Building under certain conditions in the 100-year floodplain in rural areas of San Joaquin County such as south of Manteca could result in National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) premiums that are as much as $25 for every $100 of coverage.
In essence within four years property owners in such cases would be paying an amount equal to the coverage their NFIP polices provide.
The San Joaquin County Planning Commission meets Thursday, Sept. 1, to consider approving a series of floodplain management regulations that are mandatory to be put in place to allow residents businesses in established 100-eyar floodplains to acquire the federal insurance discounts. The existing rules and proposed changes apply to only property outside of city limits in the county that is located in 100-year floodplains.
The regulations were developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Failure by the county to get the new regulations adopted by Oct. 20 would result in FEMA revoking current discount applied to flood insurance policies issued within the county. Losing the discounts would cost county property owners $500,000 a year.
FEMA’s FloodSmart.gov website noted the average flood insurance policy for a home costs about $700 a year. That is in addition to standard homeowners insurance that can cost between $900 and $1,200 a year for a typical Manteca home.
While the newer wording in county ordinances will keep the discounts intact, it will mean extremely costly insurance for some forms of new construction.
The Planning Commission is being asked to adopt language that if an applicant is given a flood variance to construct a structure below the base flood level identified in floodplain maps it will result in premium rates for flood insurance as high as $25 for every $100 of insurance coverage.
Under the proposed language, flood variances may generally be issued for new construction or substantial improvement on a lot of one-half acre or less in size that is contiguous to and surrounded by lots with existing structures constructed below the base flood level.
To avoid the need for a flood variance, new construction in 100-year floodplains need to have the lowest floor — including the basement — at least one foot above the 100-year flood elevation. That can be accomplished by putting structures such as homes on stilts or dirt mounds. Farm structures are exempted from the requirement.
New language is included that emphasizes the ordinance is for the promotion of the general health, safety and welfare of people and to minimize public and private losses due to floods.
It also stresses the rules are to minimize the expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects as well as minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding that are generally undertaken at the expense of the general public.
The 100-year flood plain designation references a flooding event that has a 1 in 100 chance of happening in any given year.
The area south of Manteca and west of Ripon has flooded 11 times since 1928. At least two of those floods were considered 100-year events.
The last such flood in 1997 came within yards of Nile Garden School and brought water up inches from the top of the dry levee that is south of Woodward Avenue. If the levee wasn’t there water would have flowed into areas where homes have since been built such as at Oakwood Shores as well as the newer neighborhoods south of the 120 Bypass that saddle Airport Way.
The cities of Manteca, Lathrop, and Stockton as well as San Joaquin County are working on 200-year flood protection — or a flood event that has a 1 in 200 chance of happening in any given year — that goes beyond the 100-year floodplain. The solution is projected to cost in excess of $200 million. It would provide no additional protection to those living south of Manteca in the 100 -year floodplain. Some critics argue the 200-year flood protection improvements would make flooding worse in the portion in the 100-year floodplain that remains in the rural area.
The county Planning Commission meets Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the San Joaquin Public Health/Planning Auditorium at 1601 East Hazleton Avenue in Stockton.
