After the Buyouts: Managing Land in the Floodplain
Zoning Practice — April 2021
By James Schwab, FAICP
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Over the past 30 years, it has become increasingly common for states and communities to buy out flood-damaged properties from homeowners anxious to exit flood-prone lands. Occasionally, other disasters also lead to buyouts in vulnerable areas. The aim is typically to reduce flood losses in the future, making communities more resilient, by shifting development to less vulnerable locations. But once local government acquires those properties, what happens next? The community has presumably acquired new obligations with fewer property taxes to support them. What land-use and management strategies work best to preserve the intended benefits of taking such action?
This issue of Zoning Practice discusses legal and financial support for disaster-related land acquisitions, addresses local regulatory tools to manage pre and post-disaster land acquisitions, and outlines broader mitigation strategies and alternative uses that may provide environmental,recreational, and fiscal benefits to the community.
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About the Author
James Schwab, FAICP
Jim Schwab is currently an "allegedly retired" planning consultant after leaving the APA Research Department in 2017, where he served as Manager of the Hazards Planning Center from 2008. He previously had been assistant editor of Planning Magazine and senior research associate. He led the development of numerous PAS Reports on hazard-related and environmental topics as well as training programs both in the U.S. and overseas. Since 2008, he has been adjunct assistant professor in the University of Iowa School of Planning and Public Affairs, and more recently has been a certified instructor for FEMA's Emergency Management Institute.