PETERSBURG – At its Oct. 13 meeting, Upper Township Committee introduced an amendment to its flood plain ordinance, which will allow the municipality’s flood plain manager, Engineer Paul Dietrich, to inspect properties lying within flood plain areas.
“This new provision will focus on making sure that properties lying within Upper’s flood plain areas have not converted space for which they did not have a permit into habitable space. We will be following FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) guidelines and, as a result, with this measure, will be acquiring points to attain Class IV status, which results in a 5% reduction in flood plain insurance for our residents,” explained Dietrich.
“There will be a cost of $100 for each inspection, and we’ll be getting the word out to realtors, so they can add this expense to closing costs,” he continued.
Solicitor Daniel Young added, “In reality, properties in question will have been built after 1999 because there were no relevant applicable provisions prior to that time. However, we will adopt a presumption of validity of compliance for older homes, so that all can be covered.”
