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<br /> <br />Acquisition programs have direct and indirect costs, including the short,term costs of <br />the acquisition, the long-term costs associated with maintaining the lots once the <br />land is cleared, and the loss of tax revenue, Benefits include increased public <br />safety, reduced evacuation requirements, and the elimination of flood insurance <br />claims (if the structure was insured), <br /> <br />On balance, acquisition of hazard-prone structures and areas can be a cost,effective <br />strategy In the long run, it may be less expensive to acquire and demolish high, <br />risk buildings rather than to provide repeated disaster assistance for repairs, This is <br />particularly true for repetitive loss properties, defined by the NFIP as any insured <br />property that has received claim payment of at least S 1,000 for two or more flood <br />losses in any ]O-year period, Nationally, repetitive loss properties account for 40 <br />percent of all flood insurance claims under the NFIP. For this reason, the Federal <br />Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is increasing emphasis on mitigation <br />measures for repetitive loss properties, <br /> <br />The North Carolina Disaster Recovery Task Force recognized the inherent advan- <br />tages of acquiring very high'risk areas before they became developed, and recom- <br />mended the "initiation of a Legislative Study Commission to assess the establish, <br />ment of a state hazard area acquisition program,'" <br /> <br />~~j;:f:;(&.iW'~+~'~;"""~"" <br />. '. ..": :/!.!XY4..J#.'~.:'.:!..,,/..~.." '.:.;:.:": -', ~ <br /> <br />?:1iD/W.ki"",_.s'W <br /> <br />August 1999 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />", <br />H,HGP funds were used [Q acquire four acres in <br />Wnghrsvzlle Beach, <br /> <br />In practice, a comprehensive approach to an acquisition project must address <br />several related, yet often controversial issues, These include the following: defin- <br />;'M' ~ - -~, ." . ing the areas included (high risk, repeti' <br />tive risk, etc,); hazard notification or <br />public disclosure; appropriate means to <br />limit public subsidies in hazard areas; and <br />possible means of acquiring threatened <br />property for public purposes.' Following <br />Hurricane Fran, the state acquired four <br />"buildable" acres of hazard-prone beach <br />property In Wrightsville Beach with <br />funding From FEMA's Hazard Mitigation <br />Grant Program (HMGP), The acquisition <br />strategy was viewed as a cost,effective <br />means to avoid future structural losses <br />and future payouts from disaster assis, <br />tance programs, <br /> <br />Land Use Planning_ One of the most cost-effective ways to minimize property <br />damage and economic losses from natural hazards is to guide development away <br />from hazard-prone areas through land use planning and implementation measures, <br /> <br />At the state level, the North Carolina CAMA requires local governments in the 20 <br />coastal counties to prepare land use plans that include a mitigation element. The <br />Town of Nags Head, located on the Outer Banks, has adopted one of the state's <br />most comprehensive mitigation program elements, It combines planning manage- <br />