TITLE
Title
UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE (UDO) TEXT AMENDMENT CASE #25-12-PLBD-00152: AN AMENDMENT TO SUBSECTION 2.8 (FLOODPLAIN ADMINISTRATOR), SUBSECTION 3.5 (PROCEDURES FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS), SUBSECTION 9.3 (FLOOD DAMAGE PREVENTION), SUBSECTION 12 (DEFINITIONS) AND ADOPTION OF UPDATED FLOOD MAPS
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
J. Leslie Bell (K. Brent Gatlin)
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BACKGROUND
Background
Proposed text amendment #25-12-PLBD-00152 (attached) to the Guilford County Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) updates the Flood Damage Prevention provisions of the UDO to maintain consistency with National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) standards. On December 10, 2025, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a Letter of Final Determination (attached) to Guilford County as notification that the new Flood Insurance Study (FIS a.k.a. Flood Study) and associated Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs a.k.a. Flood Maps) for our community will become effective on June 10, 2026. The Flood Maps published by FEMA indicate geographic areas prone to flooding which are subject to additional construction permitting requirements per state and federal regulations to address flood risks.
The County must adopt the updated Flood Study and Flood Maps before this deadline, as required by FEMA and Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 60.3(d) to maintain its NFIP community status. As a participant in the NFIP, the County is required to keep the Flood Damage Prevention regulations of its UDO, its regulatory Flood Maps, and Flood Study current. Participation in the NFIP helps ensure residents within Guilford County remain eligible for flood insurance through the NFIP and supports regulations that help reduce flood risks.
The current and proposed updated Flood Maps for Guilford County are available to be viewed on the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS) Flood Risk Information System (FRIS) Website at: <https://fris.nc.gov/>
Public Outreach
To support the Flood Study and Flood Maps update, Guilford County staff helped coordinate and implement a public Community Outreach Meeting on July 25, 2023 with the Cities of Greensboro and High Point, other local jurisdictions, and the NCDPS. This process was conducted in an effort to inform the public and provide an opportunity for property owners to meet community officials and NCDPS to discuss and ask questions about the Flood Map changes, reason for the change, how properties could be affected, and explain the appeals process if owners desired to contest the findings of the updated Flood Maps. The County also advertised the public meeting on the Guilford County Electronic Legal Notices website (as allowed per S.L. 2017-210), Guilford County main webpage, Planning & Development Department webpage, and the Floodplain Management webpage. In addition, letters with information regarding Flood Map changes and advertisement of the public meeting were sent to property owners for which GIS analysis indicated a structure on the property was added to the floodplain. The County also created a Flood Mapping and Updates informational website regarding the Flood Study and Flood Map updates, which was advertised in the above public meeting announcements, letters and at the meeting. For both the Planning Board and Board of Commissioners' legislative (public) hearing, notice was provided on the Guilford County Electronic Legal Notices website and signs were posted at key intersections around the County. Based on GIS analysis, 46 structures on 23 properties were added to the special flood hazard area (i.e., 100-year floodplain). Letters were sent to these 23 property owners.
FEMA also published a notice regarding the proposed flood hazard determinations (preliminary Flood Study and Flood Maps) in the Federal Register on October 7, 2024. A 90-day appeal period for the proposed FIS and Flood Maps began on December 18, 2024 and ended on March 18, 2025. The appeal period offered property owners an opportunity to contest the results of the new Flood Study and Flood Maps if they disagreed with the findings (e.g., whether the property is located in a regulated floodplain).
The proposed text amendment includes provisions to automatically adopt future FEMA Flood Studies & Flood Maps, helping to ensure continued compliance with federal and state requirements. This approach streamlines the process for incorporating mandated updates while preserving the community’s ability to appeal proposed map updates. Additionally, text revisions to the Flood Damage Prevention section of the UDO are proposed to improve formatting, language, clarity, and definitions to better align the County’s Flood Damage Prevention provisions with the North Carolina Model Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance and enhance overall clarity and consistency.
The underlined text in the attached amendment is to be added; the strike-through text is to be deleted.
At its April 8, 2026 regular meeting, the Guilford County Planning Board unanimously recommended (6-0) to the Board of Commissioners that Text Amendment Case #25-12-PLBD-00152 (minutes attached) be adopted, as presented herein. (Ayes: Alston, Donnelly, Little, Bui, Drumwright, and Craft. Nays: None.). The staff report is also attached.
Consistency with Adopted Plans:
The proposed text amendment is consistent with the Planning Theme for Protected Natural Environment & Greenspace. Policy 2 of the Protected Natural Environment & Greenspace Planning Theme is to “Safeguard the environmental integrity of Regional Water Sources and Recreational Water Bodies.” Action Item N2.3 under Policy 2 states to “Expand on existing watershed management policies to set goals and priorities for protecting, restoring, and improving the county’s environmental resources.” Action Item N2.5 under Policy 2 further states to “Continue to coordinate and cooperate with other local, regional, and state agencies and organizations, such as the NC Division of Water Quality, on joint watershed planning and management.” Finally, the proposed text amendment is also consistent with Policy 3 of the Protected Natural Environment & Greenspace Planning Theme which states to Protect Natural Features and Sensitive Areas including Riparian Areas, Floodplains, and Vegetation/Tree Cover.
Additionally, the amendment maintains Guilford County’s consistency with State and Federal floodplain regulations and helps ensure county residents maintain access to vital flood insurance.
The Board of Commissioners is not limited to the proposed language of the text amendment. It may consider changes to the proposed text amendment.
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BUDGET IMPACT
Budget Impact
NO ADDITIONAL COUNTY FUNDS REQUIRED
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REQUESTED ACTION
Requested Action
Hold a legislative hearing and adopt Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Text Amendment Case #25-12-PLBD-00152 and the proposed amendments and the aforementioned statement of plan consistency, as presented herein, to adopt the new Flood Maps/Flood Study and amend the Guilford County UDO’s Floodplain Damage Prevention provisions to align with the most recent North Carolina Model Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance.
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