County set to adopt new flood maps after 30 years

Feb. 11--If your eyes glaze over at the words "flood insurance," rub them hard and pay attention, unless you'd rather toss $1,000 or so into the nearest burn barrel.

Tuesday, Pierce County Council members are expected to close the book on a 30-year saga: an update of the county's flood zone maps, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The ordinance passed out of a council subcommittee last week with a unanimous vote.

The county maps haven't been updated since 1987, when they relied on data gathered in the 1970s. The gradual updating, filtered through decades of studies, lawsuits and congressional reviews, has finally reached its end.

The most immediate effect falls on roughly 2,300 property owners throughout the unincorporated areas of the county, officials say. The updated maps will subtract more than 1,500 parcels from flood zones and add more than 800 to the designation.

Subtraction ends a mandatory requirement for flood insurance. Addition triggers it.

"The flood mapping is just in or out," said Dennis Dixon, a civil engineer with the county's surface water management division. "They draw the line. Does your house touch that flood boundary? If it does, you're in that flood plain."

Many of the subtractions -- about 200 -- are concentrated around Lake Tapps. Additions are more scattered, from areas in Parkland to the county's coastal areas bordering Puget Sound.

"This has a direct impact on people's financial well-being," said Councilman Derek Young. "The most critical and practical reason it's important is that without passing this, our citizens will be ineligible for the (federal) flood insurance program."

That last bit is where the money comes in. The FEMA maps set the boundaries of flood zones and corresponding flood insurance rates for mortgage loans guaranteed by the federal government. If you own a home within a newly designated flood zone and you have a mortgage loan, the insurance is mandatory.

The new maps would take legal effect on March 7, assuming the council votes as expected. With that in mind, moving faster is the smarter move, according to Dixon and Sumner-based insurance agent Christine Tillet.

Homebuyers and homeowners who act before March 7 assure themselves of a more favorable flood insurance rate. Tillet cited one customer who received a quote for an annual rate of $366, the so-called "preferred risk rate," she said.

Waiting too long carries a cost. The annual rate rose to $1,322 in Tillet's quoted example.

"If they wait, they don't get the preferred risk rate," she said.

WHAT CHANGED

Mapping and surveying techniques have changed a lot in 30 years, according to Dixon. The 1987 maps were drawn "with a really fat sharpie," he said, relying in some cases on survey data from the 1970s.

The information was short on topography and specifics. As a result, much of the Lake Tapps area was designated as a high-risk flood plain, though the lake is a man-made reservoir and the homes constructed in subsequent years stand on high ground, comparatively safe from flooding.

"We ended up capturing a number of people that really didn't deserve to be in that high-risk flood zone," he said.

Newer surveying techniques reveal more subtle shades of topography. In areas outside the major cities, where zoning is less dense and lots are larger, that can make all the difference for a property owner building a home on land that touches a flood plain.

"Our regulations say if you've got high ground, you need to build on high ground," Dixon said. "Most people in Pierce County have high ground."

GETTING OUT

For property owners subtracted from the flood plain designation, removal from flood insurance requirements isn't automatic.

"They have to initiate the change," said Tillet, the insurance agent. "Nobody's gonna call them and say, 'Hey, you know your flood zone changed.' "

Property owners should call their lenders and ask for a release from the insurance requirement, Tillet said. They need documentation to prove the change in status, allowing them to cancel the policy.

Even then, Tillet said, lenders might continue to require the insurance, based on their internal practices.

"The lender can still make them stay in it," she said. "The only way out of that situation would be to refinance with a different company, or fight them -- but good luck."

GETTING IN

The majority of the 800 property owners added to the flood zone maps live in coastal areas. The new maps include new information reflecting the effects of high tides and winds, including Purdy and properties along Henderson Bay, among others.

A flood plain designation doesn't mean automatic disaster for property owners in those areas. Instead, especially for prospective builders, it means getting ahead of the curve on a dream project and all the associated permits.

"Any time we can capture somebody at the beginning of a dream, they're not so unhappy," DIxon said. "If they find out after they've spent a lot of capital, emotional capital, it's a really sad conversation. But if somebody starts the conversation earlier, it's whole lot easier, so they can understand where they can safely build, and move that dream to a little higher ground."

OUTREACH

County officials have conducted public outreach on the flood map changes since 2004. In 2016 alone, the county sent 17,800 postcards to property owners affected by the changes. In 2015, county and FEMA officials held open houses that included draft versions of the updated maps. Separate communications were sent to insurance agents, real estate agents and local mortgage lenders.

The open houses offered property owners the chance to appeal the flood-zone designation if they could show the data was incorrect. Successful appeals were added to the final drafts of the maps. Those inquiries generated 3,400 custom maps of individual parcels, Dixon said.

The updated maps have another subtle benefit for taxpayers: less money spent rescuing distressed properties affected by flooding because they discourage new construction in those areas.

"It means we don't exacerbate the problem," said Young, the county councilman. "It's also about keeping people from constructing in places that have been or will become flood prone."

Sean Robinson: 253-597-8486, @seanrobinsonTNT

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