Evergreen residents who plan to protest the flood elevations assigned to their property by the Federal Emergency Management Agency face a Wednesday deadline to do so.

When FEMA issued revised flood insurance rate maps and a flood insurance study for Evergreen on April 27, a 90-day appeal period began. Appeals are due by Wednesday, July 25, and should be submitted to the Flathead County Planning Office.

Flathead County Planning Director BJ Grieve said no protests have been submitted to his office. The county may protest the elevations, but Grieve wanted to wait to see what sort of responses came from property owners before determining if the county should do so.

Grieve said if he doesn’t receive any protests, he will prepare a letter for county commissioners to sign indicating that no property owners objected and that the county doesn’t object to FEMA’s findings.

FEMA’s new data affects about 1,000 parcels in Evergreen. Affected property owners were notified last summer of the proposed changes.

The study includes proposed flood hazard information for certain parts of Evergreen. The report identifies special flood hazard areas, defined as areas that would be inundated by a base flood. The reports also include base flood elevations or depths, zone designations and regulatory floodways.

The biggest effect the flood elevation changes have on property owners is future use of their property. Owners are required to obtain flood-plain development permits for construction.In the case of new construction, fill material must be hauled in to result in  new structures sitting at least 2 feet above base flood elevation, Grieve said.

The flood-plain designation can affect a property owner’s requirement to purchase flood insurance, depending on a lender’s rules.