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Cook Park

Context

In its heyday, Vine City was a center for activism and leadership during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. However, the neighborhood declined after decades of disinvestment, poverty, crime, and racist land use policies. By the early 2000s, the neighborhood was one of Atlanta’s most distressed communities. Topography also is a major challenge for Vine City, which lies on low ground within the Proctor Creek watershed and is therefore prone to flooding during heavy rains. In September 2002, flash flooding from Tropical Storm Hanna overwhelmed the neighborhood’s sewer system, inundating dozens of homes, and displacing hundreds of residents. With most houses damaged beyond repair, city leaders decided that both the cost to rebuild and the risk of future flooding were too great. The city of Atlanta purchased 60 properties and relocated residents, but the land was undeveloped for more than a decade.  

In the years following the flood, a coordinated partnership among Vine City residents, the city of Atlanta, and Trust for Public Land created a vision for the site that would address flood risk and provide much-needed green space and community amenities. In 2010, the city of Atlanta developed a park master plan for the Vine City and English Avenue neighborhood. The resulting community engagement process included dozens of meetings, events, and in-depth conversations with residents to identify the neighborhood’s needs and priorities over the course of the multiyear planning process. The final design of the park integrated innovative stormwater retention facilities alongside a playground, splash pad, sport courts, and walking paths.  

The park pays homage to the neighborhood’s important history with statues of notable peacemakers including the late United States Representative John Lewis, D-Atlanta, and Martin Luther King, Jr., who was a resident of Vine City in the 1960s. In 2018, a dedicated effort to engage neighborhood youth in the park’s redevelopment resulted in two custom climbing boulder installations, made possible by a partnership with The North Face outdoor apparel and gear company. Also, the VF Foundation funded two murals designed by local public artists in concert with the neighborhood to honor the rich musical roots and neighborhood leaders that made Vine City what it is today. Trust for Public Land and city officials worked hard to center residents’ voices in the planning process to ensure that the park met community needs and honored its history. 

After more than eleven years in the making, Rodney Cook Sr. Peace Park opened to the public in July 2021 and has quickly become an essential piece of the community. 

“Rodney Cook Park is located at the low point of Vine City, so all water flows to where the park is,” said George Dusenbury, Georgia state director for the Trust for Public Land. “We have worked with the city to repurpose this land into a park that floods so that the surrounding communities do not.” 

 Climate Resilience Strategies 

The centerpiece detention pond and water features can capture and store up to 10 million gallons of stormwater during intense rainstorms. Surrounding the pond are constructed wetlands, native stormwater plantings, and rain gardens that further absorb and filter water to minimize flood risk to Vine City residents and improve water quality.  

The engineering team also created a stormwater strategy that extends beyond the park to the full 150-acre Proctor Creek / North Avenue watershed, representing thousands of westside residents who benefit from a better stormwater management system. Now the park’s green infrastructure captures water from the broader drainage area to reduce peak loads that would normally strain the sewer system.  

In addition to mitigating the negative impacts of stormwater, the park provides relief from the urban heat island effect with green space, native plants, and shady trees. Cook Park’s stormwater infrastructure and recreational amenities combine to create a unique place that contributes to a healthier and more resilient community. 

Value Proposition

  • Added amenity: The dual-purpose park has helped the city of Atlanta achieve key goals for stormwater management and new green space development. Within days of the park’s opening, neighborhood residents were taking full advantage of the new walking paths, splash pad, amphitheater, basketball court, and great lawn. No longer a vacant parcel, the park today hums with activity and offers a scenic destination to be enjoyed by all.  
  • Avoided losses: Although at the time of this writing there have not been any significant flooding events to test the park’s green infrastructure to its full capacity, the neighborhood is well prepared for future heavy rainstorms. Rainstorms have been increasing in their number and severity due to climate change, with trends expected to continue over the coming decades. The last time the city saw significant flooding was in 2009 and resulted in $500 million in property damage with more than 20,000 homes, businesses and other buildings significantly impacted. The city’s sizable investment in Cook Park and the neighborhood’s stormwater infrastructure will easily pay for itself in avoided property damage after only a few intense storms.  
  • Enhanced property value: The park is also contributing to the revival of Vine City, which has for many years experienced higher rates of unemployment and crime compared with other Atlanta neighborhoods. The average price for a single-family home in Vine City rose from around $14,000 in 2011 to $255,000 in 2021. In comparison, the average price of a home in other Atlanta neighborhoods increased from $307,000 to $580,000. Given the sizable public investment in the park, the city and neighborhood groups acknowledge that displacement and gentrification could occur in Vine City. Nonprofits and affordable housing developers are acquiring property as quickly as possible to mitigate displacement and preserve the affordability of the area. Other organizations, like the Westside Future Fund, are helping homeowners pay their property tax increases through mortgage assistance programs so that longtime residents can stay in the neighborhood. 

