SUBJECT/RECOMMENDATION:
Title
Approve amendments to the Clearwater Community Development Code Chapter 51, Flood Damage Prevention, to allow for the use of best available data when establishing flood hazard areas, including Pinellas County’s Vulnerability Assessment (2021), to address accessory structures used for parking and storage, to modify provisions for manufactured homes, to modify or delete various definitions, and to make other administrative amendments and pass Ordinance 9508-21 on first reading. (TA2021-08003)
Body
SUMMARY:
The City manages and regulates activities and development in its floodplains through provisions in Community Development Code Chapter 51. Flood Damage Prevention, the City’s Floodplain Management Ordinance, which was repealed and replaced with new regulations in 2018. Planning and Development, working closely with Engineering, has prepared Ordinance 9508-21, proposing amendments to the Floodplain Management Ordinance to address changes to the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) and Community Rating System (CRS), in addition to making other administrative changes.
The new FIRM was automatically adopted on August 24, 2021, and the effective FIRM includes a significant decrease in base flood elevation (BFE) on Clearwater Beach, Sand Key, and Island Estates. Engineering Department staff and the Pinellas County Floodplain Administrator provided information about Pinellas County’s Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge Vulnerability Assessment [also known as the RESTORE Act Vulnerability Assessment (2021)], to City Council at its August 30, 2021 Work Session. The County’s Vulnerability Assessment utilizes additional and newer data, and projects that flood levels will not decrease as is suggested by the new FIRM and therefore the BFE should not be reduced in these areas. The proposed amendments would adopt the Vulnerability Assessment by reference and allow the City to utilize it to establish the flood hazard area and applicable BFE where it is more restrictive than the FIRM (i.e., for properties on Clearwater Beach, Sand Key, and Island Estates).
Also, this year the Community Rating System 2021 Update was released which implements a Class 8 prerequisite to require manufactured homes to be elevated the same as other residential properties. All manufactured homes that are placed, replaced, or substantially improved in the Special Flood Hazard Area shall be elevated to at least the elevation required in the Florida Building Code, Residential Section. This means manufactured homes need to be elevated to the BFE plus 2 feet of freeboard. The proposed ordinance addresses this CRS prerequisite.
Staff is also proposing several amendments identified by FEMA and the Florida Department of Emergency Management which were suggested for consistency with model ordinance language as well as other administrative amendments, including standards for accessory uses below BFE, modifying certain definitions and updating terminology.
The Planning & Development Department has determined that the proposed text amendments to the Community Development Code are consistent with and further the goals, objectives and policies of the Comprehensive Plan and the Community Development Code as outlined in the staff report. The Community Development Board (CDB) will consider the proposed amendments at its regularly scheduled meeting on October 19, 2021, and the Planning and Development Department will report its recommendation at the October 21, 2021 City Council meeting.
APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT: N/A
USE OF RESERVE FUNDS: N/A