Floodplain Updates

Recent Community Meeting on Floodplain Class 5 Status

City staff recently held a community meeting to detail new FEMA Class 5 Status achieved by the City. This classification means residents in the flood plain could see as much as a 25 percent decrease in flood insurance rates. The meeting was videotaped in order to share information with residents unable to attend.

There were two new state regulations that the City adopted. They are:

  1. The freeboard requirement is the minimum height above the flood elevation for most buildings. This requirement has been set at two feet for critical facilities.
  2. Specific areas that are removed from the floodplain by using fill materials would still be regulated as if they are still in a floodplain with respect to freeboard. This means that basements would not be allowed in those areas. 


Determine your flood risk at FloodSmart.gov

CRS

The Community Rating System (CRS) Manual was revised in 2012. The City’s current program under the old CRS Manual has a Class 6 rating. This results in a 20% discount for residents with floodplain insurance. The City’s program is being reviewed with the new CRS Manual to see if it can be raised to a Class 5, which has a 25% discount. Only two other communities, both much larger than the City, in Colorado are currently rated as a Class 5 or above.

Biggert-Waters Act

Public Meeting Congress approved the Biggert-Waters Act of 2012 in an attempt to make the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) solvent again after the impact of Katrina, Sandy, and other large storms. The biggest impact is that some rates could be going up substantially, so keeping or improving the discount is seen as critical by the City.

Contact

For more information, call (303) 235-2846 or by email.

Additional Information