by Evelyn Pyburn
BILLINGS — The draft of FEMA’s flood plain map for Yellowstone County is now available and will be available for public comment.
Two public hearings have been set to gather public input. One hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 14, on the third floor at the Parmly Billings Library. and the other will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 15, in Worden. The exact location is yet to be announced, according to Yellowstone County Director of Emergency Services, Jim Kraft.
Kraft said that affected property owners will be notified of the public meetings. There is a 90-day appeal process that begins when the public notices are published.
The new flood plain designations, which have been in development since 1997, include some areas along the Yellowstone River and other tributaries that never before were mapped.
While existing buildings in the flood plain are “grandfathered in,” any future buildings will have to seek permitting through the county and FEMA. Any buildings within the flood plain that are modified in the future will also comes under insurance requirements to which they were not previously subject.
Property owners who were once in the flood plain and are now out will be happy, said Kraft, and those who were out and are now in, won’t be happy.
