Flood plain ordinance still a ways off in Linn County

A new flood plain ordinance in Cedar Falls is perking ears in Cedar Rapids, but it may be a while before similar rules are instituted here.

The Cedar Falls City Council passed the rules in December, and they are strict. Any home built or rebuilt in the flood plain must be elevated above the 500-year flood level. The old ordinance required elevation above the 100-year flood level.

The new ordinance also forbids property owners from bringing new dirt or fill material into the flood plain to elevate homes.

“We have a good ordinance, but we've just made it a lot stronger,” said Tom Hagarty, Cedar Falls City Council member. “The whole idea behind it is if we ever get the 1,000 year flood, or the 500-year flood again, the river will come out of its banks and flow through and then recede, and we can go back to a regular day.”

A flood plain ordinance in Cedar Rapids would never be as restrictive as the one in Cedar Falls, because the 500-year flood plain covers too much of the city.

“You're talking 15 square miles or more, more than 15 percent of our city,” said Craig Hanson, Cedar Rapids Public Works maintenance manager.

Hanson and Linn County Supervisor Linda Langston agree that any new ordinance would have to be metro-wide.

“If there's one jurisdiction that doesn't do it, then developers go there,” Langston said.

Discussions on a new flood plain ordinance in Cedar Rapids and Linn County are yet to begin, but Langston said when she takes over as chairwoman of the Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization in February, she will start working on it.