CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — Mecklenburg County's new floodplain maps are nearly complete, and while they could save hundreds of homeowners money, they could force hundreds of others to buy flood insurance.
The county is nearing the end of a process to update its floodplain maps in neighborhoods around Little Sugar Creek and Briar Creek. The current maps are based on data from 1997 and were approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 2004.
[ Interactive Floodplain Maps For Little Sugar Creek, Briar Creek ]
The new drafts mean 258 buildings will be added to the floodplains, while 513 will be removed. People who live within the floodplain are required by law to have flood insurance if they owe a mortgage.
Jameston Drive in Myers Park is one place where five homes could be added to the updated Little Sugar Creek floodplain. One of those homes belongs to Roger Manley.
"We're certainly not happy about that," Manley said, adding that he and his wife bought their house two years ago specifically because it was outside the floodplain. On the current maps, the floodplain line touches the Manleys' property, but not their home. Under the new maps being drafted, the home is completely covered. The law only requires homeowners to purchase flood insurance if the house is inside the floodplain.
Manley said he's worried the financial hit won't stop there.
"It could possibly decrease the value of the house that we've obviously put a lot of money into," he said.
Robert Billings of Charlotte Mecklenburg Storm Water said the maps are still a work in progress.
"We're tweaking right now," he said. "The big reason for the change is the better terrain data and the better calibration."
He said newer technology and recent storms -- like one on Aug. 27, 2008, when 4 inches of rain fell in two hours -- have given engineers a more precise understanding of where floodwaters might go.
Still, Billings cautioned that just because the lines are changing, that doesn't mean homeowners outside the floodplain shouldn't be prepared.
"You are at risk if you're close to a creek," he said. "We're trying to get away from saying if you're on one side of the line, you're OK, and if you're on the other side of the line, you're not."
The public can weigh in on the new maps at two upcoming meetings. The first is on Sept. 30 at the Hal Marshall Building in Charlotte from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The other is on Oct. 5 at the Hut Meeting Center in Pineville from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The draft plans are expected to be approved by November before being approved and implemented by FEMA in 2012. Billings said plans are already in the works to update other creek basins in eastern, western and northern Mecklenburg County starting next year and continuing through 2014.