Property owners who have been zoned into a floodway are protesting a city ordinance that severely limits what they can do with their property. The new floodplain / floodway maps produced by the Harris County Flood Control District and FEMA became effective this June. To some homeowners' surprise, they found themselves in a floodplain or floodway even though they had never flooded. But for those who ended up in the floodway, a bigger surprise awaited them. Many began to realize the implications of the revisions to Chapter 19 of the Houston Building Floodway Code that the City Council passed last year. The revisions prohibit all new construction and substantial improvements and repairs to existing homes and businesses in a floodway. The substantial repairs and improvements, which can be cumulative over a 10 year period, are those that exceed 50% of the value of the structure. If a home or business in the floodway has a disaster such as fire, tornado or flood that causes substantial damage, the structure cannot be repaired. The owner will have to take whatever insurance money is available and abandon the home or business if it is uninhabitable. Also, an owner of vacant property in a floodway cannot build on it or sell it for development.

To fight what they call an attack on their property rights and the dramatic loss of property values, residents in the floodway have joined forces to change the restrictions in the ordinance. They have formed the Floodway Coalition of Houston, and established a website houstonfloodway.org. The Coalition says the "City of Houston with excessive restrictions of property rights is using floodway property owner land for storm water conveyance and storm water storage without compensation." They believe "plunging property values will allow the city to acquire floodway property at bargain basement prices."

The City says it revised Chapter 19 to "improve long term protection of the storage and conveyance capacity of the existing floodplain and to limit the duration of permits to build in the floodplain." Private construction in the floodway has been prohibited by Chapter 19 since 1985 except if the property owner complied with specific conditions, such as elevating the structure above the base flood elevation. In October of 2006, the City Council voted to eliminate this exception. So, unless the construction was for roads, bridges and public safety reasons, there could be no building in a floodway. The City says it will still issue permits for repairs and improvements as long as they do not exceed 50% of the value of the structure or expand the structure.

Currently, there are 7,484 homes listed by the Tropical Storm Allison Recovery Project (TSARP) as floodway homes in 12 watersheds. These watersheds are spread throughout the city with White Oak, Brays, and Sims having the most homes in the floodway. The Floodway Coalition has made efforts to contact property owners near these bayous to inform them of the changes to the floodway ordinance. A town hall meeting was organized with Councilman Adrian Garcia in May, but according to the Coalition, members who attended did not get satisfactory answers to their questions about the ordinance. In June floodway residents attended a meeting of the Flooding and Drainage Issues Committee chaired by Council Member Ada Edwards. Residents were told at this meeting that the City would not conduct a buyout of property in the floodway. Council Member Edwards also said that even though FEMA does not have a "no build" floodway policy the City can impose building restrictions in the floodway beyond the minimum required by FEMA. Next the group met with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who encouraged them to organize a city wide meeting to express their concerns to the Mayor and City Council. Such a meeting is planned soon, according to the Coalition.

Some of the floodway property owners feel that it is unfair for them to bear the full financial burden for improving Houston's floodplain capacity. Residents in Shady Acres on West 21st St. have been placed in the floodway, although they are located a street away from White Oak Bayou. Nancy Wilcox has lived in her home in Shady Acres for 22 years. She is situated on a double lot and felt such property in this rapidly developing neighborhood would give her some financial security for retirement. "Understand that my home, as well as the large percentage of the homes in my section of the floodway, did not flood prior to Allison, and did not flood during Allison," she says. "I am therefore not eligible for a federal buyout. I do have flood insurance. But these Chapter 19 restrictions have converted my real estate investment into a complete loss." She says that if people in the floodway cannot invest in their homes and businesses, Houston's bayou areas will become slums with abandoned and deteriorating structures.

Ms. Wilcox feels that there are many victims of the Chapter 19 ordinance who are unaware of its restrictions because the City failed to adequately inform the public. "And not only that," she says, "Harris County did not study all the streams for floodway determination. They seem to have arbitrarily chosen to study some bayous and not others." Ms. Wilcox says that she is living in a 100 year old cottage and if a tree in her yard falls on it, she will have substantial damage and will not be able to repair it. "I will have to take whatever insurance money I can get, and either live in a damaged home or abandon it." As to the loss of property values she adds, "there are a number of elderly in this neighborhood who will not be able to depend on selling their estate to help them afford future nursing care. What an ugly effort on the part of our city." Ms. Wilcox believes that the city wants property along the bayous for retention ponds inside the loop so that high density development can continue and produce more tax revenue.

Jay Green is another Shady Acres resident whose home is in the floodway. Over a year ago he built a two story New Orleans style home making sure all building codes were met. "I got all the right permits and the house was built to meet all requirements for the floodplain. No one ever mentioned to me that I would be in a floodway. If I had known, of course, I would not have built here. If I have a substantial fire, I won't be allowed to repair. Even with insurance I could end up owing on a house I can't repair and can't live in. This restriction has significantly reduced the value of my house."

A few houses down from the Green residence there is a vacant lot for sale owned by Bruce Norcini. This lot is in the floodway and cannot be developed. Mr. Norcini says he had the lot appraised before its floodway designation was known. Then later after he learned of the city floodway restrictions he had the same appraiser return to give him a floodway appraisal. He says the value of the lot dropped 93% because of the restrictions.

Unlike the Shady Acres homes that are some distance from the bayou, Dave Brooks' house in Timbergrove sits alongside White Oak Bayou near West 11th Street. His home, along with others on his street, have been placed in the floodway. Mr. Brooks also says his home has never been flooded, even during Allison. "This side of the bayou is above the flood elevation," he explains, "and the water overflowed on the opposite side." He says he has written letters to the City and contacted the Flood Control District to object to the floodway restrictions placed on his home. Having an older ranch style home, Mr. Brooks fears that the restrictions on substantial repairs will reduce the value of his home dramatically. He adds, "I think they just want to wipe us out along here."

Although the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) is not responsible for the city ordinance Chapter 19 revisions, it did play a role in developing the floodplain and floodway maps. According to Harris County spokesperson Heather Saucier, "FEMA requires floodway designations on all floodplain maps. This has been the case for decades. FEMA has a specific process by which it requires floodways to be defined and drawn on maps." When ask if it was true that HCFCD had not studied all the streams for floodway designation, Ms. Saucier said, "There are more than 2,500 miles of streams and channels in Harris County (roughly the distance from Los Angeles to New York). On the old floodplain maps, approximately 1,200 miles were studied. For the new (and now effective maps), 100 more miles were studied, bringing the total miles studied to approximately 1,300. Studying channels to assess the locations of floodplains and floodways is a lengthy and costly process. As a result, the District has opted to study the primary flooding sources in the county. It costs roughly $23,000 to study 1 mile of stream."

The Floodway Coalition has listed 22 recommendations and concerns regarding the floodway revisions. Their goals, they say, are to protect property rights, create reasonable building codes in the floodway, and protect the floodplain. They are trying to get information to the public about what the revisions mean to those in the floodway, and to those who may be put in the floodway in the future as more bayou and streams are studied.