Lessons Learned

  • An innovative partnership between the city of Atlanta and Trust for Public Land allowed the project to meet multiple community needs. Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management provided funding for Cook Park’s network of green infrastructure designed to reduce flooding in the historic neighborhood. Trust for Public Land provided philanthropic support that funded the project’s community engagement, design, and construction of multiuse sports courts, a splash pad, a playground, walking trails, and a collection of other park amenities. The combined effort resulted in a destination that delivers a host of environmental and community benefits to the neighborhood. 
  • Stormwater management inspired local community engagement and conservation. During the planning phase, the number-one desire from the community was to have a park that reduced the risk of future flooding. The design team developed educational signage about the park’s stormwater management functions, helping the community better understand the purpose of each of the design elements and the role they play in mitigating flood risk.  
  • The most important aspect of Cook Park’s realization was community involvement throughout all stages of planning, design, and construction. The community engagement process began with participatory design at the outset of the project when residents shared and shaped what they wanted to see in the new community open space. Feedback provided by neighborhood residents in surveys and at dozens of public meetings informed the design team about the park amenities most desired by residents. Even after construction started, unexpected opportunities like climbing boulders and murals allowed for community stakeholders to further refine unique elements of the park. In addition, the project contractor employed neighborhood residents trained in basic construction skills to build Cook Park, further creating a sense of pride and ownership by the community long after construction was complete. Intentional community engagement throughout planning and construction generated anticipation toward the park’s eventual ribbon cutting and created a groundswell of support, ownership, and stewardship of the dynamic public green space. By building relationships early on, community members became invested in the park’s success and excited to protect the park for future generations. 

ULI is grateful for the support of The JPB Foundation.

Cedar Rapids River Corridor Redevelopment Plan

At the core of the redevelopment plan is a long-term vision for waterfront resilience that aims to simultaneously protect the community from future floods and leverage the waterfront for economic development and the social vitality of the region. To achieve these goals, intergovernmental and private partnerships were initiated, and local, state, and federal funds were leveraged to allow acquisition of 1,400 properties through floodplain buyouts.

Cultivating Community Engagement

Phase one of the redevelopment plan, the Flood Management Strategy, began in June 2008, four days after the river crested. Cedar Rapids contracted with a consultant team led by Sasaki Associates, an urban design consulting firm, which provided planning, landscape architecture, and community engagement services on both phases of the project. The city held three series of open houses, which were attended by more than 2,500 community members.

Together, the city and the Sasaki team focused on working with the community to create a road map for redeveloping the 10-square-mile Cedar Rapids River Corridor. The flood-control system was developed during this phase and served as the critical foundation of the long-term vision for the project. Rigorous community engagement practices were carried out to incorporate resident feedback on how to maximize both future flood preparedness and public green space for recreation.

Eight workshops hosted by Sasaki over the months following the flood were attended by over 1,500 community members who dedicated more than 6,000 hours to collaborating on a redevelopment strategy. “Our main goal was to make sure everyone’s voice was heard,” says Jason Hellendrung, the Sasaki team lead on the project. “We wanted to hear from everyone—to use that and shape the plan.”

The workshops employed visual preference theory, providing residents with renderings so they could visualize the future, and used benchmarking by presenting options, such as flood walls versus wide greenways that allowed wetlands and open space to absorb water. This approach led to broad support among the neighborhoods for incorporating ample recreation space into the design. “It gave them hope about the future,” says Jennifer Pratt, Cedar Rapids director of community development. “We’re not just building; we’re building back better than before.”

