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Item E1 E1 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COUNTY of MONROE �� i Mayor Holly Merrill Raschein,District 5 The Florida Keys Mayor Pro Tern James K.Scholl,District 3 Craig Cates,District 1 Michelle Lincoln,District 2 ' David Rice,District 4 Board of County Commissioners Meeting August 21, 2024 Agenda Item Number: E1 2023-2704 BULK ITEM: No DEPARTMENT: Administration TIME APPROXIMATE: STAFF CONTACT: AGENDA ITEM WORDING: Director of Building and Permitting Rick Griffin - Department update. ITEM BACKGROUND: PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION: INSURANCE REQUIRED: No CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES: STAFF RECOMMENDATION: DOCUMENTATION: FINANCIAL IMPACT: 1129 County of Monroe The Florida Keys August 21,2024 Action Recommended: BOCC approval to seek changes to or elimination of the FEMA elements of the FEMA remedial plan for the County. Changes Recommended: 1. Eliminate the requirement for inspection on transfer 2. Change the 299 square foot (SF) downstairs enclosure limitation to allow the entire area under the structure to be used. 3. Change the date used for pre-FIRM determination to be after December 31, 2014 Basis for the Recommendation: 1. The recommended changes will not reduce the NFIP discounts for flood insurance policies in the County 2. The County has already initiated policies that accomplish the objectives that the remedial plan was intended to address. 3. The pre-FIRM date recommended was used for years and was only changed because it was pisted in the model ordinance and was not reviewed when adopting the model ordinance. 4. The most recent progress report on FEMA NVT projects the County clearing 80%of the NVT list. Background: Two main elements of the remedial plan are inspection on transfer and limiting the size of downstairs enclosures to 299 square feet (SF). Inspection on transfer is a significant demand on resources and no longer accomplishes the intent of the requirement. Since the imposition of this requirement, the County has instituted mandatory inspections as part of virtually every building permit and, thus, an additional inspection at property transfer simply adds bureaucracy to the process and requires precious manpower. Limiting the size of downstairs enclosures to 299 SF prevents the owner's use of the space for protected parking or secure storages. The County now requires a non-conversion agreement for enclosures thus providing a legal basis for citing violations. If recorded with the title this also obviates the need for inspection on transfer. After review of the current remedial plan, staff recommends that BOCC authorize staff to request the following changes in the plan. None of them, will negatively affect our CRS Class 3 rating for NFIP discounts.