Why the Tsunami Zone should be the least of your worries in choosing a location.

[Tzaphkiel]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

And it isn't just your individual home that you need to pay attention to. It is the whole neighborhood. If yours is the only house in the neighborhood that doesn't flood and the street to your property floods and is inaccessible then you have a problem too and your home will lose value even if water never touches it.

this makes an excellent point

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

And it isn't just your individual home that you need to pay attention to. It is the whole neighborhood. If yours is the only house in the neighborhood that doesn't flood and the street to your property floods and is inaccessible then you have a problem too and your home will lose value even if water never touches it.

Well you can get a high profile vehicle and drive through the floodwaters. But you don't want that water inside your house. But yeah, make sure your home is on high ground, in a neighborhood that is on high ground, with good gradual slopes away from the house. But not too steep, where landslides could be a problem.

My concern for a home is it being flood proof and fireproof. Those are the real threats. Not natural disasters, that happen once every 500 years.

[Silverfall]

This isn't a problem that the HOA can solve unless those streets in there are private streets. You can't just go digging up city streets and sidewalks without city approval especially when you are talking about moving water somewhere else. If they are private streets, then it is assessment time and building rain basins.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

This isn't a problem that the HOA can solve unless those streets in there are private streets. You can't just go digging up city streets and sidewalks without city approval especially when you are talking about moving water somewhere else. If they are private streets, then it is assessment time and building rain basins.

According to the HOA they are private streets and the responsibility of the HOA to maintain through HOA assessments. So this isn't a city problem, it is a HOA problem. I'm willing to bet that if the city had actually built those streets they would have installed proper storm drains. That is civil engineering 101. From their CCRs:

The Homeowners Association shall be responsible for the maintenance, upkeep, and repair
of the public streets and right of ways within the Subdivision. The streets are more
particularly described in Exhibit “E” attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference.
In the event the Homeowners Association should acquire common property or facilities,
that property shall be maintained by the Homeowners Association. The Board of Directors
shall prepare a budget each year estimating the expenses of maintenance, upkeep, and
repair of the streets and common property or facilities if any common property is owned
by the Homeowners Association. Those expenses shall be assessed to each Lot by dividing
the estimated cost therein by the number of Lots in the Subdivision, the quotient therefrom
shall be assessed against each Lot.

So this is a private problem that these property owners need to sort out for themselves. Not a problem for the city and certainly not FEMA.

Sometimes cities do take over the private streets inside subdivisions. But typically the city would want to see that the street is up to code before taking it over. Which would include making sure that there are proper storm drains and proper drainage. So the HOA would still need to get their streets up to snuff before handing them over to the city. Either way they are on the hook, not the city.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

This isn't a problem that the HOA can solve unless those streets in there are private streets. You can't just go digging up city streets and sidewalks without city approval especially when you are talking about moving water somewhere else. If they are private streets, then it is assessment time and building rain basins.

It appears they are private streets. But even construction on private streets would probably require a permit. Just like you need to get a building permit to build on your own property.

In this case it would for sure require city approval. Because the pipes would have to drain to someplace, and that would be city property. I would guess the City of Florence would be cooperative with them to facilitate that, as long as the HOA pays for it.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

It appears they are private streets. But even construction on private streets would probably require a permit. Just like you need to get a building permit to build on your own property.

In this case it would for sure require city approval. Because the pipes would have to drain to someplace, and that would be city property. I would guess the City of Florence would be cooperative with them to facilitate that, as long as the HOA pays for it.

I don't think it is city permit requirements or bureaucracy that is blocking solutions to this problem. At least there is no evidence of that being the problem from the news coverage.

It sounds like the people who live there and own the street just don't want to pay what it will take to fix it.

Shrug.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

I don't think it is city permit requirements or bureaucracy that is blocking solutions to this problem. At least there is no evidence of that being the problem from the news coverage.

It sounds like the people who live there and own the street just don't want to pay what it will take to fix it.

Shrug.

Or can't pay for it. It's probably just not economically feasible, or it would have been done a long time ago.

But it's probably going to affect the property values. I see that there is a lot of vacant lots for sale in that development. I wonder if those can even be built on, with the current situation.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

Or can't pay for it. It's probably just not economically feasible, or it would have been done a long time ago.

But it's probably going to affect the property values. I see that there is a lot of vacant lots for sale in that development. I wonder if those can even be built on, with the current situation.

Buyer beware.

Sounds like there are some pretty expensive homes in there. Or homes that would be worth a lot if they weren't constantly flooding. One suspects that the loss of property values greatly exceeds the cost of fixing the problem. Normally these sorts of major infrastructure assessments can be rolled into something like a 10-year payment plan. That is how it was done when sewers were installed in one of the neighborhoods that I used to live in.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

I don't think it is city permit requirements or bureaucracy that is blocking solutions to this problem. At least there is no evidence of that being the problem from the news coverage.

It sounds like the people who live there and own the street just don't want to pay what it will take to fix it.

Shrug.

Private streets sound great until you realize that they aren't well thought out.