The city and consultant team took the initiative to learn from other communities that were recovering from natural disasters, such as New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and Grand Forks, North Dakota, following the 1997 Red River flood, which provided lessons for effective communication. The time spent working with the community built trust, Hellendrung says, and ultimately led to the inspiration for the 130-acre urban greenway along the river. The river is further activated by the McGrath Amphitheater, built into the levee, which is a significant cultural anchor for the community.

“A lot of area in the neighborhood plan was not redeveloped and will be intentionally kept as open space. Letting the river breathe is a big component of resiliency for the flood-control system.”—Jennifer Pratt, director of community development, city of Cedar Rapids

Leveraging Federal Funding Mechanisms for Floodplain Buyouts

In May 2009, work on phase two, the Framework for Neighborhood Reinvestment, began as the city established a voluntary property acquisition program, leveraging U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program funds.

The city offered to pay owners of the 1,356 damaged houses 107 percent of the pre-flood home value to acquire their homes. The buyouts are supported by CDBG funding after it is demonstrated that the homeowner’s pre-flood home value has decreased while the need for shelter has increased following a disaster. The city program also pledged that property taxes would not increase during the 10 years following the flood; this was done in anticipation of raising the levy later to provide revenue for the local contribution to the flood-control system.

The city also worked with the state and HUD to create an interim mortgage assistance program to subsidize the mortgage payments of homeowners affected by the flood. This program responded to the need to complement buyout programs with programs that provide relocation assistance, combat displacement, and provide affordable housing. Without relocation support, buyout programs can perpetuate segregation by facilitating the departure of lower-income homeowners from their communities because they lack the capability to buy a new house if home values have increased or are otherwise unaffordable.

The buyouts process was initiated in 2008 and completed in 2014, and in the interim, support was made available through the ROOTs Homeownership Initiative, funded by the CDBG single-family new construction program. The ROOTS initiative provided a downpayment incentive of 25 percent to qualified buyers who purchased a new home in a core neighborhood of the city, as identified in the Framework for Neighborhood Reinvestment.

The ROOTs Homeownership initiative provided a downpayment incentive of 25 percent to qualified buyers who purchased a new home in a core city neighborhood, as identified in the Framework for Neighborhood Reinvestment. (City of Cedar Rapids)

Also, soon after the flood, the city constructed multifamily rental units designed to appeal to tenants with a mix of incomes. One thing learned from the experience of Grand Rapids was that new housing construction must be spread across a city to avoid a stigma of “flood housing” that may linger, Pratt says. The city formed the Replacement Housing Task Force to scout new construction in core neighborhoods outside the floodplain identified as ripe for development in phase two of the plan.

Beyond the riverfront, the city worked with neighborhood groups and developers to convert properties into replacement housing for residents displaced by the flood. New infill construction in surrounding neighborhoods leveraged state and federal low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) to build replacement affordable housing. In one neighborhood, the city worked with a church-based nonprofit entity to deliver the replacement housing.

Mobilizing Local and State Economic Development Initiatives

In all, funding was leveraged at the local, state, and federal levels to fund the flood-control system. The state committed over $250 million over 20 years, and $78 million was committed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for an area east of the river deemed eligible for funding. For flood control on the west side of the river, local property taxes were raised for 10 years. The city understood that it was critical for Cedar Rapids to have a plan in place and show progress on its implementation in order to encourage rebuilding and attract investment by the private sector.

The flood-control system will include the buildout of flood walls and levees intended to further protect the community from flooding. Quaker Oats Company has committed to entering a public/private partnership with the city by 2022 to build a segment of the flood wall to 100-year-flood elevation. The wall was built in accordance with city standards so it could be extended when the city builds the remaining portions. Similarly, the freight company CRST relocated its headquarters to downtown Cedar Rapids from the suburbs, built its new site along the river, elevated the property, and integrated a flood wall and river walk into the site. In this way, Quaker Oats and CRST shared with the Army Corps of Engineers part of the costs of the flood-control system and helped manage the overall budget and moderate the expense of the project for the city.

“To attract private investment, we knew we needed to have a long-term plan to protect investment,” Pratt says.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Floodplain Buyout Program

Historically, Charlotte developed significantly before floodplains were mapped. Therefore, some building took place in zones where flooding along creeks was more likely, said Tim Trautman, the flood mitigation program manager for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services (CMSWS).

