Chelan County to Host Discussion on Floodplain Development

Chelan County Community Development will soon be hosting a discussion at Lake Wenatchee.

The discussion is particularly relevant to flood-prone areas and their inhabitants, but anyone in the county can attend, says spokeswoman Jill FitzSimmons.

"We're inviting the entire county because floodplain issues - and development in the floodplain - is something we see across the county," FitzSimmons says.

Get our free mobile app

"The meeting is going to focus on building codes and how those apply to properties in floodways and floodplains. We're also going to talk about activities like clearing and grading - maybe installation of sheds as well."

"We'll be bringing Community Development staff as well as Chelan County Code Enforcement to answer questions. We'll also have floodplain consultants with us."

"This is an opportunity, we hope, to see what kinds of questions are on people's minds - and maybe get some of these myths out of the way. We really need to talk about what we can and can't do when it comes to building in a floodplain."

What are some of the more intransigent myths regarding property development in flood-prone areas?

"We are seeing some illegal buildings and structures built in floodplains across the county - those behaviors impact our overall flood insurance rating with FEMA. We want to stress to people that that impacts the homeowner - because you are going to be paying higher insurance premiums when FEMA comes in and conducts their reviews or surveys."

"It's Chelan County! We have a lot of canyons, a lot of waterways. These are issues that affect our county quite a bit."

The county is not, thankfully, seeing an increase in illegal building, but FitzSimmons says they've identified some property owners whose confusion urgently needs addressing.

The discussion is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. It will take place at the Lake Wenatchee Rec Club (14400 Chiwawa Loop Rd. in Leavenworth).