News

Planning Board again swats down effort to ease floodplain construction rules

Mills River Fire Chief Rick Livingston issued an invitation to anyone who doubted the severity of floods in Henderson County: ‘The next flooding event that we have, go to your nearest fire department and run some calls with us.’

By Bill Moss, Published: September 27, 2023

A landowner who wants Henderson County to relax regulations that prevent development in floodplains failed to win endorsement of the idea from the Henderson County Planning Board, which voted 5-2 last week to recommend denial of a zoning text amendment.

“Why are we sitting here discussing the possibility of exacerbating what is already a very serious problem in Henderson County?” asked board member Rick Livingston, who is chief of Mills River Fire & Rescue. “If we approve this tonight, I want this board to just be aware that what we’re doing is opening the floodgates for further fill in our floodplain and our floodways.”
The vote opposing the rules relaxation came after a hydrology engineer and a representative of the landowner appealed to the board to support for the change.
Andrew Bick, principal engineer of Asheville-based Headwaters Engineering, told the board that Henderson County’s floodplain regulations were more restrictive than other counties in Western North Carolina and more restrictive than towns that adhere to a state model ordinance, including Laurel Park, Flat Rock and Fletcher.
Currently, the county land development code bars construction of any kind in a floodway. The state model ordinance allows for fill if the landowner obtains an engineer’s certification that the encroachment would not “result in any increase in the flood levels” during a “base flood discharge.”
The proposed zoning text amendment would adopt the same wording and also subject the fill application to Planning Board review and a vote to approve or deny by the Board of Commissioners.
“All this would come back to you for special fill permit,” Susan Frady, who was speaking on behalf of an unidentified landowner seeking the change. “You would know what type of property we’re looking at. You could turn it down or add conditions. You would get to know that it’s not farmland. You would get to know everything about the project.”
Jim Miller, a grading contractor, expressed misgivings about the change but was one of two members to cast a vote in favor of a positive recommendation to the Board of Commissioners.

It was at least the second time a proposed amendment has come up before the Planning Board to ease the restrictions on floodplain construction, and Livingston said he’s puzzled as to why.
“We talk about it a couple of times a year,” he said after the meeting. “I don’t understand it.”

‘We’re talking about human lives’

As fire chief of a district that includes miles of the French Broad and Mills rivers, Livingston noted that he has plenty of experience with floods. As a swift water rescue technician, “I have to drag you out of the floodwaters if you get stranded so I know a little bit about it,” he said. “Don’t take what I’m telling you for the gospel. The next flooding event that we have, go to your nearest fire department or to the Henderson County Rescue Squad and run some calls with us and you will see that what I’m telling you is very, very true.”
He said regulations based on 100-year and 500-year floods, which represent 1 percent and .2 percent (1 in 500) chances of flooding, have been shown to be outdated.
“Reference is made to the 100-year flood and the 500-year flood,” he said. “That’s absolutely B.S. Instead of 100 we’re talking 20, and instead of 500 we’re talking more like 50, and I’m telling you that from experience.”
Then he brought up a typical flood scenario, and posed a question to Bick, the hydrological engineer.
“When you take water that’s spread out over a quarter of a mile area wide — such as would be very common along the French Broad River — when you take all that water and you compress it into a narrower floodway, sir, would you agree that the velocity of that water is much greater when we push that water into a narrow channel?”
“In some cases, yeah,” Bick responded.
“From an emergency services standpoint,” the chief added, “we’re talking about human lives.”
It was unclear whether the proposed text amendment would be sent across Main Street to the county commissioners with an unfavorable recommendation or whether — as happened the last time the Planning Board batted the idea down — the proposal is quietly dropped.
Besides the emergency management factor, Livingston also raised the issue of loss of farmland.
“In the comprehensive plan, we listened to hundreds and hundreds of people over the course of many months,” he said. “One of the biggest things that we heard is (comments in support of) preserving and conserving farmland, agricultural production land. If you know anything about Henderson County, you know that aside from orchards and small fruits, the largest majority of our farmland is in the floodplain areas along our rivers and streams. So when you go in and you fill these floodplain or floodway areas, it’s no longer ag. It’s taken out of farming, it’s taken out of agricultural production forever. So from a comp plan standpoint, let’s not talk out of both sides of our mouth.”