14 homeowners pursue federal buyout to leave flooding-prone R.B. properties
July 31, 2024 at 10:38 p.m.
Rye Brook Village Administrator Christopher Bradbury has set a “soft goal” for the end of 2024 to see the last house come down—putting to rest, from the residents’ perspective, an initiative over two years in the making.
“It’s not a hard deadline, but it’s always good to have goals, right?” he remarked during a phone call on Tuesday, July 30. “There’s a lot that has to happen between now and then, and complications can come up. It’s a lot when you’re dealing with so many properties at once.”
Bradbury spoke of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) Floodplain Easement Program, which is in its homerun stretch of getting some residents out of their flooding-prone properties after years of development.
It’s hard to forget the damage and trauma that Tropical Storm Ida poured onto the community in September 2021. Within a few hours, more than 8 inches of rain came down, overflowing the Blind Brook. Roads were submerged, cars were totaled and houses were tarnished as some areas of Rye Brook which already had a shaky history with flooding saw a 5-foot river sweeping through their street and yards.
Flooding is one of the key issues the Village faces, and mitigation efforts were amplified in the wake of Tropical Storm Ida. One of those strategies, and arguably the most consequential one, was the Village’s acceptance into the NRCS Floodplain Easement Program a year later—a federal buyout giving eligible property owners a way out of their homes that many feared had become unsellable.
At the Rye Brook Board of Trustees meeting on May 14, a milestone in the initiative was reached as sale prices were approved.
Offered to areas that are at risk of flooding and where there are not other viable engineering solutions, the Floodplain Easement Program uses federal monies to buy out homeowners deemed eligible based on the risk of the property. When all is said and down, those structures will be torn down and the properties will be restored to Rye Brook-owned and maintained, undeveloped land.
Facilitated by the Village of Rye Brook but funded by NRCS, the process saw property owners offered prices based on appraisal values from the day before Tropical Storm Ida struck.
Since the initiative was launched, residents in the afflicted areas struggled with a mixed bag of opinions. Some were eager to get out, while others left conflicted and hesitant to leave their homes. Several were enraged that their government couldn’t do more to fix the situation in a way that encouraged them to stay.
“For me, it’s always been about creating choices for those who felt they didn’t have any,” Bradbury said. The completely voluntary program, while covered by federal monies, does imply the Village loses a tax base. “Whether people take it or not, it’s an individual choice. Some people felt it would be difficult to sell their homes, or they didn’t want to pass it on to the next person. So, for those people, it created an opportunity.”
“For everyone else who did not want to participate, we’ll continue to look for solutions to help with flooding in those areas,” he added.
There were 32 Rye Brook homeowners deemed eligible for the program—18 on Brook Lane, eight in the Wyman Street area and six on Rock Ridge Drive. Of them, 14 have opted to go forward with the federal buyout, transactions the Board of Trustees approved at their May 14 meeting.
“We’re finally at the point where we’re purchasing the homes,” Mayor Jason Klein remarked that night. “This is the point where the people who are participating in the program will see actual results, get money to find a new home, and be able to fully take advantage of this program. Then, it becomes the Village’s responsibility to finish out the rest.”
On Brook Lane, five homeowners are pursuing the buyout, and they’re joined by five on Wyman Street, two on Wyman Street North and two on Rock Ridge Drive.
“I would like to remind everyone that this is very unique. This has not been done before in Westchester,” Klein said. “We are the first, and to me, it’s very exciting as another way of trying to limit the impacts of flooding on Village residents.”
“There are other Village projects that we’re pursuing, and things that we’re trying to do to limit the effects of flooding,” he continued. “This is one that directly affects a lot of homeowners by giving them an option to sell their property to the Village to be turned into a floodplain. They won’t have to worry about their house anymore.”
Trustee David Heiser added there is also a benefit for the Village’s first responders, who won’t be put into harm’s way as much due to calls to flooded areas to help residents in an emergency.
The program will be paying up to $10.5 million to Rye Brook homeowners with flooding prone properties. On Brook Lane, appraisals ranged from $650,000 to $735,000. The Rock Ridge Drive homes were valued at $900,000 and $1.2 million, while the Wyman Street area homes varied from $550,000 to $771,600.
The Floodplain Easement Program comes at no cost to the Village, and thus, the taxpayers.
Bradbury explained that the buyout money itself is coming from the NRCS as an advancement payment, and all other expenses associated with the process—such as attorney fees, title transfers and due diligence environmental inspections—will be reimbursed.
“The Village gets reimbursed for all the expenses, just not time,” he said. “Our biggest commitment is the commitment of time to coordinate the program.”
That night, the Board of Trustees gave approval for the transactions on the Village’s end, but that doesn’t mean the sales are complete. As Bradbury alluded to this week, there’s still work that needs to be done.
As is the case in any property sale, a lot of little things can add up to delays. “For example, a survey may show that there’s a fence outside the property line, so that has to be cleared to get the title insurance,” Bradbury explained.
But the process is still starting to come along.
“We’re expecting to see four closings in August,” Bradbury said. And there are four more that seem to be close to settling on a transaction date as well.
Some homeowners need more time than others. “Some have said they’re interested but still looking for other housing. Market wise, some rates and prices have gone up,” Bradbury said. “Others have been able to find houses. Every situation is different.”
Also, some homes currently house renters, who are entitled to 90 days’ notice before getting forced out.
Bradbury said residents are currently being assisted by non-profits to ease the stresses of the process. The Nature Conservancy, which is providing supplementary financial incentives, is working with homeowners, while the Housing Action Council is aiding tenants in the search for equivalent housing options.
Klein reminded that over the next few months, there will likely be disruptions in the neighborhoods slated for home demolition. But it’s all a temporary burden.
“Just like if there’s a home next to you getting work done, I imagine there will be some inconvenience to the neighboring properties,” he said. “But it will be short lived. And then the property will be kept as greenspace, turned into a floodplain. So, at that point, it’ll just be living next to greenspace.”
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