What else can Manatee officials do to prevent flooding? County staff will find out

Developments that get approved in future floodplain areas are beginning to concern local officials.

Right now, Manatee County code requires buildings to reduce stormwater runoff by 50 percent, but that might not be enough, Commissioner Priscilla Whisenant Trace told her fellow commissioners. She instructed staff to look at the possibility of making drainage requirements even stricter at Thursday’s Land Use meeting.

“I want them to study this and come up something better than what we have now, which would be stricter,” Trace said.

County staff are already looking into updating watershed information in the Pearce Drain and Bowlees Creek areaa, according to Thomas Gerstenberger, the county’s stormwater engineering division manager.

Trace explained that the trend of infill development on smaller pieces of land that are designated in the 25-year floodplain has become worrisome. The Federal Emergency Management Agency defines a 25-year floodplain as having a 4 percent chance that the property could flood any given year.

Not enough people realize the likelihood of a flood, Trace argued. In an informational packet, FEMA says there’s an 87 percent chance of a structure within the 25-year floodplain flooding at least once over the course of 50 years.

“It really bothers me that some of this stuff is able to be recommended (by staff for approval) and I know there’s going to be a lot of problems down the road,” Trace said.

According to Manatee County’s Land Development Code, current policy is to “prohibit habitable structures and major public and private investment within the existing/pre-development 25-year flood plain, except where a finding of overriding public interest has been reached by the board.” Homes and other livable dwellings can be built on the land, if it’s not on top of the floodplain.

Whether the project includes 1 percent of a 25-year floodplain area or 99 percent, the standards for reducing runoff are the same, Gerstenberger said. Staff may recommend a tiered system that scales depending on floodplain coverage.

Commissioner Betsy Benac told fellow board members that she had previously asked Southwest Florida Water Management District officials about how Manatee County’s stormwater rules compare to other areas but wasn’t given firm specifics. However, current code does meet state standards.

Referring to her time as a planner, Benac noted that she remembers a time when the county didn’t allow anything to be built within a 25-year floodplain property. Some municipalities still prevent any development within 25-year floodplains.

Stricter guidelines may lead to backlash from developers, but the need for public safety comes first, Trace said.

“I think we should learn from some of our mistakes,” she added. “I know a lot of people will not be happy with that, but I can think of several pieces of property in my district that aren’t even close to being developed but if someone did, then whoa. People just aren’t aware of the water and the rain that summer produces.”

There are a few neighborhoods in the county that suffer from flooding issues that could have been fixed with stricter guidelines, Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said.

“I’m glad to see this coming forward. I do want to support this, and I do want to see changes,” she said.

Commissioners unanimously approved Trace’s motion to have staff compare Manatee’s drainage regulations to other counties and recommend stricter rules in January.