Larimer County residents who built their homes in the designated floodway haven't been allowed to rebuild their homes since 1975, and they want that rule to change, the Reporter-Herald reports.
Residents in LaPorte are worried about selling their homes, which weren't damaged by Colorado's 2013 floods. But for residents in the Big Thompson Canyon, it's about having the freedom to rebuild -- despite the flood risk.
"This is supposed to be a free country," canyon resident Barb Anderson said at a county meeting in Drake on Tuesday night. "We're supposed to have free choice."
The county promised to study the hazard level in different parts of the floodway, a process that could take two years. They will also consider lifting the reconstruction ban in the floodway for all disasters except for a flood.
