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Potential Objectiions to Floodplain Regulations A program of floodplain management Can bring opposition from sectors of the community ranging from those opposed to certain aspects of the flood- plain program to those opposed to the wllole concept of floodplain manage. ment. Below are some hypo1hotical objections raised by members of the community and some information which can be used in rE!SpOnse. Objection 'I don't know why you're worrying about floods in this area. Your maps are wrong. My grandfather homesteaded here seventy years ago, and it's never come clos" 10 /loading. I'd like to subdivide that land, and you're just devalu- ing it by dr3.wing that line on your map." Response The area~, that are studied in a particular community are selectE~d jointly by Federal, State, and local officials. An attempt is made to select areas where a combination of potential flood hazard and existing and anticipatEld develop- ment may pose problems for the community. When the areas have been selected, the most current, accepted engineering and mapping methods are used to delineate the 1 DO-year floodplain. It is entirely possible for one hun- dred years to have passed without a 1 DO-year flood on a given stream reach, just as it is possible to have had Ulree 1 aO-year floods in a ten-y"ar period. Federal and State agencies will aiways provide for appeals of floodplain delineations. Anyone affect"d may appeal by submitting to State and Federal officials engineering data which may show that there are errors in the flood- plain delineations or that conditions have changed sufficiently to warrant a modification of those delineation~,. With regard to devaluing the property; if an area is found to be within the 1 DO-year floodplain, then it was within the floodplain before the map was pre- pared, it was just not previously delineated. As legal decisions hav13 indicated. the land was already burdened by a "natural dtainage easement" and was thereby less suiteel for certain land uses than similar land outside of the floodplain. Objectil>n "If you institute these t1oodp/ain regu/alions, all of this land will be useless. None of us will be able to do anything with it." Response Most floodplain regulations divide the floodplain into a t100dway and flood fringe. In the floodway, land uses are strictly limited; certain uses, 11Owever, are allowed, such as agricultural development, recreation, or open space associatect with nearby residential, commercial, or industrial uses. In the flood fringe uses are not as strictly limitEld. The prime concern in the flood fringe is that certain engineering standards are followed; then msidential, commercial, or industrial uses can be permitted. In some communities it is possible t.~ build flood control facilities to make more land developable. Pro- perty owners still have options for using their land as long as potential dangers tl) public safety am addnessed. 41