SUS
Vol. 78 No. 52, December 27, 1978
UEHANT
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MOUNT JOY.
MOUNT
1.1.
SUSQUEHANNA TIMES & THE MOUNT Ji ct
MARIETTA AND MOUNT JOY, PA
"NEW FLOOD LAW
SLAMS MARIETTA
Federal rules ban restoration, new construction in flood areas;
, PH
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M aNY DIR
PA.
204.0
17552
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cn SETTER
FIFTEEN CENTS
If house is badly damaged by fire or other cause, it must be torn down
HISTORIC DISTRICT WILL BE SPARED, U.S. OFFICIAL SAYS
(Map of federal “100 year flood area’ on back page)
Marietta Council will
soon be wrestling with a
set of federal regulations
that recently came into
effect here—regulations
that might eventually cause
the destruction of a third of
Marietta.
Under federal law, most
of Front Street and Hazel
Avenue (the alley running
between Market and Front)
could be bulldozed after
another bad flood like
Agnes—houses damaged
fire or other means would
also be torn down. Any
new construction along
Front or Hazel is illegal
without ‘‘floodproofing,”’ a
technique which is now
‘vaguely defined, but which
sounds very expensive.
There appears to be
another, more immediate
danger in the new reg-
ulations. Their enforcement
could, in some cases, make
the improvement of
existing buildings illegal,
causing large sections of
Marietta to deteriorate into
slums.
The threat comes from
the National Flood Insur-
ance Program administered -
by the Federal Insurance .
Administration, a branch of
HUD. The National Flood
Insurance Act, passed in
1968, is aimed at dis-
couraging homes or almost
any other structures in
federally-designated. flood- .
plains. The law has been in
effect since 1971, but, since
there are so many coasts,
rivers, streams and
potential mudslides in the
United States, it has taken
until now for HUD to get
around to Marietta.
Areas of Mount Joy and
the township may also be
high on HUD’s list.
Nobody is certain, at this
point, just how destructive
the impact of the federal
edict will be. Optimists at a
recent meeting of the
Restoration Associates
hoped that the worst effect
would be ‘“‘psychological’’;
that a slowdown in restora-
tion activity and property
value growth would be the
worst consequence of the
new rules.
Local officials who know
more about the regulations
seem more upset. ‘‘The
purpose of these rules
seems to be to doom
Marietta,’ said one coun-
cilman.
The extreme complexity
of the new rules make their
impact difficult to judge.
One thing is certain; they
contain no good news for
Marietta.
HISTORIC DISTRICT TO
BE SPARED
The only flood-prone
area of Marietta which will
not be hurt by the new
regulations is the recently-
formed National Historic
District. In a telephone
interview with the Susque-
hanna Times, Mr. Mac
Plaxico, special assistant to
the federal insurance ad-
ministrator, said that
buildings listed in either a
state or national listing of
historic places are not
subject to the new rules.
Individual buildings, out-
side the historic district,
will also be spared, if they
are included in such an
inventory.
The regulations cover all
houses located on a feder-
ally-designated ‘‘100 year
floodplain’’ area. Govern-
ment surveyors recently
completed the map, and
sent it to the borough on
Nov. 30. The borough has
ninety days from that date
to challenge the federal
conclusions. The map,
which includes just about
everything south of Market
Street in the ‘100 year
flood plain’’ is reproduced
on the back page.
WHEN BUILDINGS MUST
BE TORN DOWN
Basically, the new regu-
lations make it illegal to
‘‘substantially’’ repair or
improve any building in the
federal ‘‘100 year flood-
plain.”’ ‘‘Substantial’’ work
means any construction
costing more than SO per
cent of the market value of
the property either 1.)
before the repairs begin, or
2.) before the building was
damaged by flood, or any
other cause.
Exceptions can be made
only if the building is made
“substantially impenetrable
to water.” New construc-
tion is also outlawed,
unless it is floodproof.
All this means that the
restoration of old houses is
theoretically illegal, if the
restoration effort costs
more than '2 the original
market value of the house.
It also means that, if a
house is damaged by flood
(or fire, or anything else),
it will be bulldozed unless
it can be repaired for less
than half its pre-disaster
value.
The enforcement of the
new regulations will be in
the hands of borough
council, which will be
forced to pass new zoning
ordinances in line with
federal guidelines. Refusal
to pass such an ordinance
would result in a loss of
federal flood insurance for
a, o
The house on the left is safe: it’s in the Historic District. The others, to the right of
the telephone pole, could be torn down after a flood.
the borough. Without the
insurance, banks could not
grant mortgages in the
area, and homeowners
would have no financial
protection from floods.
COUNCIL WILL LEARN
MORE JAN. 9
Marietta’s solicitor,
Richard Umbenhauer, is
studying the federal guide-
lines and will report on his
findings at the next
meeting of borough coun-
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