Agenda - Planning Commission - 07/12/2018

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NORFOLK'S RESILIENT POINT SYSTEM FOR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT Resilient Development Activity for Risk Reduction Points Earned smel Construct building to meet uo-mile wind -load design requirements of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code Elevate the ground -story finished floor and all significant electrical and mechanical equipment no less than three feet above highest adjacent grade Construct an impact -resistant (hail, tree damage) roof Install impact- (hurricane or wind) resistant windows Install operable storm shutters Establish operating procedures for how the project will handle loss of off -site or grid power, transition to a backup source of power, and transition back to normal operation A hallmark of the recent code revision is the "Resilience Quotient" concept, a point - based system that requires risk mitigation, sustainable energy, and stormwater man- agement measures for all new development (§5.12). Each new proposed development may elect to undergo evaluation for inclusion of these considerations during the site plan review process or to forego that portion of the review process and select from a menu of specific interventions. Each proposed devel- opment is required to have a certain number of points, ranging from four points for one - to five -unit developments, to io points for large multifamily development. With regard to flood risk mitigation, the menu options include elevating mechanical systems, on -site stormwater retention, and the instal- lation of permeable surfaces. Norfolk has also developed a series of zoning map overlays that serve to classify local flood risk citywide andprescribe spe- cific interventions for each overlay. • Coastal Resilience Overlays are applied to areas with the highest flood risk (§3.9.18). These areas require higher elevations of the first floor, limit parking and hard pave- ment, and require additional landscaping and open space. • Upland Resilience Overlays are applied to lower -risk areas that are more capable of accommodating growth (§3.9.19). New construction within an Upland Resilience Overlay is also permitted to reduce its own resilience requirements in exchange for placing conservation easements on higher -risk properties. • Neighborhood Resilience Overlays are also lower -risk areas, and are intended NEW YORK CITY New York City —fresh off a multiyear post - Hurricane Sandy planning effort —has taken an approach similar to Norfolk, though on a decidedly larger scale. Given the diverse local building stock and its unique vulner- ability to catastrophic coastal flooding and sea -level rise, the city's efforts are wide ranging and comprehensive from a zoning and land -use perspective. In "High and Dry on the Waterfront," Schwab described New York's initial post - Sandy flood zoning measures to ease the structural flood mitigations and ensure that these mitigations weren't disruptive to the existing urban fabric. These measures largely mirrored Mandeville's approach; that is, explicit zoning relief to permit elevation (or dry floodproofing) and design guidelines to screen and integrate newly elevated prop- erties into the streetscape. Soon after the publication of that article, the city engaged in a community -based, five -borough planning effort led by the Department of City Planning (DCP) to take these initial measures several steps further. The Resilient Neighborhoods Initiative, as it later came to be known, identified communi- ties in all five boroughs that had been hit particularly hard by Hurricane Sandy. They would be subject to FEMA's new Advisory 2.00 too plus o.5o per ft. above 3 ft. 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 for more typical cases. They allow for customized design standards that are appropriate to the local context (§3.9.16). Norfolk's multifaceted approach of utilizing the zoning code to not only encour- age but require flood -resilient development is likely a harbinger of things to come for coastal municipalities. Norfolk's model proves a way forward for medium-sized coastal cities looking to turn coastal adap- tation and resilience goals identified in a climate adaptation or comprehensive plan into zoning reality. y,,;ATte r Attached buildings in` coastal neighborhoods pose a series of retrofitting challenges, particularly in the context of mandatory flood insurance and revised flood insurance rate maps. ZONINGPRACTICE 6.18 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION I page,