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'\\•AAI 1, <br /> FEMA <br /> U.S.Department of Homeland Security <br /> FEMA Region IX <br /> 111 I Broadway,Suite 1200 <br /> Oakland,CA,94607-4052 <br /> August 6, 2019 <br /> Rick Griffin,Project Manager <br /> San Joaquin County <br /> Community Development Department <br /> Development Services Division <br /> 1810 East Hazelton Avenue <br /> Stockton, California 95205 <br /> Dear Mr. Griffin: <br /> This is in response to your request for comments regarding Application Referral: Early <br /> Consultation,Application Number PA-1900158 (FVR), Flood Variance application, <br /> (APN/Address: 129-31012&-13/1101 North Zuckerman Road, Stockton) (Supervisorial District <br /> 3)in San Joaquin County, California. <br /> The proposed action requests a variance from your floodplain management regulations, (Chapter <br /> 9-1603). Variances are to be avoided,and only granted under extraordinary circumstances. I <br /> would like to provide clear guidance on the issuance of variances,and why this Flood Variance <br /> application should not be approved. <br /> Communities are granted the authority to issue variances by National Flood Insurance Program <br /> (NFIP)regulations found at Volume 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations (44CFR) § 60.6 (a), <br /> and by your county's flood damage prevention ordinance(San Joaquin County Code(9-848)). <br /> Applicants must provide sufficient justification supporting the request, and the variance must <br /> closely adhere to the required standards. While the County,as the NFIP program administrator <br /> has the authority to issue a variance,FEMA has the responsibility to review variances issued by <br /> NFIP participating communities to determine if a community is exercising their program in a <br /> manner that keeps them in good standing. <br /> Specifically,the NFIP requires that a variance is issued only"upon a showing of good and <br /> sufficient cause, a determination that failure to grant the variance would result in exceptional <br /> hardship to the applicant, and a determination that the granting of a variance will not result in <br /> increased flood heights, [or] additional threats to public safety... (44CFR § 60.6(a)(3)). <br /> `Hardship' is not mere economic or financial hardship. Inconvenience,aesthetic considerations, <br /> physical handicaps,personal preferences,or the disapproval of one's neighbors cannot, as a rule, <br /> qualify as exceptional hardship. All these problems can be resolved through other means <br /> without granting a variance,even if the alternative means are more expensive or complicated that <br /> building with a variance. <br /> www.fema.gov <br />