, new regulations, building codes and design guidelines. Existing development will be improved through Capital Improvement Projects, buyouts, home elevations and demo-rebuilds. Buyouts will be determined based on repetitive flooding and are only considered when residents volunteer to participate in the program. Additionally, home elevations utilizing pier and beam methods are being researched by Houston Public Works.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Houston’s current code only applies to property in the 100-year floodplain and protects 1 foot above 100-year flood elevation. The proposed revisions would include property in the 500-year floodplain and protect “X” feet of 500-year flood elevation. It would also include no net fill in the 500-year floodplain.
“X” feet in the proposed revisions is still to be determined following the public input period. It is believed that the City is looking at changing the ordinance to 2 feet above the 500-year floodplain, but the City would like input on if that is too much or too little.
The 100-year floodplain is land that is predicted to flood during a 100-year storm, which has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year. The 500-year floodplain has a .2% chance of occurring. For residents outside of the 100-year and 500-year floodplain, these changes to the ordinance will have little or no affect.
PUBLIC INPUT AND NEXT STEPS
