Carroll County, GA Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Carroll County's Flood Damage Prevention ordinance, Chapter 46, Article II, applies inside the special flood hazard areas mapped in the FEMA flood insurance study dated April 19, 2017. Section 46-67(1) requires new construction and substantial improvement of any residential structure to have its lowest floor, including the basement, elevated no lower than two feet above the base flood elevation, one foot above the two-foot minimum FEMA itself requires and commonly called the county's freeboard. If a residence is elevated on solid perimeter walls, the walls need flood vents sized under Section 46-67(3): a minimum of two openings totaling at least one square inch of net area per square foot of enclosed area, with the lowest opening no higher than one foot above grade.

Section 46-67(2) applies the same two-foot freeboard to commercial, industrial and other nonresidential buildings, though those structures may be floodproofed instead of elevated in A zones if a Georgia-licensed engineer or architect certifies the design is watertight and can resist flood loads. A development permit under Section 46-33 is required before any of this construction begins, issued by the county's code and ordinance enforcement officer. These standards govern only the unincorporated county; Carrollton, Villa Rica and the county's other cities administer their own separate floodplain ordinances within their limits.