Town Of Edgartown: Disaster Recovery

Press release from the Town of Edgartown:

08/31/2021 10:20 AM

What if substantial portions of your community were suddenly and severely damaged by a catastrophic flood, earthquake, industrial accident, or other disaster? What role would the local planning agency play in the rebuilding and recovery process? What challenges would you face as you attempted to help residents and business owners rebuild their lives and livelihoods? How effective would your efforts be?

An effective recovery process means more than merely rebuilding what existed before. Disasters also provide important opportunities for proactive planning in which the community emerges more resilient to subsequent hazard events. This opportunity is fleeting, and local policies and ordinances like the zoning code can either facilitate or impede effective and resilient recovery.

This issue of Zoning Practice summarizes some of the zoning-related challenges planners face in post-disaster situations, discusses how communities might think about preparing now for future disasters, and highlights what other communities have achieved by modifying zoning procedures and standards.

This issue of Zoning Practice is available free to all thanks to financial support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  To download your copy, visit the APA website, here.

This press release was produced by the Town of Edgartown. The views expressed here are the author’s own.