MARTIN COUNTY STANDS TO LOSE MUCH BY IMPRUDENT FLOODPLAIN DEVELOPMENT

The proposed 120 ft high cell phone tower at Sailfish Marina would be located in a Class AE floodplain, and would be about 6 feet away from a large in-out boat storage building that contains about 200 boats in racks. The electronic equipment for the tower would be located within the boat building. The boat storage building was built so long ago that the County has no records of its construction, but it was damaged during Hurricanes Jeanne, Frances, and Wilma, and one wall was substantially re-built after Wilma.  We have informed local officials that the tower is a hazard to the boat building, where the boats are required to be stored with full fuel tanks.  There is no automatic fire suppression in the building. The applicant himself stated at the Local Planning Agency hearing of March 5, 2015 that if the tower should fail, it would only hit the boat shed.

Why does the County seem to be determined to go ahead with this imprudent floodplain development by giving the tower developer zoning and planning permission, and then a construction permit?

As we understand the Local Mitigation Strategy for Martin County, the County is supposed to mitigate hazards, and is especially encouraged to mitigate them by not creating new ones.  Isn't locating a cell tower next to a boat storage building without automatic fire suppression in a hurricane evacuation zone that is also a floodplain just creating a new hazard that will become a disaster during the next hurricane that strikes this area? And better yet, the tower is not designed for flood loads, an issue that will be discussed in future posts.

Responsible governments are charged with the application of mitigation principles at all stages of a project's review.  The FEMA Flood Protection program regulations (44 CFR 59.22(8) and 44 CFR 60.1 (c) ) say that communities are required to "recognize and duly evaluate flood, mudslide (i.e., mudflow) and/or flood-related erosion hazards in all official actions in the areas having special flood, mudslide (i.e., mudflow) and/or flood-related erosion hazards " and "must take into account flood, mudslide (i.e., mudflow) and flood-related erosion hazards, to the extent that they are known, in all official actions relating to land management and use".  

Martin County staff have taken the position that these issues do not need to be evaluated until the actual building permit for the project is processed, and that they do not have to be considered during the zoning and development approval process, where the Board of County Commissioners vote.  Martin County residents should be very concerned by this practice, considering the risk that this facility presents to the residential neighborhoods that surround the proposed tower, which would be about 25 feet from the waters of the Manatee Pocket.

One casualty of such imprudent floodplain development management could be the County's participation in National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Martin County's homeowners and prospective home buyers need to be able to buy flood insurance at reasonable rates. Martin County's standing in the NFIP could be jeopardized. The NFIP will be discussed in future posts.