FEMA Officials Again Shrink Simi’s Designated Flood Zone : Property: New revision cuts out large portions of the central area. More than 1,400 homeowners will be able to drop special insurance.

For the second time in less than a year, federal officials are shrinking Simi Valley’s flood zone, enabling more than 1,400 homeowners to drop costly flood insurance and get refunds for last year’s coverage.

Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have cut out sizable portions of the designated flood zone in central Simi Valley in the second phase of a five-part revision of the city’s flood plain.

The largest area being removed from the plain is bounded by Cochran Street, Sequoia Avenue, Sycamore Drive and the Arroyo Simi. But not all homes in the area are being cut out of the flood zone, so residents are encouraged to call City Hall to verify their status.

Residents financing or refinancing property in flood zones are required by federal law to purchase flood insurance, which can cost as much as $600 a year or more.

While many homeowners will no longer need flood coverage, federal officials have decided to add three small areas in the city’s midsection to the flood zone. About 240 homeowners in those areas may be required to buy flood insurance if they need a loan to finance or refinance their house.

The first of the three areas is bordered roughly by Los Angeles Avenue, Sycamore Drive, Ysrella Avenue and the Arroyo Simi. The second falls between Sequoia Avenue, Alamo Street, Tapo Canyon Road and the Simi Valley Freeway. The third is bounded by Tapo Street, Alpine Street, Las Llamas Canyon and the Arroyo Simi.

In addition, about 84 commercial and industrial buildings are being removed from the flood zone and 80 are being added. Most businesses are not required to carry flood insurance, even if they are within a flood plain.

The 1,400 homeowners who have been removed from the flood zone are eligible for refunds on their 1993 and 1994 policies, Mayor Greg Stratton said.

“Over a couple of years, the numbers can really add up,” he said. “It should be a nice refund for some people.”

Homeowners interested in dropping flood coverage should pick up a letter from the city verifying their removal from the flood zone to present to their insurance agent, Stratton said.

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In the first phase of the study, completed in May, 800 homes on the city’s east end were taken out of the flood zone.

About 4,000 homes and businesses remain in the flood zone. City officials finalized the second-phase changes Monday, during a meeting with FEMA representatives while in Washington, for a National League of Cities conference.

“It was good for us to be out there to meet with them face to face,” Councilman Bill Davis said. “I think it really put the screws on and got this thing moving.”

Simi Valley officials have been pushing for a revision of the flood zone since 1991, when a new federal flood map hiked the number of flood-prone homes from 500 to 6,000. It was an increase that city leaders said greatly overstated the city’s risk of flooding.

Stratton said he hoped to get the number of homes in the flood zone reduced to about 2,000. City leaders are urging FEMA to complete the revision by the end of the year.

“This has already dragged out long enough, and we’d like to get it done as soon as possible,’ Stratton said. “Unfortunately, government isn’t always as fast as we’d like it to be.”

Simi Valley resident Mary Ann Miler said she was delighted that she may no longer have to pay flood insurance on her Blackstock Avenue home.

“That’s great news,” she said. “We’ve lived in the same house for 22 years without any trouble, so I couldn’t believe it when we refinanced a couple of years ago and they told us we had to get flood insurance.”

Miler said she and her husband, Richard, would immediately drop their flood insurance, which costs more than $600 a year.

“It doesn’t make any sense to keep it,” she said. “There’s no way we would ever get flooded where we are.”

FYI

To find out if your home or business has been added to, or removed from, the flood zone, call Simi Valley City Hall at 583-6769.