City of Houston Chapter 19 (Floodplain Ordinance)

Here’s an overview of what I think you need to know:

• While only about a third of Houston properties are directly affected by Chapter 19 revisions, this will lead to a wholesale shift in real estate, and even more properties will be affected when we have new flood risk maps that will "grow" the floodplain.
• Not only are more properties subject to floodplain development rules, the rules are more cautious. This will affect the look, feel, and cost of housing.
• With increased regulation comes the need for increased transparency. The City of Houston has tools available for you to understand 100- and 500-year flood levels so that you can make an informed decision about any property you wish to sell, buy, or alter.
• There is a mechanism to appeal for less stringent building requirements within the floodplain based on historical flooding data and other factors.
• This is really just the first transformational set of changes that City Council has adopted to address the ongoing reality of Houston flooding.

Perhaps we aren't as galvanized around transformational change now as we were last summer, but we owe it to our experiences back then to at least understand the bold action taken by our City officials.

Drew