2010-252A (17) - Laserfiche WebLink

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HAZARD MITIGATION According to state law, local governments are required to prepare Local Mitigation Strategies (LMS) to identify actions that permanently reduce or eliminate the long term risk to people and property from the different types of hazards faced by Florida residents. In 1999, the county adopted its first LMS. That document was subsequently updated in 2005. Since adoption of the LMS, the county has undertaken the actions identified within the strategy. Those actions include acquiring and preserving environmentally sensitive land in flood and storm surge prone areas, regulating the removal of vegetation in flood and surge prone areas, and construction of a new county Emergency Operations Center. Overall, the county has focused on identifying natural hazards and addressing those hazards. In fact, a report produced by the Florida Department of Community Affairs titled Integrating Hazard Mitigation into Comprehensive Planning that was published in 2006 stated that "[t]he county has done a great job of integrating hazard mitigation into their comprehensive plan and Local Mitigation Strategy. Therefore, a main recommendation to the county is to ensure the enforcement of the comprehensive plan and LMS." The county's policy should be to continue to update the LMS periodically as necessary. COASTAL HIGH HAZARD AREA (CHHA) As implied by its title, the Coastal High Hazard Area (CHHA) is an area of increased risk to life and property due to hurricanes and/or severe storms. For that reason, certain land uses may not be appropriate within the CHHA. In 2006, the state legislature modified the definition of the Coastal High Hazard Area (CHHA). Prior to that change, the CHHA encompassed all evacuation areas for a category 1 hurricane. As a result of the 2006 legislation, the CHHA is now defined as the area below the storm surge line of a category 1 hurricane as established by a Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) computer model. That storm surge line is depicted in the county's Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS). Overall, unincorporated land within the CHHA is low density in character. In fact, there are several large tracts of land within the CHHA that consist of environmentally sensitive estuarine wetlands. In the unincorporated area, those lands, located along both sides of the Indian River Lagoon, are designated C-2 on the future land use map. C-2 designated lands may be developed at 1 unit/40 acres or used for a density transfer of 1 unit/acre to an upland site. Most of the rest of the unincorporated land within the CHHA consists of residential land with development potential and permitted densities ranging from 3 to 10 units/acre. A substantial portion of that land is currently developed. Much of that development took place at a time when the CHHA was more narrowly defined as land on the barrier island, east of the Coastal Future Land Use Element 119