Updating city’s floodplain ordinance

WAUPACA – City officials are moving to overhaul Waupaca’s floodplain zoning ordinance, a shift that could lead to lower flood insurance premiums for residents but stricter construction rules for property owners near the river.
Julianna Stohs, community and economic development director, introduced the first reading of the ordinance at the May 5 council meeting; two readings are needed before the measure can be passed.
Updates to chapter 20 in the municipal code include changing the elevation standards so that all new conforming structures within a floodplain zone are built at least one foot above the base flood elevation, which is the level water reaches in a 100-year flood.
This would mean that newly built basements and crawl spaces would need to be above that line.
The current Department of Natural Resources (DNR) standard allows for building to start at floodplain level, so the city adopting a higher standard than the state minimum.

The new ordinance would mean that the city becomes eligible to join the community rating system (CRS) which allows residents who need the additional flood insurance to get a discount on that insurance.
“This is available to communities who adopt these enhanced floodplain zoning standards, who engage in enhanced public outreach related to floodplain education,” Stohs said.
The DNRs higher minimum standards would give a 5% discount, depending on various additional measures that the community takes it could increase that discount up to 15%, Stohs said.
A central piece of the new ordinance is the 50% limit on non-conforming structures within a floodplain.
Stohs said this rule applies to buildings or structures that were constructed before current flood safety standards were in place.
Under the rule, the city tracks the value of all repairs, additions, and maintenance through building permits over the life of the structure.
Once the cumulative cost of these improvements—or repairs from damage caused by storms, floods, or fires—reaches 50% of the building’s equalized (assessed) value, the property must be brought into full compliance with modern codes.
“The building inspector and the planning and zoning staff are supposed to maintain a record of all of the building permits that have been submitted for that particular property to determine when they reached the 50% threshold,” Stohs said. “That would trigger the requirement to bring that property into conformity with the existing standards.”
Stohs said the assessed property value at the date of the permit is what they are basing the assessment on.
To break that 50% rule down, say a house was built in a floodplain and it is worth $100,000, if damage caused by flooding or renovations exceeds half of that home value, then the homeowner would need to comply with current floodplain zoning standards.
This could include things like filling in a basement, elevating the structure or moving the home,
Stohs said.
Stohs said that this rule would be cumulative, not just one event, meaning that the city will keep track of updates and damage over time using building permits.
This means, pertaining to the above example, if the homeowner has a $100,000 home and one year they have $20,000 in renovation costs and a couple of years later there is another flood and damage equals $30,000 then the owner will have hit their limit and would need to bring that structure into compliance.
If the home or structure in question is considered historic and is in a floodplain, then they would be exempt from the rule.
The ordinance only affects those with homes or structures within the floodplain or flood fringe, which is standing water on the outer portion of the 100-year floodplain.
More information can be found at https://cityofwaupaca.org/community-economic- development/planning-zoning/.