Article written by County Commissioner Ryan Dennard concerning the floodplain regulations and notices that have been sent to roughly 1,000 residents concerning potential violations on Bolivar Peninsula.

If you own property in Bolivar, you recently may have received a letter from Galveston County’s engineering department about a potential violation of the county’s floodplain regulations. Nearly 1,000 people have received

such a letter. If you own property in Bacliff, San Leon, or other unincorporated parts of mainland Galveston County, you may soon receive a similar letter. The county estimates another 1,000 notices will be sent to property owners in those areas.

Enforcement of the county’s floodplain regulations is both complicated and important. The issue has been brought to a head by an audit report the county received a few weeks ago from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Understanding some background will help make sense of what is going on today. The county has very limited regulatory authority over development in unincorporated areas. With a few exceptions, there are no land use controls or building codes.

Many people who live outside the cities like it that way. Most of us on Galveston County Commissioners’ Court, who are small government conservatives, like it that way, too. When residents tell me they want the government to stay out of their business, I generally nod and agree. One place where the county does regulate development is in the floodplain. This is the areas prone to flooding, the same areas where a mortgage company would require you to have flood insurance.

Flood insurance is subsidized through the federal government. As a condition of providing flood insurance to residents and businesses in the county, the federal government requires the county to have and enforce floodplain regulations. Failing to maintain and enforce floodplain regulations could result in the federal government canceling flood insurance coverage for the county. The purpose of the floodplain regulations is to minimize the risk of loss from floods. In general, regulations require that structures in flood prone areas be built at or above the base flood elevation. The base flood elevation is the height above sea level to which FEMA models predict flooding is likely to occur.

In general, it is a violation of the floodplain regulations to build enclosed structures, including bathrooms, below the base flood elevation. While it is OK to put garages at ground level, they must have “breakaway walls” not finished on the interior. Vehicles are an exception to the floodplain regulations. You can park your car at ground level in the floodplain. But vehicles are not structures, and structures are not vehicles. A vehicle is something that can legally be put on the road and driven or towed away in the event of a storm. Therefore, the vehicle must have proper tags, have tires aired up, and be ready to go at a moment’s notice. RV’s and travel trailers are considered vehicles if they comply with all legal vehicular requirements.

If RV’s or travel trailers are connected to in-ground utilities, a special set of rules apply. The vehicle must have a permit from the county. It must be road ready. And utilities must have “quick disconnect” temporary style connections. However, if the wheels are removed, or it is attached to a porch or foundation, it becomes a structure. Once a vehicle is converted to a structure, it is subject to the floodplain regulations and must be elevated above the base flood elevation, just like a house.

Movable structures are still considered structures, not vehicles. A manufactured home, for example, which can have wheels attached to it in order to transport to a different place, is still considered a structure. A manufactured home located in the floodplain must be elevated to the same height requirements as a traditional house. FEMA regulations include specific details about how a manufactured home must be mounted on pilings and tied down in a particular way.

The current floodplain regulations have been in effect for more than a decade. But following Hurricane Ike, the county was focused more on recovery than enforcement. People were given lots of flexibility so communities could have time to get back on their feet. But during the last several years, many areas have gotten way out of compliance with the floodplain regulations, and there are now thousands of violations. In response, this fall FEMA conducted a county-wide audit of floodplain regulation violations. FEMA recently provided Galveston County with a report highlighting examples of violations and requiring the county to take steps to bring the floodplain back into compliance. Such steps are necessary to ensure Galveston County’s continued access to federal flood insurance for all residents and business owners.

As a first step, permit officials with the county’s engineering department are surveying unincorporated areas and notifying property owners of observed violations. Because the amount of work is more than county staff can handle at one time, they started their effort with the Bolivar Peninsula. They will next survey and notify property owners in Bacliff, Bayview and San Leon. They will then move on to other unincorporated areas of the county. This should be done over the next few months.

The goal of this process is to get as many voluntary corrections as possible. Some issues are easily correctable. Others will be difficult. But the initial letters being sent to property owners only require that affected owners contact the county’s engineering department to begin working on a plan for resolving the issues with their property. Hopefully, over time, most violations will be resolved. For issues that can’t be resolved, they eventually would be transferred to the county’s civil legal department to discuss with the property owner and address on a case-by-case basis.

As we work through this process, our desires are that: (1) property owners get as much latitude as possible to correct violations in a common sense way; (2) regulations get applied fairly and equally; and (3) county officials provide a high level of customer service to assist affected people.

One key point: the county has sent thousands of letters to potential violators precisely to achieve these customer-service goals. We don’t want “red tags” showing up unexpectedly, randomly on properties across the county, with residents given little time to correct the problems. Nobody likes bad news. But if it’s coming, wouldn’t you rather get it with lots of lead time and lots of flexibility to get it resolved? That’s the purpose of this wave of warning letters. Under normal circumstances, permit officials would just issue actual violation notices. By acting systematically in this case, and giving warnings, the county is trying to act more consistently and provide more flexibility to affected property owners.

But we can’t have this big a process without making mistakes. County officials realize that some notices may unintentionally go to people that don’t deserve them. If that happens to you, please call county engineering and discuss it with them. County officials also know that some floodplain regulation violations may be difficult or impossible to resolve. If that happens to you, call county engineering and discuss it with them. That number is (409) 770-5552.

I’ve spent lots of time on the phone the last couple weeks, talking with folks in my precinct affected by this issue. If it would be helpful in your circumstance, I would be happy to talk with you, too. My cell phone number is (713) 885-2371. If we work together, hopefully we can get through this challenging issue as smoothly as possible.

Ryan Dennard
Galveston County Commissioner, Precinct 1

(published 11/25/2014)