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Show New flood mapping in rarK uty: a necessity or a hindrance ? . . ill Un HnillllntiniiC trlKHM f by Christopher Smart Concerns have been expressed ex-pressed , that new flood mapping of the Park City area planned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could slow development in the area. One local engineer, Eric DeHaan of Bush and Gud-gell, Gud-gell, a Salt Lake City engineering firm which acts as an engineering consultant for the city, said that while there are advantages to flood mapping they can also prevent development. DeHaan De-Haan conducted a master storm drain study for the Park City Municipal Corporation Corpora-tion in 1978. "A flood study can prevent a developer from making improvements because financial finan-cial and lending institutions may be afraid of flooding." According to David Boesch of the Park City Planning Department, existing flood maps of Park City are "out of date." Last spring, Boesch said, the Utah Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management, a state agency that acts as a coordinator for emergency rrunqgement for FEMA, designated Park City as a priority for new flood mapping. It is a federal policy, Boesch said, that flood maps be drawn in all communities for federal flood insurance purposes. That insurance is a necessity for mortgages with FHA and VA loans, he said. The information gained from precise flood mapping, Boesch added, can be incorporated incor-porated into city planning and zoning. Currently, he said, the Planning Department Depart-ment cannot supply builders with accurate and detailed information on flood zones. Not only are the existing flood maps not current but they don't include any of the areas south of Utah Highway 248, Boesch said. "I receive three or four calls a week asking if specific properties are in flood plains," Boesch said, u they ask about flood plains in the new areas we are not able to respond." , . The amount of detail m those maps is critical to development, according to DeHaan. Current flood maps of the area are so lacking in detail that they show some areas as being potential flood sites while in reality they are not, he said. An example of the current mapping, DeHaan said, is Deer Valley which is now designated as a flood hazard. "But if you go far enough up on the hillside or install a big enough culvert, then legitimately legiti-mately you shouldn't have a flood hazard." He added that current mapping shows flood zones on Masonic Hill and the west side of Daly Avenue, where flooding does not occur. DeHaan said that currently developers are forced to take projects on a "site-by-site" basis rather than pay attention atten-tion to the existing maps. With the amount of construction construc-tion in Park City since the last flood studies were made, areas prone to flooding have changed, he said. "Local engineers could more accurately tell a developer de-veloper what flood prevention preven-tion improvements have to be made in an area, DeHaan said. And while a poor flood study can work against development, DeHaan said me icguiauuiis wining jor (jg maps were created for good reason. They were implemented, imple-mented, he said, to keep developments from being built in areas where flooding was a legitimate hazard. "That is a helpful aspect and has stopped some doubtful projects," he said. Usually flood mapping studies are conducted by private firms, according to DeHaan. In this case, however, how-ever, the Army Corps of Engineers has contracted to do the work. The section of the corps responsible for flood studies is based in Sacramento, California. "We're not quite sure how well their product will relate to Park City," DeHaan said of the upcoming analysis. He added that he hopes the corps will conduct a detailed study "rather than paint with the broad stroke of the brush." John Sibilsky, who will head up the flood studies and subsequent mapping for the Army Corps of Engineers, said he is planning a very detailed study of the area. The flood studies will begin "as soon as the snow melts," he said. He added that most of the survey will be contracted out to local engineering firms. The Army Corps of Engineers Engi-neers has done studies of this sort in Utah before, Sibilsky said. |