New Orleans officials and their counterparts at FEMA
and the Louisiana Recovery Authority have apparently struck a
compromise on new advisory building elevations, albeit one New
Orleans leaders aren't entirely thrilled with.
Mike Centineo, director of safety and permits for Mayor Ray
Nagin, said Wednesday that he will introduce an ordinance today
asking the City Council to adopt advisory elevations proposed by
FEMA that require new structures and those being substantially
rebuilt to sit at least 3 feet off the ground.
The proposed law, however, will exclude locally protected
historic districts, meaning a large swath of New Orleans will be
exempt from the new requirements.
All told, 12 neighborhoods are under the jurisdiction of the
Historic Districts Landmark Commission, four of which are in the
Central Business District. The French Quarter, which is protected
by the Vieux Carre Commission, will likewise be exempted.
It could not be determined late Wednesday whether the exemption
will apply only to existing structures in those areas, or to future
buildings as well.
Initially, city officials had hoped to carve out an exemption
for all structures in "B" flood zones -- generally, areas less
prone to flooding -- as well as commercial structures, because of
their heavy foot traffic.
Under the new rules, Centineo noted, the developer of a new
retail store or home along Tchoupitoulas Street, perhaps the city's
highest ground, may be required to elevate 3 feet, despite the
improbability of flooding.
Though Centineo thinks such a rule is foolish, he said city
officials went along with the idea because state and federal
officials had threatened to withhold needed aid if the city didn't
adopt the latest recommendations from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency.
"They have us over a barrel," Centineo said. "The LRA is going
to tie up the money to our citizens on these advisory flood
elevations, and we'd be a stumbling block for our citizens if we
didn't do it. It doesn't meet what we originally wanted, but FEMA
and the LRA weren't getting off it any other way."
With federal aid about to start flowing into New Orleans, Nagin
wanted to make sure the city wasn't blocking money that could help
residents with their properties, Centineo said.
City Councilwoman Stacy Head, who had favored Centineo's earlier
proposal, said she feels she and her cohorts have little choice but
to go along with the change.
"We have to, because it's a lot of money for the city," Head
said. "So I'm voting to follow the rules, even though the rules are
stupid."
Paul Rainwater, director of intergovernmental relations and
hazard mitigation for the LRA, said that if the City Council fails
to adopt the new elevations, it will not affect homeowners seeking
grants under the state's Road Home program. The rules of that
program already require compliance with the 3-foot rule, he
said.
But not adopting the rules could put the city and its residents
at risk of being denied about $58 million in federal
hazard-mitigation money, and millions more for infrastructure,
Rainwater said.
The City Council will not act on the ordinance today; the
administration hopes to bring it to a vote in early September,
Centineo said.
"We think it's a great move on the city's part to adopt the
advisories," Rainwater said. "It's important not only for
protection of the investment of the homeowner, but it sends a
signal to the rest of the country that New Orleans is going to
build higher and safer."
Centineo said that if the council passes the ordinance, it will
probably take another month or so before the law goes into effect.
In the meantime, the current elevations set by FEMA in 1984 will
remain the law of the land. During that lag, the city will try to
encourage residents to obtain permits if they have concerns about
the cost of compliance.
The new advisories, which FEMA issued in June, essentially
mirror the 1984 "base flood elevations" set by the agency. Those
elevations dictate how high off the ground the floors of new
structures must be in various neighborhoods, depending on their
vulnerability to flooding.
The advisories differ from the 1984 standards only in that they
suggest new structures meet base flood elevation or be situated at
least 3 feet above what FEMA calls "highest adjacent grade,"
whichever is higher. The city typically calculates adjacent grade
as either the height of the curb or the crown of the street,
Centineo said.
In a news conference Tuesday, Centineo recommended that
homeowners who are unsure if they're meeting the requirements hire
a land surveyor to conduct an elevation survey.
With that information in hand, officials in the permitting
office will be able to tell people how high they must elevate, he
said.
To view the online article, please click on the following
link.
New Orleans Advisory Building Elevations
