City staff outlines rebuilding process at CIBO meeting

As recovery efforts continue in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, several City of Asheville staff members and elected officials attended the Jan. 17 meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners (CIBO) to explain the rebuilding process.

A critical component is whether buildings are deemed substantially damaged, meaning repair costs within a one-year look back period exceed 50% of the property’s market value, said Ben Woody, assistant city manager, during the presentation.

“If the damage does not exceed 50%, you can rebuild back the way you were,” Woody told about 100 business owners gathered in the Sherrill Center at UNC Asheville. But if damage exceeds that amount, building owners have to adhere to current — and often tougher — standards.

To help property owners navigate post-storm recovery, the city has launched a Floodplain Assistance Support Team (FAST) dedicated to addressing all things building code.

Ultimately, CIBO members gathered to hear about proposed changes to the city’s building codes or Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). Woody assured the audience the changes are primarily technical to keep the city in good standing with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Key requirements for buildings with substantial damage will remain unchanged from language established in 2009.

The UDO’s flood ordinance will maintain its current 2-foot freeboard requirement, which mandates that buildings’ lowest floors are 2 feet above base flood elevation — the height anticipated during a flood, as determined by flood maps created by the NFIP and managed by the Federal Emergency Management  Agency (FEMA).

“In 2009, the City of Asheville adopted new flood maps. We’ll do that again in a couple of years, and then the new flood maps in a couple of years will likely include the modeling from Hurricane Helene — that’s in the future,” Woody said.

Woody also addressed confusion surrounding the city’s look-back period, which is used to determine the amount of damage.

The look-back period, which starts when repairs do, was changed from five years to one in 2009, but that change was missed in a few spots, causing confusion. The current changes will clean that up, Woody said.

But just like the flood maps, the look-back period may change in the future, Woody said.

Devil in the details

One attendee asked if damage to tenants’ equipment, for example restaurant equipment, is included.

The answer is yes, said Derek Wainscott, stormwater division manager for the city, whose team surveyed buildings for substantial damage.

“The 50% applies to all improvements to any building. So the equipment for a restaurant would count for that,” Wainscott said.

To calculate the degree of damage, teams from the city use the Substantial Damage Estimator from FEMA that begins with the property’s tax assessed value from 2021 and adjusts it to reflect the prestorm market value.

“Our best available information is from property tax roll and from these … estimating tools. That doesn’t mean that’s your best information,” Wainscott said.

After the team initially addresses substantial damage, it’s crucial for contractors to tally expenses as they go,  Woody said.

“We’re going to start with estimates, right? But there’s got to be receipts at the end,” Woody said. “So the worst thing that we could do is you start working because you’re at 48% (but) when we get to the end of that project, and you’ve actually spent 57%, you’re going to have to fix that.” That could mean a project would have to be scaled back to come under 50% or changed to meet higher standards.

If property owners don’t agree with initial estimates, they can turn to FAST.

FAST to the rescue 

“The idea behind this is we have a specific group of people that all have touches within the development process, whether through planning, whether it’s through stormwater, whether it’s through inspections, planning review, or permitting, we have somebody specific for that,” said Mark Matheny, development services director for the city.

“We’re expecting a back-and-forth with your better information from a contractor or from an appraisal,” Wainscott said. This information will go into the estimating tool to better reflect construction costs in Asheville.

“If you give me an appraisal and it is higher than our adjusted market value, we will take that information, put it into the tool,” Woody said.

To date, a team of 20 city staff members led by Wainscott have surveyed 824 buildings in the floodplain as drawn by the NFIP.

Of 448 commercial buildings, 230 were substantially damaged or destroyed. Of 376 residential buildings, 45 were substantially damaged or destroyed.

Historic structures can request a city variance from flood standards, but state law still requires owners to take steps to make the property more resilient, Woody said. The FAST team can help with that.

“Biltmore Village is a great example: There is a path forward that you can rebuild, even though you’re substantially damaged, and you can still avoid that elevation or flood-proofing,” Woody said.

Addressing water system issues

City officials also outlined how much Helene altered the city’s approach to providing water.

“Our water quality coming into watersheds probably changed for the next 20 years just because of the settlement and everything in there,” said David Melton, water resources director.

City staff then outlined three large projects intended to make the city’s water system more storm-proof.

1. Converting North Fork Reservoir into a conventional water treatment plant, which would include several sediment basins to remove turbidity (the murkiness of the water), increased on-site storage and other enhancements to improve water treatment. Staff is beginning the design phase. Cost:  $101 million.
2. Alternate waterline leading to North Fork that doesn’t traverse the flood-prone Swannanoa River Valley. Cost: $50 million.
3. Adding another treatment facility, possibly in West Asheville. Cost: $80 million to $100 million.

Melton said a fourth treatment plant would get “all our eggs out of one basket” since the two plants are near each other Swannanoa and Black Mountain.

“If something happens in that area, it’s going to happen to both plants. Of course, we got separation with Mills River, and we’re doing projects there now,” Melton said, but eventually there will be a need for a fourth treatment plant.