A Louisville Metro Council committee has unanimously approved a measure that will allow people to get more information about how flood prone their property is, among other things.
Several months ago, council members adjusted city flood laws to help residents whose homes were flooding so often they were prohibited by city ordinance from making repairs.
On Tuesday, the council’s public works committee backed creating a way to let homeowners know how close they are reaching that point.
“It will serve everybody because it provides a great deal of information,” said Councilwoman Angela Leet, who is part of the city’s flood mitigation workgroup and is sponsoring the measure.
If approved by the full council, the measure will allow homeowners to request flood information from the Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District. It's unclear when the council will take up the measure.
Homeowners will be able to ask MSD for a “flood determination letter,” which will include information such as whether the property is within a FEMA or local flood plain and the number of flood-related repairs undertaken.
The goal is to eventually make this kind of information easily accessible to all homeowners, and also prospective homeowners.
“One of the recommendations is also to work towards adding it to the PVA, as well as adding the deed restrictions,” said Leet, a Republican from District 7. “So, there is some supplemental work. Not all the work is done.”
A workgroup appointed earlier this year by Mayor Greg Fischer, and chaired by MSD Executive Director Greg Heitzman, recommended providing homeowners with more information about flooding on their properties.
Council members have been tweaking the city’s flood laws in an effort to keep up with the rising number of homes that are frequently damaged by flooding in Louisville. Leet’s measure was borne out of a flood mitigation citywide workgroup currently working to come up with long- and short-term plans to deal with the rising numbers of substantially damaged homes in Louisville due to flooding.
(Featured image: Justin Brock in the flood-damaged first floor of his house near River Road earlier this year. Credit: Ashley Lopez/WFPL News)