ABOUT THE PLAN

The City of Cambridge along with their stakeholders have developed various flood risk reduction and resilience strategies. Phase I of this planning project focused on mitigating flood risks along the Choptank River and Cambridge Creek, which are the primary sources of flooding in the City. This flooding is due to high tides, major storms and inadequate storm water management. This area largely includes the FEMA regulated Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), known as the land area subject to the 1% annual chance flood event. Within the Choptank and Cambridge Creek flood risk area, we have identified five distinct areas characterized by individual site conditions, development along the shoreline, and in several cases the existence of existing flood protection and functionality. These five areas include (1) Great Marsh Area- Gerry Boyle Park, (2) the West End where private property exist along the shoreline, (3) the Yacht Club and City Marina where open land extends to Cambridge Creek, (4) Cambridge Creek, which is fully developed along its banks, and (5) Sailwinds, which is a 24-acre tract under development by the Cambridge Waterfront Development Inc.

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Plan Goals & Objectives

Goal 1: Develop Master Plan to Make City of Cambridge Resilient to flood hazards.

Objective 1:
- Develop strategies and concept designs to mitigate existing Nuisance Flooding due to high tides and major storms.
Objective 2:
- Develop strategies and concept designs for projects to protect the city against future sea level rise in compliance with DOCO 2021 Flood Mitigation Plan.
Objective 3:
- Utilize subsequent FEMA Grant Cycles for submission of specific priority projects for implementation based on their cost benefit analysis.

Goal 2: Facilitate Integration of Master Plan into City Comprehensive Plan and Waterfront Development.

Objective 1:
- Document planning process, mitigation strategies, and concept designs as a living plan so it can be integrated into and updated as the City implements its Comprehensive Plan.
Objective 2:
- Provide guidance for CWDI to integrate flood mitigation for sea level rise into City’s Waterfront Development. Since this is new development, CWDI will have responsibility ensuring flood mitigation is integrated into and funded through their project development efforts.