HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-09-29 City CouncilC ty
City of Pale Alto
Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER ,DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS
AGENDA DATE:
SUBJECT:
SEPTEMBER 29, 1997 CMR:402:97
STATUS REPORT ON THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT AGENCY’S REVISED FLOOD INSURANCE
RATE MAPS FOR SAN FRANCISQU1TO CREEK
This report conveys updated information on the status of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency’s (FEMA) revised Flood -Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) for San Francisquito Creek.
No Council action is required. . -~
-This informational report does not contain=any changes to existing City policies.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In March 1996, staff’reported to Council on the status of FEMA’s revisions to the FI~ for San
Francisquito Creek (CMR: 183:96). FEMA retained an engineering consultant in 1990 to
restudy the flooding potential of San Francisquito Creek, one of 13 Santa Clara County creeks
that was reexamined as a result of revisions to FEMA’s levee policy. The revised policy
assumes that levees will fail if they are not built to a specified height above the predicted high
water level. This conservative approach results in a prediction of more water.overtopping the
banks of San Francisquito Creek and more properties subject to flooding in the event of a one
percent flood~.
FEMA has now completed i~ study of San Francisquito Creek and has submitted a preliminary
copy of the revised FIRM to.the City. The revised maps add approximately 800 Palo Alto
properties to the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), a 60 percent increase in the number of
Palo Alto properties subject to flooding from San Francisquito Creek. Properties within the
SFHA .are subject to special building requirements and must be covered bY flood insurance if
~The one percent flood has a one percent chance of occ .urring in any given year. It is
sometimes referred to as the lO0-year flood, because it is the flood that would be equaled or
exceeded on an average of one time every one hundred years, measured over a long time period.
CMR:402:97 Page 1 of 3
mortgaged. It is anticipated that there will be similar increases in projected San Francisquito
Creek flooding in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, l~ut FEMA has not yet released the
preliminary FIRM for those communities.
Several steps must take place before the revised FIRM will become final and binding on the
City and its residents. Attachment A is an outline of the individual steps in the map revision
process. Latethis month, FEMA representatives will meet with City staffto discuss the
revised maps and explain in greater detail the process that will follow. From the City’s
perspective, the key element of the map revision process is the 90-day appeal period. During
this pedod,~the City or members Of the public have the fight to appeal the revisedmaps based
upon a dispute of a quantitative, technical nature. After meeting with FEMA representatives,
staffwill return to Council in late October to early November to discuss the City’s options
for responding to the revised FIRM and to recommend whether or not an appeal of the maps
is warranted. Upon receiving policy guidance from Council, staff will conduct a special
meeting to present the revised FIRM to the public, receive their comments, and answer
questions.
The timing of any direct impacts to City residents as a result of the revised FIRM is
dependent upon whether or not the City elects to appeal the maps and upon the outcome of
such an appeal. If there is no appeal or the appeal is quickly denied, the properties within the
newly mapped area will become subject to the flood-related special building requirements
when a Final Elevation Determination Letter is issued by FEMA following tlie 90-day appeal.
period in February or March 1998. The mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements
would take effect when the final maps are published, approximately one year from now. If
the City flies a successful appeal of the maps, the exact timing of the final map revision is
subject to change.
FISCAL ~
This report has no fiscal impacts to the City.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
An environmental assessment is not required for this informational report.
Outline of Map Revision Process
PREPARED BY: Joe Teresi, Senior Engineer
DEPARTMENT HEAD REVIEW:
GLENN S. ROBERTS
Director of Public Works
CMR:402:97 Page 2 of 3
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
E~Y HARRISON
Assistant City Manager
co:Ken Nauman, FEMA -
Ray Lenaburg, FEMA
Kay Whitlock, Santa Clara Valley Water District
Randy Talley, Santa Clara-Valley Water Distridt
San Francisquito Creek CRMP coordinator, Peninsula
Foundation
Susan Frank, Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce
Cathy Lehrberg, Crescent Park Neighborhood Association
Conservation Center
CMR:402:97 Page 3 of 3