OBZPAE's Tip of the Month

Tip of the Month # 4

This Tip of the Month concerns Floodplain Regulations as they apply to Orangetown.

The Town Of Orangetown has its own floodplain regulations entitled “Flood Damage Prevention”, Chapter 14B of the Town Code which was created in response to the National Flood Insurance Program. In order to identify  whether your property is within a floodplain you would have to review the areas of special flood hazard that have been identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in a scientific engineering report entitled the "Flood Insurance Study, Town of Orangetown, New York, Rockland County," dated February 2, 1982, with Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) enumerated as Map Index No. 360686 0001-0008, dated August 2, 1982, and Letter of Map Revision issued on October 26, 1995, as FEMA Case No. 95-02-101P and expanding the delineated limits of the Special Flood Hazard Area on Panel 0006 C, and with accompanying Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps enumerated on Map Index No. 360686 0001-0005, dated August 2, 1982.  These maps are available, upon request, to view at the Office of Building, Zoning, Planning Administration and Enforcement.  Unfortunately the paper maps can be difficult to interpret since they lack many street names and other property information.

If you want to determine whether your property lies within a floodplain then I suggest you go to the FEMA Map Service Website:

http://msc.fema.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/FemaWelcomeView?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1.

At the website you can view flood maps by typing in the property address in the appropriate spaces. At that website you can also create a “FIRMette” which is a full-scale section of a FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) that you create yourself online. There is no cost for making a FIRMette.   FIRMettes can be used in all aspects of the NFIP including floodplain management, flood insurance, and enforcement of mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements. There is also other valuable information available on that website about the Flood Insurance Program.

Shortly after Tropical Storm Floyd swept through Orangetown in September of 1999 a representative of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation met with me to review the Town’s floodplain regulations. Our regulations were found to be in compliance with the State and Federal rules.

If you have any questions about the minimum requirements when building in a floodplain then please read Chapter 14 B of the Town Code. As always if you have a specific question then contact my office for assistance.

Have a wonderful summer!

John Giardiello, PE, Director