Laguna Beach challenges FEMA floodplain map

Laguna Beach city officials are challenging a federal floodplain map that could require Canyon Acres property owners to buy flood insurance policies.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s map of the so-called 100-year floodplain is based on aerial photographs of areas that generate enough runoff to create a problem. City officials contend that the map relied on outdated information, and they have submitted a hydrology study to make their case.

“The map was done on an extremely broad-brushed level,” said city engineer Steve May, director of the Public Works Department.

FEMA’s new map increased the number of homes in Canyon Acres that are within its definition of a 100-year floodplain. Letters have been sent to 37 property owners, as required by the agency.

Owners of the properties are required to buy flood insurance and are subject to development restrictions, which could affect their neighbors’ properties, city officials said.

FEMA’s map does not take into consideration the city’s drain installation, which city officials contend changed the hydrology of the area in 2008.

“If the study is approved by FEMA, then all the homes in Canyon Acres could be removed from [its] mapped 100-year floodplain,” City Manager John Pietig said.

The council authorized the $26,000 engineering study of the area’s drainage in March.

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