February 7, 2015
Scott residents object to flood zone maps
SCOTT — Residents are asking the Town Board to change a local law restricting the use of land in flood zones since several people have recently discovered their properties have been in these zones for five years without their knowledge.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency revamped maps in 2010, changing the boundaries of the flood zones in the town. Flood zones are areas that are determined by FEMA to be more prone to damage in the event of severe storms. FEMA is reexamining those boundaries now and town officials have been meeting with FEMA officials recently on the matter.
In the meantime, several Scott residents recently discovered their properties now lie in these zones.
About 20 residents attended a January Town Board meeting to discuss the problem.
Scott resident Joanne Hudson said Friday afternoon she and her husband, Harry, who is also chair of the town Planning Board, were shocked they needed flood insurance when they did not even know they were in the flood plain.
Hudson said she and her husband wanted to expand on their existing garage on Fair Haven Road and had asked the town board for help.
“We didn’t realize we’ve been in the flood zone,” Hudson said, noting they found out last summer. “We weren’t aware of that fact.”
Hudson emphasized that she and her husband have faith in the town board and other agencies to resolve the problem and did not want to discuss any more details on the matter until after the town’s special meeting.
The meeting will be at the Scott United Methodist Church, Route 41 at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 to discuss the issue. Dan Dineen director of the county Planning Department and Amanda Barber manager of the county Soil and Water Conservation District will attend. FEMA representatives will not be present but the local law and other matters are expected to be discussed.
Residents came to the January town board meeting and complained that their properties are not at risk of flooding and that they were not aware of their designation, said Scott Town Supervisor Kevin Fitch. The designation could prohibit them from expanding or operating a business on their property because of laws that limit the use of land in flood zones or because of cost-prohibitive flood insurance requirements.
The storage of recreational vehicles in flood zones is prohibited and flood insurance is required in some areas of flood zones.
Fitch said residents want to try to get the maps changed so they do not have to get flood insurance, which can be costly.
“They wanted our help to get this going,” Fitch said in a telephone interview. “I told them I would do my best.”
Town Board member Gerald Contento Jr. said Thursday morning the board has spoken about the map changes before but people may not have heard about them.
Dave Vanco, of Glen Haven Road, said Thursday morning he has been paying flood insurance for his 8-acre property for the past nine years. But now the town is enforcing the local law which prohibits him from storing boats and recreational vehicles on his property, a business he runs out of his home.
Vanco said his business has been expanding since it started out with two boats nine years ago to having 22 boats stored there now.
“We’re waiting until the 24th to see what they come up with ... because right now, as our property sits, it’s really worth nothing,” Vanco said Thursday morning. “There’s so many stipulations on it.”
Kim Fairchild, the town code enforcement officer, said he had a meeting with Larry Lepak, a state Department of Environmental Conservation official who has recommended that recreational vehicles, including boats should stay out of the flood plain because they are likely to move in the event of a flood.
Fairchild said the law prohibiting recreational vehicles from being stored on properties in the flood plain can be changed and most likely will be.
There are other prohibitions as well. State law says buildings cannot be constructed in the flood zone, Fairchild said Friday.
Andrew Martin, Region II mitigation outreach specialist for FEMA, said Thursday morning the flood maps do not change often but the county’s flood maps were updated in 2010 because the other maps dated back to the 1970s and were done only on paper.
“The project was to combine all maps together and turn (them) into digital and update the stream studies in the county,” Martin said Thursday morning.
As a result of the changes, some people who were not previously in the flood zone now found themselves in it.
This means some homeowners must now get flood insurance if they still have a mortgage.
Homeowners who do not have a great chance of being affected may not have to get any flood insurance.
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