Federal buyout program in R.B. expands, becomes more flexible and accessible
August 16, 2023 at 11:21 p.m.
When your property has been deemed a flooding risk, will it ever be possible to sell your home?
It’s a question dozens of Rye Brook residents have been forced to grapple with, living in a community that has felt the impact of the increased prevalence of severe weather conditions. And, as they also ponder whether the comfort of their residency is worth the risk, the thought has become even more relevant now that a potential one-time opportunity to get out is at their doors, inching closer and closer to a final decision date.
In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ida in September 2021, and the extreme flooding that certain neighborhoods of Rye Brook suffered, the Village administration pursued and gained access to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) Floodplain Easement Program.
In essence, the voluntary initiative gives eligible homeowners a way out of their properties—land many fear is unsellable due to its flooding-prone nature—through a buyout. Federal monies would be used to purchase their homes, and the property would then be restored to Rye Brook-owned, undeveloped land.
The program is offered to areas “where there are not a lot of other engineering solutions” available to address chronic flooding risks, said Village Administrator Christopher Bradbury. Properties were deemed eligible by the NRCS after ample field survey work was completed.
Since the Village of Rye Brook started working with the Department of Agriculture in 2022, slight changes and advancements have been made—more homeowners have been deemed eligible for a buyout, and the process is becoming more expedited.
Though the outcome will be the same, a few months ago the Village of Rye Brook switched its enrollment into a different NRCS initiative: the Recovery Buyout Program.
Through the adjustment, the Village has taken on more logistical responsibility. But in return, greater efficiency and flexibility is rewarded.
“The Village has to do more of the coordination, which we believe will speed up the timeframe,” Bradbury said. “We’re pretty much doing most of it…the appraisal work, the closing work. We don’t have to get approval at each stage.”
The change was recommended by the NRCS, he said, for the purpose of speeding up the process. But other positive byproducts will also be reaped as well. The federal government will now be reimbursing more program affiliated expenses, such as title searches, closing costs and some engineering charges.
Initial access to the buyout program was granted in Fall 2022 to 18 properties on Brook Lane, an area adjacent to the Blind Brook with a long checkered past related to flooding that has increased in concern as climate change gives way to severe storms in greater frequency.
This summer, in July, Bradbury said the list of eligibility grew. A few more Rye Brook homeowners were granted access to the program—eight on Wyman Street and Wyman Street North, and six on Rock Ridge Drive—after the NRCS determined their homes may be at risk.
This summer, several property owners on Wyman Street and Wyman Street North joined Brook Lane homeowners in finding eligibility to participate in a U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Services buyout program, giving them an out of their investments in a flooding-prone area.By Sarah Wolpoff
The Village set a deadline of Friday, Aug. 11, for the new qualifying homeowners to submit applications indicating initial interest in the program—the necessary next step for moving forward to the next phase: defining home appraisal, which the buyout will be based on. The applications were non-committal; no deal is set in stone until offers are made and approved by the homeowner.
Bradbury reported on Tuesday, Aug. 15, that six residents in the Wyman Street area have signed on to move forward, as well as one property owner on Rock Ridge Drive. Those homes are now added to 11 Brook Lane homeowners who submitted their materials and have been waiting to get their homes appraised since last fall (12 had initially applied, but Bradbury said one household has since dropped out).
Enrollment into the new Recovery Buyout Program, largely, also removes the awkward tension that the previous program implied, potentially pitting neighbor against neighbor.
The original program revolved around floodplains and the ambition to create and establish more in areas that naturally need them. Therefore, it was heavily contingent on participation—the NCRS could have backed out if an inadequate number of homeowners accepted the offer, making an effective floodplain unfeasible.
Any dependability neighbors were forced to feel toward each other was removed by switching to the Recovery Buyout Program. Bradbury said anyone who is eligible can take the offer, regardless of what others in the neighborhood choose to do.
“The floodplain program was about creating new floodplains, but this one is about removing houses,” Bradbury said. “In some cases, we may be creating new floodplains, but in other cases the house just might be removed and [the land] left in a more passive state that can’t be built [on]. It’ll be property owned by the Village that can’t be developed.”
At the July 25 Board of Trustees meeting, the Village approved a new agreement with the Department of Agriculture, which indicated that the federal government has budgeted $28.6 million for the Rye Brook buyout program.
There, as they also accepted a declaration suggesting the project will not have an adverse environmental impact, Mayor Jason Klein noted that the project will actually be ecologically beneficial—they’ll be enhancing their floodplains, which will help protect other communities along the Blind Brook.
“This is a significant investment from outside of Rye Brook to help our residents,” reflected Klein, expressing gratitude to the government officials who have been working toward bringing the program to local fruition.
While Westchester encompasses several coastal communities that are being impacted by the increasing risk of flooding, Bradbury said Rye Brook is the only municipality thus far to take advantage of this buyout program.
“Why are the other municipalities not participating?” questioned Trustee David Heiser. “It seems like there’s no downside.”
“Ultimately, you do lose the assessables for those houses, because those properties will become municipally owned,” Bradbury reasoned, noting how that lost value will need to be picked up by the rest of the homeowners. “That’s why you need to make the policy question, is that a concern versus the risk of the people being safe, and not just the residents who live there but the emergency workers that respond to those properties.”
Moving forward, the Village must retain an appraiser who will be tasked with assessing all the properties on Brook Lane, the Wyman Street area and Rock Ridge Drive in which the homeowners applied for consideration. Bradbury said they’ve drafted a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the position that’s ready to go, they’re just waiting for the NCRS to finalize the agreement.
“It’s one step at a time,” Bradbury said. “When the RFP goes out, assuming that will take a month (for us) to select (someone), then I imagine in late-Fall they’ll be able to complete the process. Then that’ll be decision time for the people.”
Per the NCRS guidelines, home assessments will be based on property values as of the day before Tropical Storm Ida hit Rye Brook. And the offer will represent complete appraisal value.
Once the offer is made, the figure is non-negotiable—it’s the only number homeowners will see, and the ball will be in their court from there as they determine what comes next.
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