“We considered various structural approaches to reduce flood damage, but we came to the realization that because of where our floodplains are, it was time to start un-developing.” —Tim Trautman, flood mitigation program manager, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services

Since 1999, Storm Water Services has purchased more than 450 flood-prone homes, apartment buildings, and businesses throughout the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region. The website touts their success: “Over 700 families and businesses have moved to less vulnerable locations outside of local floodplains. 185 acres of public open space has been ‘undeveloped’ to allow the floodplain to function during heavy rain and provide a long-term community asset. Storm Water Services also estimates these buyouts have avoided $25 million in losses and will ultimately avoid over $300 million in future losses.”

The utility’s authority, says Trautman, comes wrapped in compassion, and the decisions his team encourages appeal to long-term health, safety, and quality of life. Successful buyouts, backed with the county’s available cash from stormwater fees, can save property owners from physical and emotional loss. They also save the county from water rescues, overtime hours, shelter opening, temporary housing, and nail-biting unknowns that come from heavy storms. “Charlotte-Mecklenburg floodplains have a lot of urban flash flooding,” Trautman explained. “They require quick action and emergency response.”

In that context, Trautman nonetheless stresses the value of planning buyouts holistically, in accord with other public interests and benefits, such as local parks which usually maintain the purchased properties and planning staff who stitch them into the city’s fabric. Their buyouts do not end with the demolition of buildings. The property is put to greater public use, so the benefits extend beyond flood mitigation. “Even if floods come without much warning,” he adds, “flood buyout programs benefit from steady funding and consistent vision. The most successful programs are really ongoing as programs, backed by a long-term risk reduction plan.” Trautman said his team makes comprehensive plans for coordinating buyouts and flood-prevention projects in a few neighborhoods per year.

Growth brings more capital to the stormwater fee pool but also puts strain on stormwater systems even through Charlotte-Mecklenburg ordinances require substantial stormwater detention and treatment. Assessments of a property’s impervious area is the basis of collection of stormwater fees, which grow into a pool that Trautman’s team can dip into for buyouts. He notes, “Many communities solely rely on federal disaster money, and they sometimes wait one to two years after the event to apply.” Trautman points to CMSWS’s funding stream and specifically a “rainy day fund” as a way to speed up the process. “By contrast, we’ve closed on flood-damaged homes within a couple months of a flood and recently were able to buy a bank-owned distressed property about five weeks after bidding on it.”

That mix of quick turnaround closing and long-range focus matters, because Trautman says prices have climbed with flood risk caused by climate change in just the past five years. Trautman says the footprint of properties that the team can target has grown even though local prices for buildings, flood-prone or otherwise, have tended to climb even through the COVID-19 shutdown. “It’s a seller’s market, for sure,” he says. With ample capital, the utility can think about long-term benefits for the community as well as fair prices for each owner with whom the team negotiates.

Not every owner perceives the future flood risk in the same way. Trautman says roughly 75 percent of sellers respond positively to the idea of escaping flood risk, but every owner has a different perception of a fair price. “Balancing our need to increase community resilience with the need to keep the program voluntary is our number-one challenge,” he reflected. One response to the challenge comes from making sure that planning and buyouts occur in sync, so that relocated homeowners and other neighbors get to enjoy the new open space along the creeks.

Because of the voluntary nature of buyouts, coming up with plans that create public amenities and meet homeowners’ needs on relatively short notice is challenging. “It’s not like planning a highway, which takes years, and the land acquisition is a certainty.” So the team focuses on purchasing parcels over time and as opportunities arise that can add up to corridors—“one was pictured as a future greenway”—that attract stormwater and attract neighbors on the preponderance of days when most people need not think about floods.

The evolution from susceptible house to sustainable open space/park offers many opportunities for the county, Trautman added. His team and staff from partner agencies may also look at how a post-COVID city uses purchased land. Various master planning groups on which Trautman serves may reassess how the county values bike lanes, public space, and wider sidewalks, given the need for and use of these public spaces during the pandemic. With the real estate market “squeezed,” in his words, water-related disasters can stray from owners’ minds. However, his team continues to advance this work. Focusing on developing relationships with flood-prone property owners and strategizing about long-term uses of the properties could create amenities that also manage flooding. “The biggest thing is developing that relationship and trust with people,” says Trautman. “That leads to having them feel good about what government is doing.”

