The Blaine County Commissioners completed a lengthy rezoning project Tuesday morning, voting to remove previous floodplain zoning and create a Floodplain Overlay District.
"It's nice to get this done," Commissioner Tom Bowman said.
The amended code creates an overlay hazard area to be considered in addition to a lot's standard zone, which defines the density and type of development permitted to be constructed on that lot.
Commissioner Larry Schoen said the new Floodplain Overlay District is similar in nature to the Mountain Overlay District, which exists on many of the valley's steep slopes.
"Instead of a hazard from steep slopes or from avalanche, it's a hazard from flood," Schoen said.
Zoning specialist Nancy Cooley said a floodplain zone had been established in 1977, but hadn't been used since 1997.
The county voted to remove that zone and create the Floodplain Overlay District based on the most recent floodplain data, but Cooley said that made the land previously included in the district "zoneless."
"We really couldn't establish the floodplain as an overlay district until we established the new zones underneath," Cooley said.
The new zoning is based on adjacent land, and will not affect flood insurance rates, Cooley said.
Schoen said the county saw this as an opportunity for an update, making zoning in the former floodplain district more consistent.
"It's just better for the landowner," he said. "You don't have someone whose lot is half one density and half another."
These changes included some modification on BLM-managed land in the mid valley, as well as on parts of the lower Board Ranch in Warm Springs and the Flying Heart Ranch subdivision just north of Hailey.
Cooley said the 1977 Floodplain Zone had been virtually ignored over the past decade, and management of the floodplain is unlikely to change.
"It really had no meaning any more," she said. "It may seem like a bigger change to the public than it actually is."
The zoning change follows the adoption of 2010 floodplain maps in October and amendments approved last month.
Cooley said the overlay district would be updated if the Federal Emergency Management Agency amends the floodplain in the future.
Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com
