(21:30) SANTA CRUZ COUNTY – Because FEMA has not ‘given value to existing sea walls’, there are said to be inaccuracies in the Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps for portions of Santa Cruz County. The deadline to appeal the maps is this week. FEMA began the flood map update back in 2011. It appears that a number of coastal bluff homeowners will be required to raise their residences 5 or more feet above the existing grade, even though their homes are in areas that have no history of significant flooding…..and many homeowners who own the toe of the bluff (as well as the top where their homes are built) may be required to pay flood insurance for development at the toe, even though that area is not developable (based on county codes).