For example, the Doral apartment complex, which included 260 apartments on 19 acres, flooded six times since 1995, with damages topping $8 million. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services purchased the complex for $4.7 million, leveraging a FEMA grant for 75 percent of the project cost and CMSWS fees for the remaining 25 percent. By October 2010, all the units were purchased, and eligible residents were given relocation assistance. Across Briar Creek, CMSWS also purchased all 196 units in the Cavalier Apartments (13 acres) using the same FEMA grant/stormwater fee funding approach. With a combined 28 acres of land along the creek, CMSWS worked with the parks department and other government agencies to restore a large green space, now known as the Chantilly Ecological Sanctuary.

As a result of these buyouts, more than 700 residents have been relocated out of hazardous areas with high flood risk, and much of the land has been restored in various forms of open space, some parks and trails, that also mitigates future flood damage to the area.

Takeaways

Include each parcel in a plan. Successful flood buyouts not only offer a market price but also offer a vision of a more enjoyable city with hardier and easier-to-reach green space. CMSWS collaborates with city agencies on a comprehensive plan every five years, which details linear parks that can emerge from purchased vulnerable properties.

Bring the backing of your jurisdiction. As a county utility, CMSWS carries the value of the assets it purchases. It also brings consistent capital to buyout negotiations each year on the strength of its annual assessments. (If impervious surface decreases and brings assessed valuation down with it, the county would still draw on a dedicated funding source rather than relying on protracted FEMA payments.)

Connect with other agencies whose mission serves the resilient city. While each place evolves its own flood maps, Trautman ascribes some of his agency’s appeal to its coherence with the city’s neighborhoods. Focusing on creating parks, corridors, and—potentially—inclusive public life, the agency can present itself less as a collector of parcels and more as a creator of places.

New Jersey Blue Acres Buyout Program

The Blue Acres Buyout Program, as it is formally known, seeks to improve the slow approval times that keep homeowners from collecting disaster relief and the tortuous process of finding replacement homes. The program has impressive metrics that show its success. Since Superstorm Sandy, the program has secured federal funding for nearly 1,200 properties and made offers on 1,115 of them. To date, about 700 homes in 20 municipalities and 10 counties have been demolished, creating open space to provide a buffer against future floods, and an asset for recreation and environmental rehabilitation.

The floodplain buyout program was amplified after Superstorm Sandy, in which dozens lost their lives, 365,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, and $30 billion in economic loss was wrought across the state, said Fawn McGee, director of the Blue Acres Program and bureau chief for the Green Acres State Land Acquisition Program, at a ULI 2020 Fall Meeting concurrent session. Before Sandy, local governments struggled to process more than $100 million in pre-Sandy flood insurance claims so the state stepped in to help the municipalities with buyout projects that could mitigate future risk and losses, and most importantly help their residents move to safer ground.

Blue Acres, McGee laid out, focuses on “getting families out of harm’s way.” The buyout process is voluntary, and homeowners must apply for a buyout to be considered. Flood-prone areas with clusters of interested homeowners, in areas with local municipal support for buyouts, may be eligible for a possible buyout project. The program is funded by federal sources like FEMA and HUD. However, through a constitutional amendment by the New Jersey State Legislature in 2019, a portion of the state’s corporate business tax is also used to fund the program to ensure a more sustainable and predictable funding approach.

“One of the hardest parts of the buyout process is convincing the governing body of a community,” McGee said. “These communities are looking at every dollar associated with every home that we remove, and the biggest hurdle is getting that community and its government to realize that [what we are proposing] is the best solution.” McGee’s team must complete benefit/cost analyses for each home appraised over roughly $275,000 to qualify for FEMA grants. The team must also caucus with homeowners who need those grants and need a stable place to live. McGee emphasizes providing respect, continuity, and clarity to those homeowners.

She says the process comes in two steps: bringing local governing bodies on board and then working with residents. Evaluating possible buyouts with local governments flows from maps, photos, and discussions about their unique current and future challenges and goals. “When you look at the cycle of recovery in that one low, wet corner of the community, the governing body eventually realizes that those tax dollars could be going to enhance a healthier community for all residents. Almost immediately, I’ve had mayors say: this is great! We’re going to break even almost as soon as we close out, because of the emergency costs.”

