Lone Star Club-CS 940516 MEI~{ORANDUM (~
To: Jim Witt, City Manager
From: Kenneth M. Griffin, P.E., Assistant City Manager/City Engineer ~
RE: Lone Star Country Club/Building Permits for Storage Building
Date: May 16, 1994
On May 5, 1994, I spoke with Mr. Robinson about the construction of a storage building on his
property. Since that time, I have been attempting to contact FEMA to ascertain their position
on the rebuilding of facilities on his property that are basically located within a floodplain and
a floodway according to our April, 1994 floodplain maps. I attempted to contact our
representative, David Passey with FEMA on the morning of May 6, 1994. Because Mr. Passey
was unavailable, I spoke with Mr. Jack Quarles. I briefed Mr. Quarles on the situation involving
both the removal of the buildings, the temporary restraining order, the floodplain, etc. Mr.
Quarles stated that there might be some leadway granted because of the temporary restraining
order but it was basically out of his field and I would need to speak with Mr. Passey. I asked
Mr. Quarles to have Mr. Passey call me. On the morning of Tuesday, May 10th, after not
having heard from Mr. Passey on May 9th, I contacted FEMA again, only to discover that Mr.
Passey was on assignment out of the office all week. I inquired if anyone else could help and
was informed that Mr. Passey was our representative and that I would need to speak with him.
The information I was seeking from FEMA was: 1) Can the buildings be rebuilt without benefit
of a study? 2) If they are rebuilt, what requirements will be attached to them? 3) Can they be
built on the ground as they were before they were removed or will they have to be elevated and
comply with all floodplain ordinances?
I also wanted to look at Mr. Robinson's aerial to try to determine how many buildings were
originally on the site and how many were removed and the location of the buildings that were
removed. I am attaching a copy of the aerial that Mr. Robinson faxed to me. Because the aerial
is so blurry it is impossible to determine what is or isn't on the site or basically where the site
is located. My intent was to have Mr. Robinson bring by the original once I had information
from FEMA on how to approach this problem.
I again attempted to contact Mr. Passey on May 16th, only to discover that he was still out on
assignment and would not be back into the office until Wednesday. I then informed the
secretary that I left not only my work number but my home telephone number last week in hopes
that Mr. Passey would contact me. I again left my number and told her that if at all possible
contact Mr. Passey and tell him it was important that he contact me so I could respond on this
issue. Within thirty minutes of the May 16th call, Mr. Jim LeGrotte, Division Director for
Mitigation, contacted me and informed me that Mr. Passey was still on assignment. Mr.
LeGrotte stated that he quite possibly could help me. Once I laid the problem out, the following
was information received from FEMA and conveyed to me as FEMA's position on this issue:
1. If Mr. Robinson is building back the same footprint, i.,e., the building is the same
size and in the same location as when removed, then he could rebuild the structure
without the benefit of a flood study. However, the building would have to be
elevated above the floodplain. When I inquired about placing fill in the floodway
to elevate a structure, Mr. LeGrotte stated that it would have to be elevated with
stilts, not with fill, because fill is not allowed in the floodway.
2. I then asked Mr. LeGrotte about the position FEMA would take if Mr. Robinson
calculated the total area of buildings removed and built back just one building that
would be a composite square footage of the other buildings. Mr. LeGrotte said that
if Mr. Robinson changes the footprint at all i.e., repositions the buildings on the site
or changes the sizes of the buildings then he would have to go through an
engineering study to insure that the location of the buildings and the sizing of the
buildings will not affect the water surface elevation. Mr. LeGrotte stated that
changing the buildings either in location or size affects the cross section model
information and a study would have to be submitted.
This brings us to the current problem that Mr. Robinson is stating he has in regards to building
his storage building it appears as though a permit was issued for a facility that was 320 square
foot in size to replace a building that was removed in the general location of approximately 320
square foot. Based on an inspection of the construction by Building Inspections, it was noted
that the building was being construction larger than 320 square foot. Mr. Robinson subsequently
submitted an additional permit request for the building to be constructed to 540 square foot. Mr.
LeGrotte has stated that FEMA policy states that regardless of whether or not there was a
temporary restraining order, once a facility is removed it becomes new construction to replace
it and therefore it has to follow floodplain requirements. If Mr. Robinson has a problem with
the fact that it was removed under a temporary restraining order, Mr. Legrotte has stated that
he quite possibly could sue the individual who removed it and include in the law suit any
additional cost associated with elevating the structure.
The Engineering and FEMA position on this is as follows:
1. If the 320 square foot building is the size that was removed and is being placed
in the same location, it can be constructed without a study so long as it is
elevated two foot above the floodplain elevation. The elevation should be
accomplished via placement on stilts not on fill. c,:,~ . ..:~;: -~.-~.
!.....~ ~-'~
2. If Mr. Robinson wants to use a composite square foot. alle .,of all the buildings
removed and build a larger building i.e., 540 square foo~{'-.~.~.~ ~"~ly would it have
to be elevated via stilts, but a study would also have to be p~'~ ~e~r~ed'r0~tr0w'the ..........
effects on the water surface r, ,--,.. ~ ~ ../P~ /hrl -.[ .~_ ]i,~.]
I hope this has addressed Mr. Robinson's concerns. There was not au attempt to mislead Mr.
Robinson on my contacts with FEMA, however, I did have a very di ,~.~!'~'~time getti~EMA
to respond. If you should have any questions or need any additional inf6rmation pl~h-~6~IY'ree .... -.- -'
to contact me. '-..; ~ ~ ~-~
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