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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2012 0418 CC REG ITEM 10N ITEM 10.N. Ity Council Meeting MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL oi.�_,..p.rs_ AGENDA REPORT A 'T614: 41-.e d �-„a- A V TO: Honorable City Council FROM: Dave Klotzle, City Engineer/Public Works Director DATE: April 6, 2012 (CC Meeting of 04/18/12) SUBJECT: Consider Results of Flood Mapping Analyses for the Walnut Canyon Drain BACKGROUND In 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) updated the Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRM) covering the City of Moorpark. The updated maps showed approximately 1,600 properties newly added into the revised 100-year flood zone requiring flood insurance for most of these property owners. The City appealed the proposed changes and revised the maps which became effective on January 20, 2010 and included approximately 1,300 properties in the flood zone. In March 2010, FEMA approved a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) which removed all 240 residential structures from the 100-year flood zone within the Villa Del Arroyo Mobile Home Park. In February 2010, the City hired MR Consulting (MRC) to analyze the January 20, 2010 DFIRMs to determine if the maps should be revised to more accurately depict the Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) within the City. SFHAs are developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) flood mapping procedures and indicate areas that may experience one foot or more of flooding due to a 100-year storm event. Flood insurance is mandatory for properties with a mortgage and with a structure located within an SFHA. The initial phase of analysis performed by MRC was focused on the Arroyo Simi and its lack of capacity to contain the 100-year storm flow resulting in areas of flooding within the City. MRC corrected the hydraulic model used to create the January 20, 2010 DFIRM flood zones attributed to the Arroyo Simi and on behalf of the City, submitted a request for a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) to FEMA in June 2010. On January 28, 2011, FEMA issued the approved LOMR and revised DFIRMs with an effective date of June 13, 2011. Approximately 861 properties within the City were removed from SFHAs with approximately 241 remaining in a flood zone. All affected property owners were notified of the LOMR and invited to a public workshop which was held on March 24, S:\Public Works\Everyone\Reports\Staff Reports\2012\April\04-18-2012 Walnut Canyon Flood Mapping Results.doc 281 Honorable City Council April 18, 2012 Page 2 2011 where the results of the LOMR and related flood insurance issues were discussed. Additional measures have been taken to determine if more of the properties remaining in the 100-year flood zone may qualify to be removed from SFHAs or be eligible for lower flood insurance premiums. These measures included 1) a LOMR for the Walnut Canyon Drain related to the area of Walnut Canyon Road, Charles Street and Walnut Street (discussed further below); and 2) ground elevation surveys on individual lots on Harvester Street, Elderberry Avenue, Justin Court, Villa Campesina Avenue and Fremont Avenue. The elevation survey also included the Woodcreek and Moorpark Pines Apartment buildings as well as the Park Springs Condominium complex. The surveyed ground elevations of four properties on Elderberry Avenue enabled them to be removed from the SFHA and four other properties on Elderberry Avenue may qualify for lower flood insurance premiums due to the elevation of the properties compared to the calculated 100-year flooding elevation. Additionally, the surveyed ground elevations of twenty Park Springs condominiums and four of the Woodcreek Apartment buildings enabled them to be removed from the SFHA. Approximately 113 of the remaining properties that were surveyed will remain in the SFHA based on their surveyed ground elevations. The owners of all the surveyed properties were notified in writing of the resulting effects of the survey on their property. DISCUSSION The additional LOMR effort to determine if the Walnut Canyon Road, Charles Street and Walnut Street area can be removed from the 100-year flood zone has been completed. This effort included the analysis of the Walnut Canyon Drain starting at the detention basin north of Meridian Hills Drive, proceeding south past City Hall to the point where it turns west along the railroad tracks. On March 1, 2012, FEMA issued the approved LOMR and revised flood zone map for this portion of the Walnut Canyon Drain with an effective date of July 18, 2012. Sixty- nine properties were removed from SFHAs as a result of this most recent LOMR. Letters have been sent to all affected property owners notifying them of the revisions to the flood zone map along with information they can use to process the cancellation of flood insurance policies and possibly obtain refunds of premiums after the effective date of July 18, 2012. On May 18, 2011, City Council approved the additional analysis of the lower reach of the Walnut Canyon Drain heading west of Gabbert Road, then south between the SCE substation and the proposed Moorpark West Studios site, and then west along the north side of Los Angeles Avenue until it joins the Gabbert Canyon Drain which turns south and empties into the Arroyo Simi. The results of this analysis have verified that S:\Public Works\Everyone\Reports\Staff Reports\2012Wpril\04-18-2012 Walnut Canyon Flood Mapping Results.doc 282 Honorable City Council April 18, 2012 Page 3 no further LOMRs or changes to the mapping of SFHAs in this area are warranted at this time. Since FEMA's update of the DFIRMs in 2005 which included over 1,600 properties in the 100-year flood zone, the City's efforts to accurately map the flood prone areas have successfully removed approximately 1,456 properties from the 100-year flood zone. These properties are no longer required to carry Federally mandated flood insurance, however, FEMA encourages property owners near a flood prone area to carry flood insurance and lenders can impose their own requirements for flood insurance. No efforts to further revise the DFIRMs are planned at this time, however, the City will continue to coordinate with FEMA and the Ventura County Watershed Protection District to evaluate and pursue opportunities to improve the level of protection against flooding within the City. The City will continue to provide flood zone mapping and insurance information to affected property owners as necessary. FISCAL IMPACT On November 18, 2009, the City Council appropriated $100,000.00 from the General Fund Reserve to fund efforts to revise the DFIRMS and remove as many residences from the 100-year flood zone as possible. On May 18, 2011, the City Council appropriated an additional $50,000.00 from the General Fund Reserve to complete the flood zone analyses and DFIRM revisions. Of the $150,000.00 appropriated, an estimated $135,000.00 will be spent on these efforts. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Receive and file. SAPublic Works\Everyone\Reports\Staff Reports\2012\April\04-18-2012 Walnut Canyon Flood Mapping Results.doc 283