An appeal by Franklin is changing the federal flood maps that determine how many property owners could have to buy flood insurance or where developers will face restrictions when building something new.
But exactly what is changing won’t be known for several months.
Last year, the city sent letters to more than 600 property owners about changes to the federal flood maps that would add their properties into the floodway or the 100-year flood area around Canary Ditch, which had not previously been included on the flood maps.
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The city appealed the changes, and argued that the flood elevation levels set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be lowered based on a study done by an engineering firm the city hired. That study showed that the levels water would reach in a flood were lower than the levels that FEMA estimated, Franklin senior planner Joanna Myers said.
And if those levels are lowered, that could mean that fewer property owners would need to buy flood insurance, which is required if they are included in the maps and deemed at risk for flooding, she said.
Now, the city is waiting to hear back on its appeal, she said.
Appealing the changes is a typical part of the process when new federal maps are created, FEMA Mitigation Division Outreach Specialist Laurie Smith-Kuypers said.
In some cases, FEMA will respond that no changes will be made, but in this case, with the engineering studies the city has done, changes are being made to the maps now, she said.
The federal maps are used by local governments when approving new development, by real estate agents when selling homes and by lenders, since homeowners with a mortgage are required to get flood insurance if their home is included in the floodplain or floodway, she said.
The process to approve those maps is lengthy, including time for communities and the public to respond, which Franklin did last year, and 90 days to appeal. In this case, the appeal is being used to revise the flood maps, and that process is expected to take about nine months, she said. From there, the community will get another appeal period, and finalizing and adopting the maps would take another six months, she said.
That means any changes that would impact property owners, such as if they will be required to buy flood insurance, is likely more than a year away.
Franklin is not the first local community to appeal new flood maps. In 2007, Greenwood appealed changes to its flood maps, which resulted in about half of 200 homes not being included in the floodplain. The new updates to Franklin’s flood maps also included changes for both the county and Greenwood, but the changes were less significant.
In Franklin, the Canary Ditch runs across a significant stretch of the north side of the city, crossing U.S. 31 and stretching into Franklin Business Park. That waterway stretches from just south of Earlywood Drive, goes under U.S. 31 north of Northwood Plaza and connects to Youngs Creek near State Road 144. The new areas in the floodplain include homes along Schoolhouse Road, Crescent Street, Churchill Road, Roberts Road, Washington Street, Parkview Court and Fourteenth Street, according to the preliminary flood maps.
For homeowners, that means potentially having to buy flood insurance that could cost thousands per year, and that has been a significant concern for residents.
If the floodplain area changes, that could mean that some properties are no longer included, Myers said.
And if it doesn’t change but the flood elevations do, that could mean that a property may be included in the floodplain or 100-year flood area, but the structure built on it — such as a house — would not be included, she said. That would impact whether residents need flood insurance.
Property owners can also appeal the decision individually. Myers did not know if any residents had taken that option, she said.
