The City of Auburn will be conducting a public open house Thursday to provide information and gather citizen feedback on the City’s current effort to update its floodplain regulations.

The Feb. 18 open house is a followup to the first public open house on the issue held by the City on Dec. 10, 2008. Thurday’s open house will be held at Cascade Middle School Gymnasium, 1015 24th St. NE, Auburn.

Since November 2008, the City of Auburn has had a moratorium on the filing, receipt and approval of applications for development within areas of the City that are located within, in whole or in part, designated 100-year floodplains as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The City of Auburn was required to adopt the moratorium in response to direction from FEMA that if the City of Auburn grants permits in floodplain areas within its boundaries that are later determined to adversely impact the floodplains and/or endangered species, the City and thus, all citizens who live here, would be liable for any resulting “take” on endangered species. Other cities and counties within the Puget Sound also received the same direction.

FEMA’s direction to the City of Auburn and other communities occurred as a result of the issuance of a biological opinion issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that determined FEMA’s floodplain standards were not sufficient to avoid the “taking” of endangered species under the federally adopted Endangered Species Act.

The City of Auburn, along with many other cities and counties, previously has adopted and implemented FEMA’s minimum standards regulating development within the 100-year floodplain. However, NMFS determined that FEMA’s standards were not sufficient to avoid the taking of endangered species.

In response to NMFS, FEMA strongly encouraged in a written letter transmitted to more than 120 local governments in October 2008 to not permit development in floodplains until updated regulations were adopted by FEMA and affected local governments.

Following the December 2008 open house, Mayor Peter Lewis, the City of Auburn City Council and City staff have been actively engaged in working with FEMA to develop updated regulations that would allow the City to remove the moratorium. Beginning in early summer 2009, the City of Auburn participated in a FEMA sponsored committee of different local governments to develop, review and comment on new regulations being developed by FEMA.

The City of Auburn Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on new floodplain regulations on Tuesday, Feb. 23, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers, Auburn City Hall, 25 W. Main St. The Auburn City Council is currently scheduled to consider an ordinance adopting updated floodplain regulations on March 15.

For more information, contact Chris Andersen, Environmental Protection Manager at 253-876-1962 or candersen@auburnwa.gov.

Current drafts of updated City regulations can be accessed at www.auburnwa.gov/floodplain.