Published: July 16, 2008 08:25 am         

County approves ordinance

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 — After hearing from three Stanly County residents with concerns and questions regarding the adoption of a new ordinance regarding properties within 100 feet of flood plains, the county commissioners approved the new ordinance.

Michael Sandy, Stanly County planning and zoning director, introduced the new ordinance and said the statewide ordinance was the result of a 10-year study in all 100 North Carolina counties following extensive flooding with Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Hurricane Dennis in 2000.

The process to prevent future flooding disasters began in 2006 and the flooding study was completed in 2007. The county had to be in compliance with the ordinance by Sept. 3, 2008 to be eligible for flood insurance that is backed by FEMA.

Sandy listed a number of goals of the ordinance, including:

• Providing private flood insurance that is backed by FEMA;

• Provide more accurate flood zones through the better mapping of the flooding studies;

• Restrict building within the flood plains;

• Allow selling or building of property within the flood plain as long as building restrictions are met; and

• Allow filling in of property to raise elevation to bring land within restriction to allow building.

Rex Furr of Oakboro had a question concerning harvesting timber from land within the flood plain and was told to continue farming his land as he had done in the past by Commission Chairman Tony Dennis.

Ruth Blair of Locust said she had dealt directly with FEMA and they wanted her to fill in her property by .3 of a foot after the new flood plain maps were drawn.

“I wasn’t in a flood plain before and don’t want to be in a flood plain,” she said.

Bill Hooks of Red Cross said after the new maps were drawn that half of his yard and half his property is now in the flood plain even though his house is 22 feet above the adjoining creek.

“My property has probably lost half its value,” Hooks said.

Both Blair and Hooks were advised to work through Sandy’s office to deal with FEMA on their concerns.

The commissioners made the point that without passage of the ordinance no one in Stanly County would be able to afford private flood insurance and that by passing, flood insurance backed by FEMA was available.

Both Dennis and Commissioner Sherrill Smith said they’d had first-hand experience with flooding in their businesses and suggested that all concerned citizens work through Sandy’s office to resolve their concerns.

Sandy said that more than 2,000 letters had been sent out to residents with property in flood zones and that his office had already had 70-80 calls.

The commissioners also heard from Gwen Hinson, director of transportation for Stanly County, concerning funding for the three programs under the SCUSA umbrella.

Approval was granted for receipt of $187,152 to fund the three programs — Elderly and Disabled Transportation Assistance, Work First Employment Assistance and Rural General Public.

The two assistance programs are both 100 percent state funded while the general public is 90 percent state funded with a 10 percent county match that comes from fares collected.

Hinson was also recognized for the county receiving the 2007 Safety Award from the NC Public Transportation Association.

Local drivers had more than 410,000 miles and 78,000 passenger trips without an accident.

Tom Ramseur, president and CEO of the Stanly County Chamber of Commerce, and Stephen Aldridge, chairman of the board, addressed the commissioners and shared of the Chamber’s recent growth in its 73-year history.

“We’re almost 600 members now and have grown by over a 100 members each of the last two years,” Aldridge said.

“We’re added 70 new members already this year and want to double that number to 140 by year’s end.”

Aldridge thanked the commissioners for $5,000 that helped with the creation of a West Stanly office for the Chamber.

Speaking to the county’s farmland preservation efforts were Terry Blalock, chairman of the Soil & Water Conservation District Board, and Lori Ivey, NC Cooperative Extension director.

A grant of $27,000 was received to fund the creation of a countywide plan to preserve farmlands, a task Blalock said would be “difficult within the Charlotte region.”

Ivey said that half of the acreage within Stanly County is farmland and that there is a $166 million impact to the local economy from agriculture.

Stanly County is one of the first five counties in the state to begin developing a plan and will use a plan developed in Alamance County as a guide.