Once mayors (who are especially numerous in this home-rule state) agree, McGee says, the Blue Acres professionals act as “advocates” for families. They use prestorm market valuations and require the appraisers to meet with the homeowners and consider the property owner’s prestorm photos of their homes, such as photos of their home “after a celebration,” to ensure the appraisers get a sense of the prestorm condition of the home. There is no transfer fee, real estate tax, or realtor fee for property sellers.

“As soon as we have the grant approval, we have a private meeting [between the Blue Acres team and participating homeowners], and we have police at the door [of the facility to help manage attendance],” McGee told the ULI group. “Staff are ready within days of the evening kickoff meeting to get out on the property, so the people can see that their government works.”

“I will meet with someone at their kitchen table or in a diner, and my appraiser will show them the comps so they can walk around the neighborhood and see how their value was determined. Our staff is always on call, and once the families are ready to accept our offer, we go to contract.”

McGee says the program has consistently earned public funding. “As the most densely populated state, we’ll hit carrying capacity around 2050,” McGee said. “Voters want to have a park that they can walk to with their families, and they want clean air and clean water.” The Blue Acres program is a part of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres Program (60th anniversary this year!) and is designed to work in concert with the initiatives and procedures set forth through the Green Acres Program’s Bureau of State Land Acquisitions, where McGee also serves as bureau chief. The Blue Acres program acquires flood-prone properties that will, similar to the Green Acres Program’s acquisitions, then become preserved open green space, expanded passive recreation areas, and enhanced flood hazard mitigation, in perpetuity.

One example of the Blue Acres Buyout Program’s success came after Hurricane Sandy in the city of Linden. The Blue Acres program purchased 22 flood-prone properties within the waterfront Tremley Point neighborhood and partnered with the city, nearby university, local businesses, engineering and construction firms, as well as other government agencies to preserve the area as open space for recreation and floodplain restoration. The project was recognized for its success through the New Jersey American Water Resources Association Excellence in Water Resources Protection and Planning Award and a Bowman’s Hill Wildlife Preserve 2021 Land Ethics Award.

The Blue Acres program is also noteworthy because of its role supporting tenant relocation. A requirement under HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program is to help relocate tenants affected by the buyout of their rental property and pay for a comparable living arrangement. In order to support renters and landlords more quickly, a tenant relocation program with a dedicated team was added to the Blue Acres purview in 2017. Since then, over $1.2 million in relocation assistance has been distributed and 51 households have been assisted, two of which became homeowners.

McGee attributes success to compassionate staff and “being good listeners.” It is important that team members understand that this is emotional and traumatic—the flood events, the history in their homes, putting their faith in a government program, and moving: “Nobody wants to leave their home and folks don’t necessarily trust the government.” In addition to the one-on-one attention provided to each family, McGee continued, GIS mapping of flooded areas can often help the homeowners see the storm’s effect on the home and neighborhood. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Anticipation and preparedness are part of the plan McGee sets for her team. The team tries to stay ahead of the seller’s schedule, so that when the seller has a need or a question, or is ready to move forward, the team is able to step in and help. Hurrying potential sellers, however, does harm. “I had a family who wanted to wait to move until June because their son was the quarterback of the football team.” she said. “And the answer was, like, of course!”

Takeaways:

Staff up to earn trust and to deliver services and support. “My folks all have phones and access to cars,” McGee said, stressing that homeowners must be able to expect a near-concierge level of service. That includes driving to meetings on evenings and Saturdays. Critically, it includes due diligence that creates a longer-than-forecast list of properties to purchase, in case sellers drop out of the program.

Consider buyout areas that consist of clusters or contiguous parcels to maintain the fabric of the community and leave the potential for the community to use these areas for future passive recreation and conservation amenities. The Blue Acres program considers the properties acquired through the buyout program as an opportunity to create a buffer that protects upland areas from future flooding, as well as land that can continue to provide value by creating passive recreation and conservation spaces for the public. McGee says mayors and taxpayers who get the math of replacing a ratable with a townwide attraction become cooperative quickly and for the long term.