New flood zone maps will affect Darlington County property owners

New Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) for Darlington County updated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will likely have some property owners upset when they see that their property may now lie in a flood zone.

The new maps delineate flood zones along rivers, creeks, lakes and streams in the county differently than the previous maps. And that means many property owners may find that property previously not in a flood zone now is in a flood zone, said Darlington County Planning Director Doug Reimold.

“People who at one time were outside the flood zone may be in a flood zone now,” Reimold said.

And that could have significant implications for any new development of property in those areas because new development will be required to build to a higher standard in a flood zone and owners will be required to obtain flood insurance, Reimold said.

Reimold presented the new maps to Darlington County Council Monday. The maps are only preliminary right now, he said.

At some point, council will be asked to formally adopt the maps, Reimold said.

The maps are used to estimate the risk of development in flood zones, he said.

The update of the maps is part of a national effort by FEMA, according to Reimold.

“These new maps redefine the flood zones and show high, medium and low risk areas,” he said.

Darlington County has a flood ordinance, and as planning director Reimold also serves as the county’s floodplain administrator under the ordinance.

The ordinance and maps allow the county to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), Reimold said.

If the county does not adopt the revised maps, it will lose its eligibility to participate in the program, and that would make flood insurance unavailable to property owners in the county, he said.

“The maps are important for regulating how development takes place in a flood zone and in helping determine if development will have a negative impact,” Reimold said.

Council is not in a position to vote on the maps yet, according to Reimold. The maps could still undergo some additional changes, he said.

Reimold said he wanted to present the maps now to give the public a chance to see them. The maps are available for review in the Darlington County Planning Office, Room 405 in the Darlington County Courthouse during regular business hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, Reimold said.

“We wanted the public to be aware that there are new maps coming,” he said. “We want to give people the opportunity to start looking at the maps now.”

Reimold has also scheduled two public meetings in September to give residents an opportunity to review and comment on the maps. The meetings are designed to give residents an opportunity to see the maps and review FEMA findings regarding their property.

Property owners who disagree with the findings will be instructed on how to challenge the findings, he said.

The first of the meetings is set for Sept. 8 at the Lawton Park Pavilion in Hartsville from 6 to 8 p.m. The second will take place Sept. 9 at the Palmetto Rural Fire Department on McIver Road near Darlington also from 6 to 8 p.m.

Property owners who believe their property is incorrectly placed in a flood zone on the new maps will have a 90-day period during which they can appeal FEMA’s findings, Reimold said.

The maps will not become effective until all appeals that have been validated have been considered, he said. And that process could delay the effective date for the maps, he said.

Reimold said he does not expect the maps to become effective until June of 2011.

Letters will also be going out soon to property owners who may be affected by the change in the maps, Reimold said.

Reimold said the old flood zone maps are based on 1960s data. The new maps are based on new data and are more accurate, he said.

Two major industries stand to be affected by the changes in the maps. Sonoco, which has its main manufacturing facility on Prestwood Lake, and Progress Energy, which operates the H.B. Robinson Plant on Lake Robinson north of Hartsville, both now find their property on the lakes in the newly defined flood zones, Reimold said. Both lakes are part of the Black Creek watershed, he said.

And that will impact new projects the companies have planned for those properties, Reimold said.

Councilwoman Anne Warr of Lamar said she hopes the new maps help prevent problems that have occurred in the county over the years when developers build in areas that are too low and that are subject to flooding. “We have developments in some areas that never should have been developed,” she said.

Councilwoman Mozella “Pennie” Nicholson of Hartsville said she was concerned because the new maps do not designate areas that may experience pocket flooding from storm water runoff as high risk areas. She specifically pointed to the Kingsville Heights area in South Hartsville.

“That’s where my concern is because we’ve actually watched the flooding there,” she said.

Reimold said the new maps deal just with flood prone areas along rivers, creeks and streams, not with storm water runoff.

Reimold said residents who live inside the city of Hartsville and who have questions about the maps can call Mike McConnell with the city at 383-3025. Darlington city residents can call Rodney Langley at 398-4000 ext. 103.