Mathews supervisors approved changes to the county’s floodplain ordinance during the board’s July 24 board meeting. The changes were made by County Attorney Andrew McRoberts after board members questioned the lack of an appeals process in the document during recent meetings.

Changes made include the deletion of a definition of “Market Value” to conform with federal guidelines, a revision of the definition of “Substantial Improvement,” and relocation of the Floodplain Management Ordinance into the Zoning Ordinance so that cases can be appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Substantial improvement is now defined as “Any repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure either (i) before the improvement or repair is started; or (ii) if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before damage occurred. This term in...