FEMA Gives Newport Waterfront People A Break – Malibu Maybe?
Written by 991KBU on August 20, 2018
Oceanfront residents in Malibu are waiting for a letter from the federal government to arrive at Malibu City Hall.
FEMA … the Federal Emergency Management Agency … is set to rule on a city of Malibu appeal … of new flood maps for oceanfront land.
The maps supposedly show where ocean waves lap over the sand.
But coastal engineers with experience here blasted the new maps … as wildly inaccurate.
If the proposed maps stand … many oceanfront lots in Malibu will see their values plummet … as insurance and mortgages will become all but impossible to obtain.
A similar FEMA appeal was filed in Newport Beach.
And officials there were able to persuade to exclude about 2,700 properties in the coastal part of the city from updated flood maps.
That means owners in parts of the Balboa Peninsula, Balboa Island and West Newport won’t need pricey flood insurance, saving up to about $3,700 each, or $10 million combined, each year in premiums, the city estimates.
City manager Reva Feldman says the FEMA Malibu decision is due any day.
