FLOOD10359 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Town of Vail 2003 Flood Insurance Rate Maps General Questions 1. In order to better assess the impacts of the new floodplain study for property owners, the Town of Vail overlaid the new Flood Hazard Area, as provided by Baker, onto the Town's GIS information. In addition, the aerial topographic information used for the Floodplain Study was inserted into the same GIS file. As far as we could tell, everything appears to line up exactly where it should, including all road centerlines throughout the entire town. However, after looking at numerous locations along Gore Creek, it has become apparent that the BFEs do not match the topographic lines, even though the BFE's were generated using the same tope information. Along much of Gore Creek, the Flood Hazard Area is wider than it should be. In some locations, it may only be 1 or 2 feet wider, but in many locations it is substantially wider, over 50 feet in some places. Please refer to the enclosed "Exhibit A" for an example. At 1783 Shasta Place, a BFE is shown at elevation 7952. However, the FHA is shown up to elevation 7954, approximately 40 linear feet southeast of the 7952 contour. The width of the FHA at that location is shown at approximately 125 feet, but if measured from contour 8152, it should only be about 68 feet across. Therefore, close to 50% of the lot at 1783 Shasta Place is shown as being in the FHA, when it is actually only about 25% in the FHA. This may create unnecessary issues for the property owner when it comes time to develop this property. The adjacent property, 1793 Shasta Place,is currently under construction. Placement of the FHA in its proposed location puts the new house almost 15 linear feet into the f1oodway, while if interpolated from the Flood Profiles, the house is roughly 10 linear feet OUT of the FHA. Admittedly, the most accurate method for determining the floodplain location on a specific property is to refer to the Flood Profile to determine the actual BFE at that location, and then the FHA can be plotted onto a site specific survey. However, these same scenarios occur along the length of Gore Creek. Our concem is that lenders will interpret Flood Insurance requirements by using FIRMs that indicate the wider FHA. This will require many of our property owners to file LOMAs to prove that they are not actually in the floodplain at a cost of approximately $1000 each for surveying, Elevation Certificates, and paperwork, not to mention associated headaches for them, for local officials, FEMA representatives, and planning staff. The Town of Vail feels that it is important that the FIRMs reflect, as accurately as possible, the true FHA as it relates to the topographic information provided, in order to reduce potential LOMA's, and, more importantly, unnecessary expenses for the public. In fact, many property owners may simply accept the determination that their home is in a floodplain and pay for flood insurance at a higher rate than should actually be required. Please refer to the enclosed GIS file. Red dots have been placed at the edge of all BFE's to show how they should relate to the topographic information. The "ReadMe" file on the disc describes how to insert the information into the FIRMs. We would be happy to provide paper hardcopies if needed so that this can be reviewed. 2. Is it possible, especially in relation to the above question, to show more differentiation between the Floodplain and the Floodway?