Allegheny County is inland and has no ocean coast — Pennsylvania's only coastal-zone counties under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act are Erie (Lake Erie) and the Delaware estuary counties. Allegheny's analogous regulatory regime is floodplain management for the Three Rivers (Allegheny, Monongahela, Ohio). Floodplain ordinances are administered by each of the 130 municipalities under PA Act 166 of 1978 (32 P.S. 679.101) and 12 Pa. Code Chapter 113, and reviewed against the FEMA County-Wide Flood Insurance Study revised September 26, 2014.
Allegheny County has no Atlantic, Gulf, or Great Lakes shoreline, so federal Coastal Zone Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1451) and Pennsylvania Coastal Resources Management Program (PA DEP, administered for Lake Erie and Delaware Estuary only) do not apply here. The functional equivalent is floodplain regulation for the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers and their tributaries. The Pennsylvania Floodplain Management Act (Act 166 of 1978, 32 P.S. 679.101 through 679.601) and 12 Pa. Code Chapter 113 require every municipality with identified flood-prone areas to adopt and enforce a floodplain ordinance meeting National Flood Insurance Program standards. The FEMA County-Wide Flood Insurance Study for Allegheny County (effective September 26, 2014) maps the 1-percent-annual-chance (100-year) floodplain and floodways for the three rivers and the main draining streams. Etna Borough, the City of Clairton, the City of Duquesne, and Shaler Township have levee or floodwall systems within their jurisdictions. The City of Pittsburgh implements its FP-O Floodplain Overlay District under Title 9 Zoning Code Section 906.02, requiring the lowest floor of new construction or substantial improvement in AE Zones to be at or above the regulatory flood elevation (Section 906.02.J), and applying ASCE 24 design standards. The Allegheny County Act 167 Stormwater Management Plan (adopted May 31, 2018) catalogs each municipality's floodplain, stormwater, and SALDO ordinances in Table 10.6. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission Water Resource Center provides regional flood mapping support.
Building, filling, or substantially improving a structure in an identified floodplain area without a municipal floodplain permit violates the local ordinance and PA Act 166. Penalties under 32 P.S. 679.602 include fines up to $100 per day for first offenses (with daily continuing violations) plus injunctive relief. Noncompliance can also trigger NFIP probation or community suspension, ending federally backed flood insurance availability for the entire municipality. Pittsburgh PLI enforces FP-O violations under Title 9.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Penn Hills, PA
Recreational vehicles, boats, and trailers may be stored on residential property in side or rear yards only, per Penn Hills Zoning Ordinance performance stan...
Penn Hills, PA
Residential driveways in Penn Hills require a driveway permit and curb cut approval from the Public Works Department. Minimum widths and setbacks set in the ...
Penn Hills, PA
On-street parking in Penn Hills is governed by the Traffic Code (Chapter 202 codified ordinances). Parking is generally permitted unless signed otherwise; st...
Penn Hills, PA
Vehicles left on public streets or visible on private property for more than 48 to 72 hours in an inoperable condition may be tagged and towed under Penn Hil...
Penn Hills, PA
EV charging stations on private property follow the PA Uniform Construction Code and National Electrical Code; a Penn Hills electrical permit is required for...
Penn Hills, PA
Commercial vehicles over 1 ton or with commercial markings cannot be parked overnight in residential districts per the Penn Hills Zoning Ordinance. One servi...
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