The Garrett County commissioners approved updates to the county’s Floodplain Management Ordinance and related maps, following a public hearing on the issues Tuesday afternoon at the courthouse in Oakland. Also during their regular public session, the commissioners awarded bids and heard an update report from the Garrett County Department of Economic Development director.
Director John Nelson, GC Department of Planning and Land Development, said the updates to the Floodplain Management Ordinance and Flood Insurance Rate Maps were necessary to keep the county in compliance with National Flood Insurance Program regulations. The revised documents and subsequent revised flood insurance rates become effective on Oct. 2.
Nelson noted that, overall, there was a reduction in the number of designated flood plains in the county’s new ordinance and maps, compared to previous documents. The reduction is mainly the result of new mapping tools.
Permits and Inspections chief Jim Torrington noted the county has been in the process of studying and revising its ordinance for about four years. The county first joined the National Flood Insurance Program in 1976 under emergency status and became a part of the regular program in June 1985. Local, state, and federal officials created the county’s first floodplain study and maps at that time, using national data from 1929.
“Many of those maps are still in place today,” Torrington said.
He added that the county’s first Floodplain Management Ordinance was adopted in 1989 and was readopted in 1991. The document was reviewed again in 1994.
