Seawalls are an important component to reduce the risk of flooding from current tides and for sea level rise projection scenarios.  To address this, in 2016, the city passed legislation to require that new seawalls, and those meeting the substantial reconstruction requirements, have higher elevation standards (R2016-4009).   However, understanding that the great majority of seawalls do not yet meet these new requirements, the following items were presented and discussed:

         (i) At the June 26, 2019 Sustainability and Resiliency Committee, financing and elevation information and the need for data was discussed.   Public financing options were discussed, such as a special assessment district.  The Committee  concurred with the staff recommendation to 1) survey the appetite of the financial and banking sector (within the appropriate procurement mechanism) to create innovative and economical financing packages to incentivize owners to invest in their property, and 2) to proceed with purchasing drone LIDAR equipment, with the purpose of providing adequate seawall elevation needed for financing options and

         (ii) At the September 25, 2019 Sustainability and Resiliency Committee, staff shared an update regarding banking industry meetings, provided an overview of draft seawall ordinance by Broward County, and created a guidance document to provide steps and resources for seawall replacement.  For next steps, the Committee requested draft legislation and feedback from the community.

The staff team has been moving forward with the approach presented on the June 26 and September 25, 2019 Committee Meetings. The city issued an Invitation to Industry Review Meeting (2019-316-AY) for Financing Options for Private Property Resiliency Improvements.  Staff has continued meetings with one particular organization working with community-based partnerships that aggregate private properties, generate working capital, and provide low-interest loans. An overview document is provided (Attachment 1).  Additional data is needed to work with this organization, such as existing seawall elevations.  To collect this data, the drone LIDAR is in progress and staff has prioritized areas with anecdotally low-lying seawalls that have been overtopped during high tides.   The expected completion target date for the LIDAR data is May 31, 2020.

Legislation is an important tool to improve resilience through the elevation of seawalls for sea level rise over time. Existing city legislation does not address tidal waters overtopping seawalls and impacting adjacent property and public right-of-way.  This issue was discussed with the staff READY Team and the City Attorney’s Office.   From the overall community perspective, the 2019 Community Satisfaction Survey shows that 43% of residents are satisfied, 33% neutral, and 24% dissatisfied with their buildings’ flood risk protections.  Components of new draft legislation are under discussion  (Attachment 2) that would provide the city the ability to address overtopping and to also integrate the city’s seawall elevation requirements into Chapter 54 Floods. 

Overtopping of flood barriers is addressed within the draft ordinance: “All property owners must maintain a tidal flood barrier in good repair.  A tidal flood barrier is presumed to be in disrepair if it allows tidal waters to flow unimpeded through or over the barrier and on to adjacent property or public rights-of-way. Failure to maintain flood mitigation infrastructure shall be a citable offense.” Requirements for correction, including time frames, are provided as well. 

Timing options for enacting new seawall legislation are to: 1) Develop and enact new legislation, or 2) Proceed with the LIDAR elevation data, private finance options, and legislation within the same timeframe. 

This information is presented to the members of the Land Use and Sustainability Committee as a status update and recommendation for next steps.  Staff will continue to move forward to examine financing and funding opportunities and move forward with the drone LIDAR project.  Staff also recommends discussion regarding draft legislation and timing regarding public seawall overtopping and community engagement.