A 2022 home in Ocean Ridge was built to a raised minimum elevation based on its flood zone. Under new FEMA flood maps that take effect in December, if this home were replaced, the new base level would have to be three feet higher -- and the ground floor of any home built on the empty lot next door would have to be just as high. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Long-term engagement with FEMA planned in effort to lessen burden on residents
By Anne Geggis
New flood maps expected to take effect later this year will put 5,800 new Palm Beach County coastal parcels in special hazard zones, and thousands more property owners will be required to elevate their homes to even higher levels if they want to rebuild or make major renovations.
The new maps are the first flooding hazard update since 1979 based on a full study. These results may have some property owners wishing they could turn back time.
“A lot of people are going to be significantly impacted by this,” said Palm Beach County building division director Douglas Wise. “Along the Intracoastal is where we’re seeing the biggest changes.”
The flood maps help determine who is required to purchase federal flood insurance and who has to meet higher minimum elevations when rebuilding or undertaking major renovations.
Most South County homeowners near the coast must build to higher base elevations already. Many will see the levels rise another two to five feet.
The changes are set to take effect in December, but the Palm Beach County Commission agreed at a July 9 meeting to fund a technical partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to address what county officials believe is a bug in FEMA’s calculations that produced the maps.
Wise doesn’t think so many of the existing buildings need to be raised as the new maps show they should be if the owners go to make upgrades or repairs to structures on these parcels.
“We don’t agree with the science,” he said.
***
Is your property affected?
You can view your property and others on the FEMA flood-risk map by going to:
https://maps.co.palm-beach.fl.us/cwgis/?app=floodzones
***
County Commissioner Marci Woodward agreed that the county should make the investment to try to alleviate the impact of the new maps on residents — even if it might be several years before the technical partnership project gets completed and the new minimum elevations can be revised.
Funding the technical partnership will cost the county $500,000 initially and determine whether further study could result in significant changes in the mapping that could lessen the overall impact on residents.
“We have the best option, with this room full of experts, all of our different districts, to actually make these maps the most accurate, so that the rates and the building codes and everything that goes into this will be accurate,” Woodward said. “Honestly, I believe we are the only ones that can do this.
“Any local area is going to do a better job than the feds on this, because they have to look at it from such a high level,” she added.
For now, though, the new maps — and new insurance and building level requirements — will take effect in December.
And the $7.7 billion worth of property that FEMA insures in South County is likely to grow — anyone with a federally backed mortgage who is in one of the high hazard zones is required to purchase the flood insurance.
The cost for homeowners depends on location.
The average premium cost ranges from $724 for property that lies between Military Trail and El Rio Canal in Boca Raton to the $1,377 average for Delray Beach parcels that lie between Dixie Highway and the Atlantic Ocean.
The premium cost can be reduced by up to 45% depending on how much a community does to ameliorate its flood risk, according to parameters that FEMA has set. The actions involve better planning and educating residents.
No municipality in the county has earned the maximum 45% discount that the program offers, but in South County, Boynton Beach comes the closest with a 25% discount.
Lantana’s rating was upgraded in 2020, so that FEMA flood policy holders were eligible for a 10% discount on their bills, instead of just 5%. It was given because of the town’s efforts to preserve open spaces, shore up flood-prone structures and manage stormwater, among other items, according to Nicole Dritz, Lantana’s development services director.
“The savings is a tangible result of the flood mitigation activities that the town implements to help protect lives and reduce property damage,” Dritz said.
Commissioners in Highland Beach, which qualified for a 10% discount in the past but now does not, voted 5-0 July 23 to tentatively approve an ordinance that has changes officials hope will again qualify the town’s property owners for a discount.
Currently, town homeowners can split a major renovation into separate work over two years, so the work in any one year does not exceed half the structure’s value, the point at which the home’s base elevation is required to be raised. Under the proposed ordinance, that would no longer be the case. It would require the higher elevation when any cumulative renovations over as many as five years exceed half a building’s value.
Larry Barszewski contributed to this story.
Flood insurance discounts
South County residents are eligible for FEMA flood insurance discounts based on actions their municipalities have taken to mitigate potential flooding. Here are the discounts by municipality as of April 2024:
Boca Raton: 15%
Boynton Beach: 25%
Briny Breezes: 0%
Delray Beach: 20%
Gulf Stream: 0%
Highland Beach: 0%
Lantana: 10%
Manalapan: 10%
Ocean Ridge: 20%
South Palm Beach: 10%
Source: Palm Beach County
Comments