Bill Edge, A. David Schwarz, and Ed Wolff were among members of the Houston Association of Realtors who spoke out at Tuesday April 3rd City Council’s meeting about changes to Houston’s Chapter 19 Floodplain ordinance.
The Houston City Council was debating how you determine which homes should be allowed to be repaired after Hurricane Harvey and changes to new home construction in flood zones. A big problem is in defining flood risk for a home in Houston where according to the Harris County Flood Control District 204,267 structures flooded during Harvey. Of these structures 150,521 were outside the 100 year flood plain.
Real Estate Broker Bill Edge changes to the Chapter 19 maybe a government infringement on the most basic family need, stability in housing. Many home owners whose homes could be affected by the new ordinance do not want to move or do not have the money to raise their home. These people who have suffered through flooding could be prevented from repairing their homes.
He went on to explain that many owners do not want a buyout. They do not want to leave the home they have lived in for decades, the neighborhood where they grew up, and the place where most of their memories took place.
Allowing a homeowner to continue occupying their home in a floodplain should be their decision. These owners know when they want to buy insurance, the insurance company can charge a higher premium because of the higher risk. They may not even be able to purchase all of the insurance they need.
The realtors found issue with recovery czar Marvin Odum who told the Houston Chronicle. “We’re not going to negotiate on, OK they can flood a little bit.” The Realtors questioned what standards are used to determine if a home flooded. Is a homeowner going to be prevented from living in a two story home that received less than 4 inches of water. How many people in flooded homes never left their home? I know of some and I bet you do also. Are these good people to be thrown out of their homes.
How do you define substantial damage and improvement. Are we to call a home worthless merely because it is old and the land value has increased greatly over the years. Who really can determine the value of the home other than the homeowner. To them it is priceless. If they are willing to keep making the repairs and go through the problems of ownership, what right does the city have to tell them this is not allowed?
Beach front owners in Galveston were confronted with ownership problems after Hurricane Ike. Ike eroded the beach to where some of the homes were told to move their homes because they were past the vegetation line. Carol Severance, a homeowner who was told her home could no longer occupy her property sued the state. In 2010, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in her favor. George P Bush said recently I don’t believe the state should take land in the event of storms.
There needs to be some compromise which protects the homeowner and also helps solve the flooding problem. The mayor correctly believes we cannot ignore the flooding problem. Everyone is in agreement on this issue. We asked that any decisions be delayed until the economic and social benefits of all changes could be studied in detail.
Council member’s Greg Travis and Jack Christie proposed amendments to Chapter 19 which were more favorable to homeowners and builders. The realtors who spoke were firm in their belief the city should study the flood issues more before reaching a decision. That the economic and hardship issues facing Houstonians because of Harvey are going to continue to be felt for years to come.
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