Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 22, 1995                   TAG: 9511220085
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SALEM BACK IN FEMA FLOOD PLAN

The city was suspended in October after it did not meet a 30-day deadline to update its zoning ordinance.

City officials said 30 days was not enough time for them to make such an amendment because of the state-mandated public hearing process.

City council amended the ordinance Friday during an emergency meeting.

A FEMA worker in Philadelphia said last week that the federal agency gave local jurisdictions six months to send in their ordinances for review and make necessary changes.

But some jurisdictions did not send their ordinances in until the end of the 6-month period, said FEMA representative Dan Joyce.

The city drafted the help of Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, to speed up the process of reinstatement into the flood insurance plan.

Without participation in the plan, insurance agents could not write policies for homes lying in the100-year flood plain. Therefore, lending agencies would not close on mortgages for such homes.